Forward Deployed Engineer in Sheffield

Job Description

Level / Location: GCB4/5 typical — Various — co-located with the FDT Tech

Sit close to users (business teams, delivery pods, transformation squads) as the accountable engineer for rapid prototyping and delivery of end-to-end solutions. Build and iterate production-viable prototypes and thin-slice solutions spanning UI, APIs, integrations and automation—turning real user needs into working software quickly, safely and repeatably. This role bridges product intent and engineering execution, accelerating time-to-value while ensuring solutions are secure, supportable and aligned to enterprise standards and platforms.

Role Description & Core Accountabilities

This role exists because high-impact delivery often requires engineers embedded with users to rapidly discover the right solution, prove value via prototypes, and then harden and deliver end-to-end capabilities into production pathways. The Forward Deployed Engineer accelerates learning loops while maintaining engineering discipline, ensuring what’s built can scale, be supported and be reused.

• User-adjacent delivery & rapid prototyping - Work directly with users to understand workflows and pain points; translate needs into prototypes, demos and thin-slice implementations that validate value quickly and reduce delivery risk.
• End-to-end solution build (UI/API/integration/automation) - Design and implement complete solutions across front end, back end, integrations and automation, using approved platforms and patterns to deliver measurable outcomes.
• Solution shaping & technical options - Propose pragmatic technical approaches, MVP scopes and delivery sequencing; balance speed with security, resilience, and maintainability.
• Integration & automation enablement - Build and configure integrations (systems/APIs/events) and automate operational processes (workflows, controls, reporting) to remove manual steps and improve reliability.
• Engineering standards & controls adherence - Ensure solutions meet engineering standards, secure coding practices, testing, and control requirements; raise risks early and embed controls by design.
• Production readiness & handover - Drive operational readiness including logging/monitoring, runbooks, support handover, and non-functional considerations; ensure solutions can be operated safely at scale.
• Reuse and platform alignment - Prefer reuse over bespoke; contribute reusable components, patterns, templates and reference implementations back to engineering/platform communities.
• Feedback loop to platforms - Capture field constraints and needs; convert into actionable platform/tooling feedback (user stories, defects, enhancements, benefits) to improve enterprise capabilities.
• Stakeholder management close to delivery - Communicate progress, trade-offs, and risks clearly to business and technology stakeholders; keep momentum and decisions unblocked.

Experience — Required

• Proven experience delivering end-to-end software solutions, covering UI, APIs/services, and integration with upstream/downstream systems.
• Strong ability to rapidly prototype, iterate with users, and then harden solutions towards production readiness.
• Experience building integrations and automation (e.g., workflows, orchestration, scripting, CI/CD automation) in enterprise environments.
• Working knowledge of secure engineering practices, testing, observability (logs/metrics/traces), and operational handover.
• Experience collaborating with product and business stakeholders to shape MVP scope and manage trade-offs.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments with shifting requirements, while maintaining delivery discipline and transparency.

Experience — Preferred

• Experience delivering within regulated/controlled environments (risk, audit, security, data handling) and navigating governance pragmatically.
• Experience with platform-based delivery and reuse (shared services, APIs, integration platforms, enterprise tooling), including knowing when to reuse vs build.
• Experience with modern UI frameworks, API design, event-driven or integration patterns, and automation/orchestration tooling.
• Experience working in Value Streams / product-led delivery, transformation pods, or forward-deployed/embedded engineering models.
• Experience contributing reusable accelerators (templates, reference apps, integration patterns) and coaching other engineers.

Behavioural Skills

• User-obsessed builder; stays close to users, validates fast, and focuses on measurable outcomes over perfect paperwork.
• Pragmatic engineering discipline; moves quickly without skipping fundamentals (security, testing, operability, controls).
• End-to-end ownership mindset; takes accountability from discovery through build, release and handover; doesn’t throw work “over the wall”.
• Bias for simplification and automation; eliminates manual steps and complexity, automates repeatable tasks wherever sensible.
• Clear communicator under pressure; explains options, trade-offs and risks in plain language; keeps stakeholders aligned.
• Collaborative and inclusive; works well across roles and backgrounds, welcomes different perspectives to get to better solutions faster.
• Proactive risk management; identifies integration, dependency, data and control risks early; escalates with options, not surprises.

Derailers / Red Flags

• Builds prototypes that cannot be industrialised, creating rework or hidden technical debt.
• Ignores security, controls or operational needs in the name of speed; pushes fragile solutions into production pathways.
• Over-builds or over-engineers instead of delivering thin-slice value and iterating.
• Creates bespoke point solutions where reusable platforms/patterns exist.
• Fails to manage dependencies or communicate risks early, causing delivery churn and stakeholder surprises.
• Focuses on delivery completion without ensuring supportability, monitoring and clear ownership.

Year 1 Outcomes (Scale & Embed)

• Consistent delivery of user-validated prototypes that convert into production-viable thin-slice solutions with clear value realised.
• Multiple end-to-end solutions delivered (UI/API/integration/automation) that measurably improve user workflows, reduce manual effort, or increase reliability.
• Demonstrable reduction in cycle time from idea to working software through embedded delivery and rapid iteration loops.
• Reusable components, patterns or templates contributed back to the Value Stream/platform communities, reducing duplication across teams.
• Strong production readiness discipline established (testing, security, observability, runbooks, handover), with reduced post-release incidents and rework.
• Clear, structured feedback provided to platform/tooling teams, influencing roadmap improvements based on field delivery realities.
• Recognised as a dependable embedded engineering partner who unblocks delivery and raises overall engineering maturity.