Most engineering roles start once the hard decisions are made. This one starts before them.
You'll be the first engineer on a new client engagement, before there's a team or plan, working out what's possible and building the proof a delivery team can scale from.
What's in it for you
You'll decide how the work gets done, with AI tools that aren't locked down. On a recent 19-week AI platform build, 80.5% of authored commits carried verifiable AI co-authorship.
You'll work alongside our agentic team and help shape how we do agentic engineering. You don't need to arrive an expert.
Who you'll work for
hedgehog lab is a UK digital product consultancy and certified B Corp with 20 years behind us, helping public and private sector clients in healthcare, commerce, media and education.
Project teams are 5 to 15 people: agentic engineers, software engineers, QA and designers.
What you'll do
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Turning client goals into architecture and technology choices, recorded in ADRs
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Building proofs of concept that validate the design
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Setting up tooling, workflows and guardrails for AI coding agents
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Shaping testing and code review
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Pairing with engineers and leaving patterns client teams can own
Benefits
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28 days holiday plus bank holidays
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Five paid Impact Days a year for learning, volunteering or innovation
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Learning budget plus time for training and conferences
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Enhanced family leave
Where you'll work
There are no set office days. You'll come into an office or client site for key meetings and workshops.
You'll need to live within 50 miles of our Leeds, Manchester or Newcastle offices. You'll also need to be happy travelling to clients around Leeds and Manchester, some of whom want more time on site.
Essential experience
You'll be in front of clients from week one. If you'd rather keep your head down and code, this isn't for you.
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Commercial TypeScript or Python experience across the full stack (NestJS or FastAPI, for example)
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Hands-on use of AI agents in a real workflow, at work or in your own projects. A GitHub repo counts.
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You've taken a messy, poorly defined problem and shipped something that works
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Comfortable explaining your thinking to non-technical people
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Clear writing, especially ADRs and docs
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Pragmatic architecture, sized to POC, pilot or production
Desirable experience
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Consulting, professional services or forward deployed experience
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Experience presenting to clients or contributing to pitches
Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (Agentic AI) in Leeds employer: hedgehog lab
Hedgehog Lab is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic and innovative work culture, perfect for those looking to make a significant impact in the tech industry. With a focus on employee growth and development, you will have access to cutting-edge technologies and the opportunity to shape data strategies in a fast-paced scale-up environment. Located in a vibrant area, we offer a collaborative atmosphere where your contributions are valued and rewarded.
