AI Forward Deployed Engineer
Added 13 Oct · still live
Not disclosed
Salary
Not disclosed by employer
£54,700
Going rate
Skilled Worker going rate
This role may qualify for a Skilled Worker visa
SOC 2134 is an eligible occupation, but we are only 53% sure that is the right code. Avanade is a licensed sponsor, so if the code fits, the role should qualify. Check the occupation eligibility rules against what the job actually involves.
This could also be SOC 2133 (IT business analysts, architects and systems designers). We read the code off the advert, so it is our best guess, not the employer's.
Your salary route
New graduate or PhD holder? Pick one of the lower rates.
What each route needs for this job
| Occupation code | New entrant 70% of going rate | STEM PhD 80% of going rate | Relevant PhD 90% of going rate | Standard rate 100% of going rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2134 Programmers and software development professionals Most likely code | £38,300 | £43,700 | £49,200 | £54,700 |
2133 IT business analysts, architects and systems designers Also possible | £38,400 | £43,900 | £49,400 | £54,900 |
We use the lowest threshold across the plausible codes. Likelihood is Possible at most when the pay clears only a lower rate, or only under a less likely code. How the Home Office picks the code
About the role
Summary
As a Forward Deployed Engineer at Avanade, you will embed directly with clients to understand their business, processes and priorities, uncover high-value opportunities for AI, and rapidly turn ideas into working solutions. You will combine business acumen, deep technical expertise and a pragmatic consulting approach to help clients move from ambition to measurable outcomes at speed.
This is a hands-on, client-facing role at the intersection of AI strategy, solution architecture and engineering. You will lead discovery, create and prioritise AI opportunity backlogs, establish the governance and structures needed to support responsible adoption, educate client teams, and architect, build and demonstrate production-minded prototypes using the latest Microsoft technologies.
Role Responsibilities
Client Discovery and Opportunity Shaping
As a Forward Deployed Engineer at Avanade, you will embed directly with clients to understand their business, processes and priorities, uncover high-value opportunities for AI, and rapidly turn ideas into working solutions. You will combine business acumen, deep technical expertise and a pragmatic consulting approach to help clients move from ambition to measurable outcomes at speed.
This is a hands-on, client-facing role at the intersection of AI strategy, solution architecture and engineering. You will lead discovery, create and prioritise AI opportunity backlogs, establish the governance and structures needed to support responsible adoption, educate client teams, and architect, build and demonstrate production-minded prototypes using the latest Microsoft technologies.
Role Responsibilities
Client Discovery and Opportunity Shaping
- Embed with client teams to understand their organisation, business processes, technology landscape and strategic priorities.
- Lead discovery, ideation and design workshops with business and technology stakeholders.
- Identify and assess opportunities where AI, agents and automation can deliver meaningful business value.
- Translate ambiguous business challenges into clear use cases, solution hypotheses and actionable technical requirements.
- Create, structure and prioritise AI opportunity backlogs, balancing value, feasibility, risk and time to impact.
- Develop pragmatic roadmaps, estimates and recommendations that help clients move from experimentation into scaled delivery.
- Architect, build and rapidly iterate AI agents, prototypes and proofs of value using Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Microsoft Copilot Studio and Power Platform.
- Own solutions from initial concept through technical design, build, demonstration, evaluation and transition into production delivery.
Advertisement
- Help clients establish practical AI governance, delivery structures and ways of working that support responsible experimentation and scale.
- Educate client stakeholders and delivery teams on agentic AI capabilities, limitations, patterns and good engineering practices.
- Facilitate solution demonstrations and playback sessions, using feedback to refine priorities and accelerate adoption.
- Coach client teams so that knowledge and capability are transferred throughout the engagement.
- Build trusted relationships across business and technology teams, communicating technical concepts, trade-offs and value in clear language.
- Support pre-sales activities through discovery, solution shaping, estimation, demonstrations and proof-of-concept development.
- Contribute reusable assets, patterns, accelerators and lessons learned to Avanade's Data & AI communities.
- Stay current with Microsoft's AI roadmap and emerging engineering approaches, translating developments into practical client applications.
- Collaborate with architects, engineers, industry specialists and alliance teams to bring the best of Avanade and Microsoft to clients.
- Mentor colleagues and promote a culture of curiosity, pace, quality and accountable delivery.
Advertisement
Qualifications
Required Skills and Experience
Required Skills and Experience
- Hands-on experience architecting and delivering AI-powered solutions using Azure AI Foundry and Azure OpenAI.
- Strong experience building agents and conversational or workflow-based solutions using Microsoft Copilot Studio.
- Experience with Microsoft Power Platform, including integration and automation capabilities relevant to enterprise AI solutions.
- Proven ability to understand business processes, identify opportunities and turn loosely defined problems into working technical solutions.
- Strong software engineering and rapid prototyping capability, with the confidence to architect and build solutions independently.
- Experience leading client workshops, technical discovery sessions, demonstrations and stakeholder playbacks.
- Ability to create and prioritise use-case backlogs, develop estimates and shape pragmatic delivery roadmaps.
- Understanding of agentic AI concepts, LLM solution patterns, prompt engineering, evaluation, grounding and responsible AI controls.
- Experience integrating solutions with enterprise systems, data sources, APIs and workflows.
- Strong client-facing communication skills, with the ability to work across business and technical audiences.
- A self-starting, adaptable and commercially aware mindset, comfortable operating at pace in ambiguous environments.
- Experience working in consulting, professional services, customer engineering or a similarly client-facing technology role.
- Experience with Microsoft Fabric and modern data platform capabilities.
- Experience with Databricks and data engineering or AI workloads.
- Experience with Azure services commonly used in AI solutions, such as Functions, Logic Apps, API Management, AI Search and application hosting services.
- Knowledge of cloud-native engineering, APIs, CI/CD, observability and production support practices.
- Some of the best things about working at Avanade:
- Opportunity to work for Microsoft's Global Alliance Partner of the Year (20 times)
- A minimum of 80 hours per year dedicated to learning, certifications, and professional development
- Access to global Data & AI communities, accelerators, and subject matter experts
- The chance to work on complex, high-impact initiatives across AI, data platforms, analytics and automation
- Clear and supported career progression across Consultant, Associate Manager and Manager levels
At Avanade, you will gain distinctive experiences, limitless learning, and ambitious growth in return for your skills and ideas. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone feels a strong sense of belonging and is empowered to do their best work
This description is the source posting as it read when we added it. We are not affiliated with Avanade, so check their own site for the current details.
Where this offer sits in the market
Programmers and software development professionals (SOC 2134) · UK · ONS ASHE 2025 · basic pay · ~399k in sampleSOC 2134
- Middle half £42,536–76,752
- Median £56,784
- Going rate £54,700
- Threshold £41,700
- New entrant £38,300–49,200
Similar sponsored roles
See all UK visa jobs- London, England, United Kingdom14 Oct
Senior Data Engineer
ZOOPLA LIMITED · London, England, United Kingdom
- London, England, United Kingdom14 Oct
Actuarial Developer - 12 month fixed term contract
PENSION SERVICES CORPORATION LIMITED · London, England, United Kingdom
- London, England, United Kingdom13 Oct
Senior Technical Engineer
Howden Group Holdings Limited · London, England, United Kingdom
- London, England, United Kingdom13 Oct
DevOps Engineer - Home Office
BAE Systems Plc · London, England, United Kingdom
- London, England, United Kingdom13 Oct
Lead DevOps Engineer
EPAM Systems Ltd · London, England, United Kingdom
- London, England, United Kingdom13 Oct
Lead Data & AI Engineer
EPAM Systems Ltd · London, England, United Kingdom
About sponsorship for this role
Does this job guarantee visa sponsorship?
Not necessarily. Avanade holds a sponsor licence, but sponsorship for a specific hire is always the employer's decision. Be upfront in your application that you'll require it.
What salary is needed for this role to be eligible?
The offer must clear both the general threshold and the SOC 2134 going rate of £54,700. New-entrant and shortage discounts can lower it.