Technical Director of Forward Deployed Engineering

K2 Partnering Solutions is seeking a Technical Lead Director/Senior Director for their AI & Data Labs practice. The role involves providing strategic direction for the Forward Deployed Engineering team, championing production discipline, and leading a team of engineers to deliver high-quality AI systems.

Responsibilities:

• Work with leadership to provide strategic direction for the FDE team, including working with account or industry teams to scale FDE delivery, setting technical expectations and standards for FDE delivery pods, and expanding the assets and tools for the FDE teams
• Champion production discipline for enterprise by establishing and enforcing best practices in context engineering, evaluation, and operational readiness; mandate rigorous testing, including golden sets, regression harnesses, and red-teaming, and set the standard for secure, observable, and auditable code
• Provide hands-on leadership and mentorship to a team of engineers, coaching them through complex challenges while actively contributing to the build; foster a culture of high talent density where every member raises the bar and enable them to deliver quality at speed
• Lead working sessions and facilitate collaboration across client stakeholders (from engineers to the C-suite) and cross-functional teams to design creative AI systems where success is measured by tangible, quantified outcomes and effective adoption, and build trust with clients by transparently communicating risks and progress
• Drive delivery in a fast-paced, outcome-accountable environment, operating in two-to-six-week cycles with direct client feedback; lead working sessions, earn client trust, manage risks, surface constraints early, and ensure every deliverable is ready for scale or run in production
• Spearhead the use of modern development accelerators (Claude Code, Lovable, Cursor, and more) where policy permits, to increase capacity of delivery, increase quality, and deliver faster
• Oversee and mentor high-performing technical teams; execute role with the required experience and passion for working directly with stakeholders to make an outsized impact

Requirements:

• Minimum 10 years of recent experience shipping end-to-end production secure software systems, with a focus on data, machine learning, and AI-native applications; solid experience with cloud platforms (Azure, GCP, or AWS)
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a science or engineering field
• Deep, hands-on knowledge of modern AI technologies and methodologies with demonstrated experience leading teams in designing and implementing advanced AI systems; this includes AI systems judgment, context engineering, evaluation discipline, full-stack capabilities, and model strategy fluency
• Proven ability to lead, manage, and mentor high-performing technical teams, with at least five years of experience in a hands-on leadership role; proven record of and passion for working directly with stakeholders to make an outsized impact
• Excellent problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills with the ability to thrive in ambiguous environments; this includes the presence to lead working sessions and drive decisions with impatient executives and skeptical engineers, a hands-on, accountable style that earns trust by 'coaching while building'; capability to communicate clearly and effectively to diverse audiences (CIO, CISO, CFO, engineers)
• Candidates must be prepared to demonstrate their experience with real work via a portfolio, a GitHub repository, or a structured walk-through of a system they have designed and shipped
• Domestic and global travel may be required
• Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future; we will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa)
• Minimum fifteen years of recent experience in a hands-on leadership role as well as experience in shipping end-to-end production secure software systems, with a focus on data, machine learning, and AI-native applications; solid background with cloud platforms (Azure, GCP, or AWS)