AFE Cell Lead - AI Advanced Forward Engineering - Manager
EY · Chicago, United States · 1mo ago
Location: Anywhere in Country
At EY, we’re all in to shape your future with confidence.
We’ll help you succeed in a globally connected powerhouse of diverse teams and take your career wherever you want it to go. Join EY and help to build a better working world.
The opportunity
We are seeking a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to own the end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems into a single client engagement in highly regulated industries such as tax, finance, and risk. As the technical authority and outcome owner within an Advanced Forward Engineering (AFE) delivery cell, you are accountable for turning ambiguous, high-stakes business problems into working, secure, production-grade solutions under real client constraints.
Unlike traditional architecture or sales-engineering roles, the AFE Cell Lead is embedded directly with the client and remains hands-on, diving deep into the code and the client’s environment as needed, while owning tradeoffs, stakeholder relationships, and the trust that determines whether the engagement succeeds.
Each cell is a small pod, typically consisting of a Cell Lead Engineer, a Builder / Implementation Engineer, and a Data Engineer, assigned to one customer. This role leads that cell, sets its technical direction, interfaces with the client, and feeds structured field reality back into the product and architecture feedback loop. It is ideal for a seasoned engineer who combines deep technical judgment with strong client presence and a bias toward delivering outcomes.
Your key responsibilities
- Own end-to-end outcome delivery for the cell, including scoping, tradeoffs, technical direction, and production readiness, taking accountability for the business outcome, not just the code.
- Embed directly with the client to define the real problem and translate ambiguous business needs into an executable technical solution under regulatory and environmental constraints.
- Serve as the primary technical interface and trusted advisor to client stakeholders, managing expectations, communicating tradeoffs, and sustaining the trust that drives adoption.
- Stay hands-on, personally designing and building critical parts of the solution, and diving deep into the client’s systems, data, and codebase when the engagement requires it.
- Deploy, adapt, and stabilize solutions in the client environment using supported templates and profiles, owning release readiness and runtime accountability for what the cell ships.
- Direct the work of the cell’s Implementation Engineer and Data Engineer, ensuring integrations, orchestration, and data readiness come together into a coherent, production-grade outcome.
- Ensure every deployment meets safety, integrity, and cost constraints, partnering with control authorities and the Distinguished AFE on safe-to-ship decisions for regulated environments.
Skills and attributes for success
- Strong outcome ownership: able to take accountability for delivering a business result under real-world constraints, not just completing technical tasks.
- Excellent client presence: credible with both technical teams and senior business stakeholders, and able to build trust quickly in high-stakes settings.
- Genuinely hands-on: comfortable diving deep into code, data, and messy legacy systems while still leading the engagement.
- Strong technical judgment in complex, distributed, AI-enabled systems, with the ability to make sound decisions autonomously.
- Effective at communicating complex technical tradeoffs clearly and with evidence to varied audiences (technical / executive).
- Comfortable operating with autonomy in small, senior teams, often solo at a client site.
- Pragmatic mindset: balance ideal design against regulatory, organizational, and environmental realities.
To qualify you must have
- 8+ years delivering complex enterprise systems, ideally in regulated or client-facing contexts.
- Hands-on engineering depth across integration-heavy architectures, cloud platforms, and distributed systems.
- Experience with modern AI-enabled application stacks (e.g., agentic systems, orchestration frameworks, LLM-backed services).
- Proven ability to operate in forward-deployed, customer-facing, or solutions-architecture roles, owning outcomes end to end.
- Demonstrated ability to lead a small technical team while remaining an individual contributor.
- Strong stakeholder-management skills, including managing client expectations under pressure.
- Solid understanding of software delivery lifecycle, quality gates, and production readiness in enterprise settings.
Ideally, you’ll also have
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related technical field.
- Experience deploying solutions into client environments (cloud, on-prem, hybrid, or air-gapped).
- Experience working within AI governance, security, or cost controls in production environments.
- Exposure to regulated delivery contexts (e.g., financial services, tax, healthcare, risk platforms).
What we offer you
At EY, we’ll develop you with future-focused skills and equip you with world-class experiences. We’ll empower you in a flexible environment, and fuel you and your extraordinary talents in a diverse and inclusive culture of globally connected teams. Learn more.
- We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to the business. The base salary range for this job in all geographic locations in the US is $125,500 to $230,200. The base salary range for New York City Metro Area, Washington State and California (excluding Sacramento) is $150,700 to $261,600. Individual salaries within those ranges are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge, skills and geography. In addition, our Total Rewards package includes medical and dental coverage, pension and 401(k) plans, and a wide range of paid time off options.
- Join us in our team-led and leader-enabled hybrid model. Our expectation is for most people in external, client serving roles to work together in person 40-60% of the time over the course of an engagement, project or year.
- Under our flexible vacation policy, you’ll decide how much vacation time you need based on your own personal circumstances. You’ll also be granted time off for designated EY Paid Holidays, Winter/Summer breaks, Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well-being.
Are you ready to shape your future with confidence? Apply today.
EY accepts applications for this position on an on-going basis.
For those living in California, please click here for additional information.
EY focuses on high-ethical standards and integrity among its employees and expects all candidates to demonstrate these qualities.
EY | Building a better working world
EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.
Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.
EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.
EY provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, pregnancy, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected basis, including arrest and conviction records, in accordance with applicable law.
EY is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities including veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and either need assistance applying online or need to request an accommodation during any part of the application process, please call 1-800-EY-HELP3, select Option 2 for candidate related inquiries, then select Option 1 for candidate queries and finally select Option 2 for candidates with an inquiry which will route you to EY’s Talent Shared Services Team (TSS) or email the TSS at ssc.customersupport@ey.com.