Forward Deployment AI Engineer at Lyra… · Naperville

Lyra Technology Group is looking for a Forward Deployed AI Engineer to work directly inside our clients' businesses — rolling up your sleeves to design, build, and deploy AI-powered solutions that create real operational impact. You won't be sitting behind a desk writing specs; you'll be on-site at small and mid-size businesses diagnosing inefficiencies, earning stakeholder trust, and shipping production-grade AI agents, automated workflows, and engineering solutions that change how these organizations run.  This is a hands-on, client-facing engineering role built for someone who is as comfortable presenting to a business owner as they are writing Python.

Your work as a Forward Deployment AI Engineer will include several components:  

•    Client Acquisition & Relationship Management: Identify, engage, and secure new business opportunities through
•    Embed directly with clients to discover operational pain points, map workflows, and identify high-ROI opportunities for AI and automation
•    Design and build AI agents using frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, or similar — including tool-use, memory, and multi-agent orchestration patterns
•    Develop AI-powered workflows that integrate with clients' existing systems (CRMs, ERPs, cloud platforms, communication tools, etc.)
•    Engineer automation solutions across areas such as document processing, data extraction, reporting, customer communication, and internal operations
•    Own the full delivery lifecycle — from scoping and architecture to build, testing, handoff, and lightweight documentation
•    Train and enable client teams to maintain and iterate on solutions post-deployment
•    Serve as a trusted technical advisor, translating complex AI capabilities into clear business value for non-technical stakeholders
•    Contribute internally by codifying reusable components, playbooks, and delivery templates that scale across the practice

Our ideal Forward Deployment AI Engineer has the following qualifications:

•    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field
•    2+ years of professional experience in software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or a technical consulting role
•    Working proficiency in Python and familiarity with REST APIs and cloud services
•    Hands-on experience building with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or similar)
•    Understanding of prompt engineering, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and agentic workflow patterns
•    Ability to work independently in ambiguous, fast-moving client environments
•    Strong communication skills — you can explain a vector database to a CFO without losing them
•    Willingness to travel regularly to client sites (estimated 40–60%) 

Preferred
•    Experience with workflow automation platforms (Zapier, Make, n8n, or similar)
•    Familiarity with vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma) and embedding pipelines
•    Exposure to low-code/no-code tools alongside custom-code solutions
•    Prior client-facing, consulting, or forward-deployed engineering experience
•    Experience working with SMB clients across industries such as professional services, healthcare, logistics, or retail

Who Thrives in This Role
You're a builder who gets energy from solving real problems for real people. You're not waiting for perfect requirements — you ask good questions, form a hypothesis, and get something in front of stakeholders fast. You're comfortable being the most technical person in the room for one hour and a junior learner the next. You care about the outcome, not just the code.

The targeted salary for this role is $120,000-$150,000 per year and will operate out of the Naperville office on a hybrid basis.
 

Lyra Tech Group is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diverse perspectives and are committed to building an inclusive team.