Forward Deployed Engineer - Microsoft Enterprise

Company DescriptionStrata52 partners with growth-minded teams to turn AI potential into real-world productivity. The organization focuses on designing and deploying human-centered AI solutions that reduce friction, increase output, and scale effective processes. Strata52 works across operational and executive levels, helping teams integrate AI into their everyday workflows. Its approach emphasizes practical impact, low complexity, and minimal overhead, making advanced AI capabilities accessible to a wide range of enterprises.Role DescriptionThe Forward Deployed Engineer, Microsoft Enterprise is a senior, client-facing engineering role focused on designing and shipping AI-enabled applications, integrations, and agents inside enterprise Microsoft environments. This engineer is embedded directly with client teams, works alongside their IT, ERP, and business owners, and is accountable for moving solutions from discovery to production on a rapid, recurring delivery cadence.The work spans three layers. First, enterprise ERP and business systems: Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dataverse, including data model design, integration, and extension. Second, the Power Platform: Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, and Power BI, built and governed to enterprise ALM standards. Third, AI and agents: designing, building, evaluating, and deploying production agents using Azure AI Foundry, Copilot Studio, and Azure OpenAI, grounded in real enterprise data with appropriate security and identity controls.This is not a prototype role. Everything built is expected to run in production, under a client's tenant, with real users, real data governance, and real support expectations.Core ResponsibilitiesLead technical discovery with client stakeholders, translate business requirements into solution architecture, and produce clear technical specifications and effort estimates.Design and implement solutions across Dynamics 365, Dataverse, and the Power Platform, including custom connectors, plug-ins, PCF components, and Power Fx logic.Build and deploy AI agents in Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, including tool and function calling, retrieval over enterprise data, prompt and orchestration design, evaluation, and production monitoring.Develop supporting back-end services and integrations using C# and .NET, Python, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Service Bus, and API Management.Implement proper ALM: solution layering, managed versus unmanaged solutions, environment strategy across dev, test, and production, and automated deployment pipelines in Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.Apply enterprise security and governance: Entra ID authentication, service principals, managed identities, Dataverse security roles and row-level security, DLP policies, and data residency requirements.Troubleshoot and optimize complex distributed systems, including performance tuning of Dataverse queries, integration throughput, and agent latency and cost.Document architecture, runbooks, and handoff materials so client teams can operate and extend what is delivered.Work directly with client executives and end users to demo, gather feedback, and iterate toward adoption.Required QualificationsSeven or more years of professional software engineering experience, with significant time spent delivering into enterprise production environments.Strong computer science foundation: data structures, algorithms, system design, and distributed systems.Proven, hands-on expertise with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dataverse, including data modeling, business logic, integration patterns, and extension via plug-ins or custom APIs.Proven, hands-on expertise with the Power Platform: Power Apps (canvas and model-driven), Power Automate, Dataverse, custom connectors, and Power Platform ALM.Demonstrated experience building and deploying AI agents in production using Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, or Copilot Studio, including grounding, tool use, evaluation, and observability.Strong object-oriented programming skills in C# and .NET, plus working proficiency in Python.Deep working knowledge of Azure: Functions, Logic Apps, Service Bus, API Management, Key Vault, App Service, Azure AI Search, and Entra ID.Experience integrating with enterprise ERP and line-of-business systems, including handling messy data, legacy interfaces, and cross-system reconciliation.Demonstrated ability to work directly with client stakeholders, run requirements sessions, manage scope, and communicate technical tradeoffs to non-technical audiences.Comfort operating in a fast delivery cadence with minimal supervision, managing multiple client environments and priorities simultaneously.Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.Preferred QualificationsMicrosoft certifications such as PL-600 (Power Platform Solution Architect), PL-400, AZ-204, AI-102, or MB-series Dynamics certifications.Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Synapse Link for Dataverse, or Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations data integration.Experience with Semantic Kernel, Model Context Protocol (MCP), LangGraph, or comparable agent orchestration frameworks.Prior consulting, professional services, or forward deployed engineering experience in a client-facing capacity.Experience implementing Power Platform governance at scale, including the Center of Excellence Starter Kit, environment strategy, and DLP policy design.Background in regulated industries such as healthcare, medical devices, or financial services.Engagement DetailsRemote, with occasional client travel. Contract engagement with potential to extend based on client demand and delivery performance.