JOBSEARCHER

Forward Deployed Engineer

MadisonDavisChicago, ILL6 LeadSeptember 12th, 2026
A large financial services organization is building out a Forward Deployed Engineering capability to accelerate delivery across its corporate application landscape and internal product roadmap. Unlike traditional platform engineering roles, Forward Deployed Engineers embed directly with business stakeholders — Finance, Operations, Risk, Compliance, and revenue-facing lines of business — to scope problems in the room, prototype quickly, and ship production-grade solutions.This is a builder role with unusually high visibility. You will spend as much time with business owners as you do in an IDE, and your work will be measured by the outcomes it produces for the business, not by tickets closed.This posting is for the Level I role, sized for engineers who are strong builders and are growing into full stakeholder ownership. A Level II position is open in parallel for candidates with deeper architecture and applied AI experience.What You'll Do:Embed with business units to translate ambiguous operational problems into scoped, buildable technical solutionsDesign and build integrations, automations, and data flows across the corporate application stack (CRM, HCM, ITSM, ERP, and internal platforms)Rapidly prototype, validate with users, and iterate toward production — often in days, not quartersBuild net-new internal products and tooling from zero, including data models, APIs, and lightweight front endsPartner with core platform, security, and infrastructure teams to bring solutions through architecture review, security review, and production hardeningOwn solutions end to end: build, deploy, instrument, monitor, and supportDocument builds and transition ownership to permanent internal teams as solutions matureServe as the technical voice in the room with senior business leadership, including recommending when not to buildRequired:5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 2+ years in a stakeholder-facing or embedded capacity (Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Solutions Architect, Implementation Engineer, or technical consulting)Strong proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript; working fluency in at least one additional language (Java, C#, Go)Strong SQL and practical data modeling experienceHands-on integration work with REST/GraphQL APIs, webhooks, and event-driven patternsCloud experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP), CI/CD pipelines, and containerized deploymentDemonstrated ability to operate with incomplete requirements and drive clarity independentlyExcellent written and verbal communication; comfortable presenting to non-technical executivesPreferred:Experience in financial services, banking, insurance, or asset management, particularly in regulated data environments (SOX, GLBA, PCI, or model risk governance)Applied AI/LLM development experience — retrieval pipelines, agent frameworks, evaluation harnessesFamiliarity with enterprise SaaS platforms and iPaaS tooling (Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, MuleSoft, Boomi, Workato)Modern data platform experience (Snowflake, Databricks, dbt)Prior experience on a formally designated Forward Deployed or Deployed Engineering teamWhy This Role:Direct line of sight from your code to business impact — no layers of translationGreenfield function with input into how the team, standards, and delivery model are builtBroad technical surface area across integration, data, applied AI, and product developmentExecutive exposure from day oneDefined progression path to Level II as scope and ownership grow