Senior AI Forward Deployed Engineer

Senior AI Forward Deployed Engineer (Insurance) Senior, client-facing AI engineering and solution architecture roleAgentic AI, LLMs and cloud (AWS, Azure or GCP) delivered into insurance and financial servicesFlexible across Northern Ireland and Donegal, no mandatory office days, with occasional UK and US client travelA founding hire in a new AI Centre of Excellence, with the chance to shape the team from day oneAbout the Company Our client is a global technology services and consulting leader, working with many of the world's largest insurers, banks and public sector organisations. They are building a new AI Centre of Excellence in Northern Ireland as part of a global AI practice of around 2,000 people, with plans to grow the local team significantly as delivery scales. This is a rare chance to join at the very start, with the backing and client base of a global organisation behind you. The Role This is not a role for building models in the background. You will be embedded with insurance clients from the first conversation, leading discovery on problems that are not yet defined, shaping the solution and then building and shipping it into production yourself. You will own the end-to-end architecture, set technical direction and be the person senior and executive stakeholders trust to tell them what AI can and cannot do for their business. You will work alongside a small, senior founding team and internal enablement pods, with real autonomy over how engagements are run. People who thrive here are consultants and engineers in equal measure… comfortable in a boardroom on Monday and in the codebase on Tuesday. Key Responsibilities Lead discovery, assessment and solution planning with insurance clients, turning ambiguous business problems into clear, deliverable AI solutionsOwn end-to-end solution architecture across complex enterprise programmes, from design and build through deployment, adoption and measurementBuild and ship production-grade AI software hands-on, including agentic workflows, LLM applications and intelligent automationInfluence senior and executive stakeholders on AI strategy, feasibility and investment decisionsDesign solutions that integrate with legacy policy, claims and underwriting platforms and work with imperfect real-world dataDrive rapid prototyping with end users, taking ideas from concept to working software in days rather than weeksLead delivery across multiple technical disciplines, running design reviews and making architectural calls across domainsBuild reusable accelerators and feed lessons from the field back into the wider AI practiceMentor engineers and help shape the culture and ways of working of a growing teamWhat You'll Need Essential 8+ years' experience in software engineering, solution architecture or AI/ML delivery, with a proven record of shipping production software (not only designing or overseeing it)Clear evidence of owning end-to-end architecture and setting technical direction on complex enterprise programmesExperience leading discovery and solution shaping where the problem was not yet definedClient-facing consulting experience, building trusted relationships and influencing at senior and executive level (in-house candidates with substantial senior, consulting-style exposure will also be considered)Strong hands-on skills in at least one modern language such as Python, TypeScript or JavaCloud architecture experience on AWS, Azure or GCP, including APIs, integration and enterprise systemsPractical experience with AI/ML, LLMs and agentic AI in productionInsurance domain knowledge across areas such as underwriting, claims, policy administration, pricing, fraud or distributionBased in, or able to commute within, Northern Ireland or Donegal, with the right to work in the UK or IrelandNice to have Experience with agent orchestration, MCP servers, observability and AI governance in regulated environmentsCloud or AI certifications (AWS Solutions Architect, Azure AI Engineer, GCP Professional ML Engineer)Why Apply? Total flexibility on location across Northern Ireland and Donegal, with no mandatory office daysFounding member of a new AI Centre of Excellence, with genuine influence over its direction and growthBacking of a global AI practice of around 2,000 people, with tooling and enablement to support youStructured four-week onboarding programme supported by internal podsWork on production AI for major insurers, not endless proofs of conceptClear progression as the local team scalesInterested? Get in touch with Ryan Quinn at Ocho People for a confidential conversation. Message me on LinkedIn, email ryan@ochopeople.com, or send your CV directly.