Lead Forward Deployed Engineer, AI in Cambridge

AVEVA is creating software trusted by over 90% of leading industrial companies.

We are hiring a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer, AI to join our team. This hands-on leader will drive the development and deployment of AI solutions while bridging the gap between AI technologies exploration and real-world applications, ensuring solutions are practical, scalable, and impactful.

• Provide industrial domain expertise to guide AI tool, platform, and roadmap decisions and development.
• Work directly with internal and external customers in a consultative, problem-solving manner to gather feedback and refine solutions.
• Drive investigations into the application of advanced AI capabilities to industrial problems. Identify and define industrial use cases for AI applications.
• Develop AI-enabled demos, prototypes, and proof-of-value solutions for industrial problems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate AI capabilities into industrial software systems and implement AI solutions.
• Evaluate the performance and impact of AI models in operational environments.
• Support and mentor junior team members.

• 12+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, applied AI, or AI technical product management with at least 4 years in a customer-facing, technical lead position.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Industrial Systems, or a related technical field; advanced degree preferred.
• Exceptional industrial domain understanding (life sciences, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, asset-intensive industries, material science, etc.).
• Recent experience with modern AI paradigms such as: world models, foundation models, and multi-modal language models; agent-based systems and orchestration; and context retrieval and augmentation techniques.
• Customer-focused, pragmatic, and results-oriented with experience leading cross-functional technical projects or customer engagements.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience deploying or integrating AI/ML solutions into real-world industrial environments.
• Ability to identify emerging opportunities for AI in industrial applications.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to embed closely with customer teams and collaborate internally across engineering, product, and commercial teams.

• Experience working across on-prem, edge, and cloud-connected architectures.
• Experience in responsible deployment practices, model drift mitigation, privacy-preserving federating learning, and AI governance best practices.
• Industrial data literacy (time series, SCADA, 3-D models) and experience working with non-ideal, real-world data.
• Prior work in environments transitioning from traditional on-prem systems to AI-enabled or hybrid architectures.
• Experience operating within regulated or compliance-driven environments (e.g. energy, safety-critical systems, data privacy).
• Experience mentoring or guiding less-experienced engineers.

• AI solutions are successfully applied to real industrial problems, not just conceptual designs.
• Prototypes and deployments demonstrate practical feasibility and measurable impact.
• Codified learnings, insights and architectural patterns into references, guides, playbooks, or building blocks that are digestible and actionable for others.
• Industrial constraints (latency, security, compliance, reliability) are addressed through solid engineering decisions.
• Strong collaboration in a matrix / incubation environment, contributing as a senior technical practitioner.
• Feedback from field deployments meaningfully influences AI platform and product direction.

UK Benefits include: Flexible benefits fund, emergency leave days, adoption leave, 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), pension, life cover, private medical insurance, parental leave, education assistance program.

It’s possible we’re hiring for this position in multiple countries, in which case the above benefits apply to the primary location. Specific benefits vary by country, but our packages are similarly comprehensive.

Hybrid working: By default, employees are expected to be in their local AVEVA office three days a week, but some positions are fully office-based. Roles supporting particular customers or markets are sometimes remote.

Interested? Great! Get started by submitting your cover letter and CV through our application portal. AVEVA is committed to recruiting and retaining people with disabilities. Please let us know in advance if you need reasonable support during your application process.

AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software with more than 6,500 employees in over 40 countries. Our cutting-edge solutions are used by thousands of enterprises to deliver the essentials of life – such as energy, infrastructure, chemicals, and minerals – safely, efficiently, and more sustainably.

AVEVA requires all successful applicants to undergo and pass a drug screening and comprehensive background check before they start employment. Background checks will be conducted in accordance with local laws and may, subject to those laws, include proof of educational attainment, employment history verification, proof of work authorization, criminal records, identity verification, credit check. Certain positions dealing with sensitive and/or third-party personal data may involve additional background check criteria.

AVEVA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to being an exemplary employer with an inclusive culture, developing a workplace environment where all our employees are treated with dignity and respect. We value diversity and the expertise that people from different backgrounds bring to our business. AVEVA provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify your recruiter. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.