Principal, Forward Deployed Engineer

Lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function within GSK’s Enterprise AI team to rapidly prove AI concepts with business teams, then transition successful solutions to scale-up. You will manage and develop the FDE group, align with BU sponsors, and represent FDE in leadership discussions while staying hands-on at the frontier of AI-augmented engineering. This role blends strategic leadership with technical excellence to deliver impactful AI outcomes in a regulated, enterprise environment. You will shape the governance and standards that ensure responsible, production-ready AI delivery across the organization.

• Define and drive FDE strategy, structure, hiring, development, and engineering standards
• Hire, mentor, and develop FDE staff across levels
• Set AI-native engineering standards (agent workflows, prompt/pattern libraries, handoff hygiene)
• Manage relationships with BU sponsors at Director/Senior Director level
• Lead the most strategic FDE engagements and set precedents
• Make portfolio-level kill/continue decisions with leadership
• Coordinate with Solutions Engineering and Operations Engineering on delivery
• Influence vendor strategy and tooling for AI-native engineering
• Ensure FDE operates within governance for prototype-to-production
• Report FDE performance, pipeline, outcomes, and capacity to Enterprise AI leadership

• PhD or Master’s in Computer Science or Software Engineering (or equivalent practical experience)
• 12+ years in software/AI engineering with senior leadership experience
• Proven track record delivering AI ideas from sketch to working software in customer-facing roles
• Strong GenAI pattern expertise (agents, multi-agent orchestration, RAG, evaluation)
• Daily use of AI coding agents (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Databricks AI Assistant)
• Experience hiring, mentoring, and developing senior engineers
• Experience presenting engineering functions to senior business stakeholders
• Hands-on experience with Openclaw/Hermes agents

• Leadership and people management
• Strategic thinking and stakeholder management
• Communication and cross-functional collaboration
• GenAI patterns: agents, multi-agent orchestration, RAG, evaluation
• AI-native engineering practices: agent workflows, prompts, pattern libraries
• Handoff hygiene and production-readiness