Director, AI Forward Deployed Researcher

Act as a trusted technical and research advisor to client executive leadership (CTOs, Heads of AI, VPs of Engineering, Board Members) on overall AI strategy, roadmap, and competitive positioning

Translate frontier AI research and complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies and implementation plans that justify premium engagement and drive measurable ROI

Shape client understanding of what constitutes "production-ready," "scalable," and "competitive" AI systems within regulated industries

Conduct market and technical landscape analysis to inform client AI strategy and identify emerging opportunities

Provide thought leadership on AI best practices, emerging technologies, research trends, and industry benchmarks

Identify opportunities for AI adoption, value creation, and competitive advantage within client organizations

Mentor client AI leadership teams on research methodologies, experimentation, and validation practices

Manage, mentor, and scale a team of Forward Deployed Researchers and Engineers embedded at high-value client organizations

Oversee the development and delivery of bespoke, research-backed production systems across multiple, concurrent client engagements

Establish best practices, technical frameworks, methodologies, and accelerators for the team that benefit multiple clients and scale across TELUS Digital

Recruit, develop, and retain top-tier Forward Deployed talent; create career development pathways and technical competency frameworks

Serve as an internal thought leader, sharing research insights, lessons learned, and best practices across the Forward Deployed Engineer community

Mentor junior Forward Deployed Engineers and Solutions Engineers on technical, consulting, and leadership skills

Foster a culture of innovation, client-centricity, continuous improvement, and technical excellence within the team

Establish metrics, KPIs, and performance management systems for team success and client impact

Lead high-impact, applied AI research initiatives to address the client’s most complex and ambiguous challenges during 3-6 month+ onsite engagements

Design and implement advanced GenAI/LLM solutions (e.g., advanced RAG, multi-agent systems, custom fine-tuning, synthetic data generation, RLHF) tailored to clients’ unique requirements and constraints

Build production-ready AI systems addressing data quality, evaluation, governance, and deployment challenges in regulated environments

Conduct frontier AI experiments (novel architectures, training methodologies, evaluation frameworks) with direct applicability to client use cases

Ensure all production systems meet stringent security, compliance, performance, and scalability requirements for Fortune 500 and highly regulated clients

Integrate TELUS Digital capabilities with client infrastructure, data platforms, and workflows

Architect systems that the client can operate and evolve long-term with reduced dependency on external support

Own end-to-end delivery from discovery, research, and validation through production deployment and optimization

Partner with TELUS Digital Product, Engineering, and Research teams to leverage platform capabilities and inform product roadmap based on client research insights

Collaborate with Sales and Account teams on opportunity expansion, account strategy, and client success

Represent client voice internally to drive product, service, and research improvements

Participate in analyst relations and thought leadership initiatives to elevate TELUS Digital's market position

Work with other Forward Deployed Directors and Engineers to share learnings and establish organizational best practices

Stay at the frontier of AI models, frameworks, and deployment patterns; maintain hands-on expertise in cutting-edge areas

Experiment with emerging AI technologies and assess applicability to client challenges and competitive positioning

Publish or present technical work, contributing to TELUS Digital's thought leadership and industry recognition

Build and maintain expertise in frontier areas (LLMs, multimodal AI, agentic systems, synthetic data, RLHF, evaluation frameworks, etc.)

Document technical approaches, architectures, research methodologies, and lessons learned

Contribute to open-source projects or TELUS Digital's technical community

10+ years of hands-on software engineering and AI/ML experience with production systems

4+ years in senior leadership or management roles managing technical teams of at least 5+ professionals (e.g., managing Forward Deployed Engineers, Solution Engineers, or Research teams)

Proven ability to serve as a strategic advisor and technical authority to C-level stakeholders

Deep expertise in frontier GenAI/LLMs, including: RAG systems and vector databases Agentic AI and multi-agent systems Fine-tuning, prompt engineering, and in-context learning Evaluation frameworks and metrics for LLM systems Production MLOps and deployment

RAG systems and vector databases

Agentic AI and multi-agent systems

Fine-tuning, prompt engineering, and in-context learning

Evaluation frameworks and metrics for LLM systems

Production MLOps and deployment

Hands-on proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern AI/ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, LangChain, Hugging Face)

Proven track record of success in ambiguous, complex environments with a high degree of autonomy

Excellent communication skills across technical, research, and executive audiences

Self-directed and resourceful, comfortable operating independently at client sites and leading without direct authority

Client-centric mindset with the ability to build trust and credibility quickly with C-level stakeholders

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or related field

Advanced degree (MS/PhD in Computer Science, AI/ML, or related field)

Experience at AI platform/research companies (Anthropic, OpenAI, Palantir, Scale AI, Cohere, etc.) in research, Forward Deployed, or leadership roles

Experience at top-tier consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte) in technical or engineering leadership roles

Published technical work or recognized AI/ML expertise, contributing to thought leadership and industry recognition

Prior work in regulated industries (financial services, healthcare) with compliance requirements and enterprise complexity

Track record of mentoring engineers and building high-performing teams

Computer vision and/or data annotation platform expertise

Multilingual capabilities for global client engagement

Open-source contributions or active participation in the AI research community

Experience building bespoke solutions vs. configuring off-the-shelf products

Successfully embedded at assigned client account(s)

Built trust and credibility with the client's technical and executive leadership

Conducted discovery and scoped research initiatives aligned with client strategy

Established team structure, processes, and success metrics for the Forward Deployed team

Delivered initial research insights, POC, or quick wins demonstrating value

Established a clear research roadmap and delivery milestones

Delivered production AI system(s) informed by applied research, driving measurable client business outcomes

Client views TELUS Digital as an indispensable technical and research partner

Identified and scoped additional research and implementation opportunities within client organization(s)

Mentored client AI teams and Forward Deployed team members, building their research and production capabilities

Contributed technical and research insights that influenced TELUS Digital product/service offerings

Built reusable patterns, frameworks, or accelerators benefiting other clients and Forward Deployed Engineers

Established team as a high-performing unit with strong retention and client satisfaction

Consistently delivers high-quality, production-ready, research-backed AI solutions across multiple client engagements

Maintains deep, trusted relationships with client technical and executive leadership

Expands TELUS Digital's footprint and influence within client organizations

Serves as a technical authority and thought leader in AI research and enterprise implementation

Mentor Forward Deployed Engineers, Solutions Engineers, and client teams

Contributes to TELUS Digital's thought leadership through publications, presentations, or research initiatives

Drives continuous innovation in AI solution architecture and deployment methodologies

Builds and scales a high-performing Forward Deployed team with strong talent retention and career development

Embedded at client locations (Fortune 500 enterprises, banks, healthcare organizations, AI-native companies)

Work within client facilities alongside their engineering and research teams

Adapt to client culture, processes, and working styles

Build deep relationships and trust through consistent presence and technical credibility

60-80% travel to client sites

Extended onsite engagements (weeks to months)

Occasional travel to TELUS Digital offices for team collaboration, research initiatives, and knowledge sharing

Flexibility to support multiple client locations as needed

Fortune 500 enterprises (Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and similar)

AI-native companies and frontier AI research teams

Highly regulated industries (financial services, healthcare) with complex AI requirements

Organizations with mission-critical, research-intensive AI challenges

In AI, the gap between research and production is where most organizations fail. While many companies can demonstrate AI capabilities or conduct research in isolation, few can successfully bridge cutting-edge research with complex enterprise implementations, combining frontier techniques with real data, real constraints, and real business impact.

Directors of Forward Deployed Research are the bridge between possibility and production. By embedding with clients and leading high-performing teams, they ensure TELUS Digital's AI solutions don't just impress in research papers or demos; they deliver transformative, research-backed results in the real world. They also elevate TELUS Digital's market position from services vendor to trusted AI research and implementation partner, while building the next generation of technical leaders.

Conduct applied AI research with real-world impact at enterprise scale

See their research and code drive tangible business outcomes

Work on diverse, frontier AI challenges across industries

Build and mentor high-performing technical teams

Operate at the intersection of cutting-edge AI research and enterprise reality

Shape how organizations adopt and scale AI

Contribute to the advancement of AI in production environments

Grow into executive leadership within a high-growth AI company