Forward Deployed Engineer

Level / Location: GCB4/5 typical Various co-located with the FDT Tech

Sit close to users (business teams delivery pods transformation squads) as the accountable engineer for rapid prototyping and delivery of end-to-end solutions. Build and iterate production-viable prototypes and thin-slice solutions spanning UI APIs integrations and automationturning real user needs into working software quickly safely and repeatably. This role bridges product intent and engineering execution accelerating time-to-value while ensuring solutions are secure supportable and aligned to enterprise standards and platforms.

Reporting & stakeholders: Solid line into FDT Tech Lead / Engineering Lead. Strong day-to-day partnership with Product Owner(s) business SMEs and delivery pod leads on scope prioritisation and trade-offs. Close collaboration with platform teams (e.g. AI platform / Data platform) architecture and operations/support teams to ensure production readiness. Engage with tooling/platform owners to provide structured feedback and reusable patterns from field delivery.

Scope & authority: Accountable for shaping building and delivering prototypes and end-to-end thin-slice solutions close to users including UI APIs integrations and automation workflows. Owns local technical decisions required to deliver outcomes at pace within approved architecture patterns engineering standards controls and governance frameworks. Authority includes recommending solution patterns implementing integrations/automations and escalating material risks dependencies or control gaps.

Role description & core accountabilities

This role exists because high-impact delivery often requires engineers embedded with users to rapidly discover the right solution prove value via prototypes and then harden and deliver end-to-end capabilities into production pathways. The Forward Deployed Engineer accelerates learning loops while maintaining engineering discipline ensuring whats built can scale be supported and be reused.

User-adjacent delivery & rapid prototyping - Work directly with users to understand workflows and pain points; translate needs into prototypes demos and thin-slice implementations that validate value quickly and reduce delivery risk.

End-to-end solution build (UI/API/integration/automation) - Design and implement complete solutions across front end back end integrations and automation using approved platforms and patterns to deliver measurable outcomes.

Solution shaping & technical options - Propose pragmatic technical approaches MVP scopes and delivery sequencing; balance speed with security resilience and maintainability.

Integration & automation enablement - Build and configure integrations (systems/APIs/events) and automate operational processes (workflows controls reporting) to remove manual steps and improve reliability.

Engineering standards & controls adherence - Ensure solutions meet engineering standards secure coding practices testing and control requirements; raise risks early and embed controls by design.

Production readiness & handover - Drive operational readiness including logging/monitoring runbooks support handover and non-functional considerations; ensure solutions can be operated safely at scale.

Reuse and platform alignment - Prefer reuse over bespoke; contribute reusable components patterns templates and reference implementations back to engineering/platform communities.

Feedback loop to platforms - Capture field constraints and needs; convert into actionable platform/tooling feedback (user stories defects enhancements benefits) to improve enterprise capabilities.

Stakeholder management close to delivery - Communicate progress trade-offs and risks clearly to business and technology stakeholders; keep momentum and decisions unblocked.

Success Profile criticality for this role

Calibration rationale: This is a hands-on user-adjacent engineering role optimised for speed-to-value and end-to-end delivery. Core capabilities around engineering discipline customer centricity integration delivery and pragmatic decision-making are Essential. Broader strategic leadership and talent stewardship are Desirable as the role contributes to scaling patterns and mentoring but does not typically own enterprise-wide strategy.

Experience Required

Consistent delivery of user-validated prototypes that convert into production-viable thin-slice solutions with clear value realised.

Multiple end-to-end solutions delivered (UI/API/integration/automation) that measurably improve user workflows reduce manual effort or increase reliability.

Demonstrable reduction in cycle time from idea to working software through embedded delivery and rapid iteration loops.

Reusable components patterns or templates contributed back to the Value Stream/platform communities reducing duplication across teams.

Strong production readiness discipline established (testing security observability runbooks handover) with reduced post-release incidents and rework.

Clear structured feedback provided to platform/tooling teams influencing roadmap improvements based on field delivery realities.

Recognised as a dependable embedded engineering partner who unblocks delivery and raises overall engineering maturity.