Director of Forward-Deployed Engineering (AI Practice Lead)

Director of Forward-Deployed Engineering (AI Practice Lead)

A growing AI Engineering Consulting company, partnered with a leading player in frontier AI, is seeking a CTO-level technical leader to head up their Forward-Deployed Engineering Group.

You will be responsible for:

• Leading the Forward-Deployed Engineering Group, acting as the executive practice lead responsible for scoping, architecting, and ensuring delivery success across client engagements.
• Designing Claude-based architectures, including technical implementation harnesses, integration layers, and solution architectures using the full stack of Anthropic Claude technologies.
• Modernising the software engineering models, overhauling Legacy codebases and enabling autonomous Claude-powered agents to build software.
• Establishing governance frameworks, organisational support, and strategic guidance necessary for the deployment of intelligent AI models.
• Leading pre-sales engagements, partnering with clients to conduct high-level technical reviews and build confidence at senior level.
• Scaling global FDE teams, building, mentoring, and deploying high-performing onshore and offshore squads.

Required Experience

• Extensive engineering management experience as a CTO, Head of Engineering, or Practice Lead, with a track record of leading Forward-Deployed Engineering teams that work directly inside client environments to design, build, and deliver solutions.
• Deep, hands-on knowledge of the Anthropic Claude ecosystem, agentic orchestration, and end-to-end enterprise implementation, with the practical experience to apply it in complex, real-world client environments.
• Strong expertise in cloud infrastructure, enterprise integration, and modern development practices.
• Proven experience delivering technology projects within the financial services sector, with a strong understanding of the regulatory, security, risk, and governance requirements.
• Strong blend of commercial and technical expertise, from defining delivery scope and statements of work through to designing and implementing technical solutions.