Purpose:
Embed engineering capability directly into the business to turn real‑world problems into working solutions. The Forward Deployed AI Associate works at the intersection of software development, product thinking, and analysis, where technology meets real operational need.
This role exists to frame problems, test assumptions, and shape solutions that balance user value, technical feasibility, and delivery risk, closing the gap between what we design and what actually works in production in a regulated, high‑trust environment.
You will write production code, work alongside business stakeholders, help decide what should be built and why, and stay with the problem until the solution is live, working, and supportable.
This role exists to make AI a practical, default part of how work is done at 7IM, not an occasional experiment or specialist capability.
Forward Deployed AI Associates accelerate AI adoption by embedding directly into teams, working on real deliverables, and helping colleagues redesign workflows with AI safely and effectively. The goal is durable change in how work happens, not one‑off tools or proofs of concept.
Responsibilities:
• Embed with business teams, squads, or initiatives to deeply understand goals, workflows, constraints, assumptions, and failure modes
• Identify high‑leverage opportunities where AI can materially improve speed, quality, or decision‑making
• Build AI‑assisted tools, workflows, automations, or agents that operate inside real business processes
• Partner with business and product stakeholders to clarify outcomes, success measures, constraints, and trade‑offs before and during delivery
• Analyse workflows, data, and edge cases to identify root causes, not just symptoms, and use this analysis to inform solution design
• Translate ambiguous business problems into concrete technical designs and executable delivery plans
• Lead rapid prototyping and iteration to test assumptions early, reduce risk, and converge on workable solutions
• Design, build, and deploy production‑grade solutions in live environments, not just prototypes or proofs of concept
• Ensure solutions meet 7IM engineering, architecture, security, and regulatory standards
• Build bespoke integrations, automations, or platform extensions where standard solutions fall short
• Own solutions end‑to‑end, from discovery and design through build, release, and early‑life support
• Troubleshoot live issues in production, including data, integration, security, performance, and operational behaviour
• Work closely with Product, Architecture, Information Security, Risk, and Operations to land safe and usable outcomes
• Avoid one‑off or fragile solutions by shaping work toward repeatable patterns and scalable capability
• Feed learnings back into core platforms, patterns, documentation, and ways of working so value compounds over time
• Act consistently in accordance with 7IM values, principles, and behaviours
• Carry out other duties as reasonably required by your line manager and 7IM
Other relevant information:
• You will sit within the Transformation team but are deployed into the business to work on real, current problems
• You will work alongside other Forward Deployed AI Associates, sharing patterns, learnings, and approaches
• You will operate from a clear personal backlog rather than responding to ad‑hoc demand
• You are comfortable being close to the problem, not shielded from it
• You value outcomes over elegance, but never at the expense of safety or quality
• You can switch between deep technical focus and business‑facing discussion without losing credibility
• Reporting to the Head of Development or a senior engineering leader, depending on assignment