Principal Forward-Deployed Engineer
ThoughtWorks6 hours ago
Barcelona, Spain or Madrid, SpainStaff+
Responsibilities
- Lead concept sprints with client executives, product managers, and designers to define scope, outcomes, and success measures.
- Shape technical narratives, proposals, pod structures, pricing parameters, and technical scope for new pursuits.
- Set technical direction for prototypes, including build-versus-buy decisions and evidence plans for user testing.
- Design and evaluate AI-powered systems using golden datasets, offline evaluations, human review, guardrails, and cost and latency budgets.
- Own production architecture, delivery systems, agentic workflows with human oversight, continuous delivery, testing, observability, security, and privacy by design.
- Maintain architectural alignment across multiple delivery streams and enable independent shipping.
- Advise executives and steering committees, facilitate workshops, present technical positions, and shape new opportunities.
- Pair with engineers, review code, mentor team members, create reusable practices, and share knowledge internally and externally.
Requirements
- Strong proficiency in Python or TypeScript, working knowledge of the other, and production experience in at least one additional programming language.
- Hands-on experience with major LLM providers, retrieval-augmented generation, vector databases, and agent frameworks.
- Experience with AI evaluation and observability, including offline and online evaluations, golden datasets, LLM-as-judge patterns, tracing, and cost monitoring.
- Active use of AI-assisted development tools and rapid prototyping platforms.
- Deep expertise in AWS, GCP, or Azure; Terraform; Kubernetes; Docker; and automated CI/CD pipelines.
- Strong foundations in API design, event-driven streaming, microservices, and enterprise legacy-system integration.
- Experience with Snowflake, BigQuery, or Databricks and dbt, Airflow, or Dagster for AI-oriented data architectures.
- Ability to build prototypes with React and Next.js and experience with TDD, pair programming, continuous deployment, and OWASP LLM threat modeling.
- Experience delivering in regulated or high-security environments involving frameworks or requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, Saudi PDPL, or the EU AI Act.
- Experience in GCC or international delivery settings; Arabic proficiency and public advocacy through talks, open source, or publications are preferred.
- Strong communication, product-minded delivery, inclusive leadership, mentorship, adaptability, and collaborative feedback skills.
Benefits
- Work on high-visibility flagship projects with meaningful client and industry impact.
- Collaborate across global markets, industries, and multidisciplinary teams.
- Remain hands-on with technical leadership while shaping AI-first product development practices.
- Receive tailored coaching, learning opportunities, interactive development tools, and support for individual career growth.
- Role is anchored in Riyadh and requires regular travel to GCC client sites, approximately 40% regionally and 10% occasionally globally.
Tech Stack
Apache AirflowApache KafkaAWSAzureDatabricksdbtDockerGoogle BigQueryGoogle Cloud PlatformKubernetesNext.jsPythonReactSnowflakeTerraformTypeScript
Categories
Forward Deployed
About ThoughtWorks
Thoughtworks is a global technology consultancy that designs and builds custom software, data platforms, and cloud-native systems for enterprises across industries. Its services-based model spans product discovery, agile delivery, platform modernization, and advisory on digital transformation and AI. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Chicago, it listed on Nasdaq in 2021 (TWKS) and remains backed by private-equity firm Apax Partners.