Forward Deployed AI Engineer

OverviewBaker Tilly is a leading advisory, tax and assurance firm, providing clients with a genuine coast-to-coast and global advantage in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the world’s leading financial centers – New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) provide professional services through an alternative practice structure in accordance with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and applicable laws, regulations and professional standards. Baker Tilly US, LLP is a licensed independent CPA firm that provides attest services to its clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities provide tax and business advisory services to their clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities are not licensed CPA firms.Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, are independent members of Baker Tilly International, a worldwide network of independent accounting and business advisory firms in 141 territories, with 43,000 professionals and a combined worldwide revenue of $5.2 billion. Visit bakertilly.com or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.Please discuss the work location status with your Baker Tilly talent acquisition professional to understand the requirements for an opportunity you are exploring.Baker Tilly is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected basis, in accordance with applicable federal, state or local law.Any unsolicited resumes submitted through our website or to Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP, employee e-mail accounts are considered property of Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP, and are not subject to payment of agency fees. In order to be an authorized recruitment agency ("search firm") for Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP, there must be a formal written agreement in place and the agency must be invited, by Baker Tilly's Talent Attraction team, to submit candidates for review via our applicant tracking system.Job Description:Baker Tilly is seeking a Forward Deployed AI Engineer to join the founding team of the firm's AI Product Group (APG) Agent Factory, responsible for designing, developing, and deploying AI-powered applications and intelligent agentic workflows across Tax, Assurance, and Advisory. This hands-on, full-stack engineering role focuses on building production-ready AI solutions that combine advanced AI capabilities with intuitive user experiences and practical business workflows. Working directly with firm practitioners and subject matter experts, this individual will translate complex business processes into scalable AI-enabled solutions, develop applications that support professional review and decision-making, and deliver innovative technology that drives measurable business value. As an early member of the AI Product Group, this individual will collaborate closely with product, design, data, platform engineering, and globally distributed technical teams to develop and deliver AI solutions from initial concept through production deployment. The role emphasizes strong software engineering fundamentals, evaluation-driven development, hands-on execution, and direct collaboration with business stakeholders. The ideal candidate is a highly capable, adaptable engineer with demonstrated experience delivering full-stack applications, deploying LLM-powered features to real users, and learning emerging technologies quickly.ResponsibilitiesDesign and Develop AI-Powered Solutions: Build, implement, and maintain AI agents and multi-step workflows, including task decomposition, orchestration, context and memory management, tool integration, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, and failure handling.Deliver Full-Stack Applications: Develop production-quality applications, backend services, APIs, data models, dashboards, conversational interfaces, and user-facing workflows that enable practitioners to interact effectively with AI-powered solutions.Translate Business Needs into Technical Solutions: Collaborate directly with Tax, Assurance, and Advisory professionals and subject matter experts to understand business processes, identify opportunities for automation, and translate professional expertise into actionable requirements and working software.Drive Evaluation-Based Development: Establish measurable hypotheses, testing criteria, evaluation frameworks, and performance baselines to validate AI capabilities, assess solution quality, and inform technical decisions before production deployment.Develop Testing and Quality Standards: Build and maintain automated tests, regression suites, and ground-truth datasets in partnership with subject matter experts to ensure application reliability, accuracy, and continuous improvement.Own End-to-End Product Delivery: Take accountability for solutions from initial development through deployment, monitoring, troubleshooting, and ongoing enhancements, ensuring successful adoption and positive user outcomes.Integrate Enterprise Systems and Data: Connect AI applications with enterprise systems, APIs, and governed data sources using established integration standards, secure access controls, and data contracts.Build Reusable Engineering Components: Develop and contribute shared technical patterns, reusable components, documentation, and engineering best practices that support consistent and scalable development across the Agent Factory.Support Knowledge Transfer and Technical Ownership: Work alongside external engineering partners to acquire specialized expertise, transition solutions into internally owned production environments, and develop maintainable code, tests, and operational documentation.Collaborate Across Global Engineering Teams: Partner with U.S. and India engineering teams, product management, design, data platform, and enterprise architecture to align technical solutions, share knowledge, and maintain consistent engineering standards.Drive Continuous Improvement and Innovation: Leverage user feedback, application performance data, emerging AI technologies, and evaluation results to refine existing solutions and identify opportunities to enhance productivity, reliability, and business value.Support Strategic Initiatives: Participate in special projects and perform other duties as assigned to advance the firm's AI engineering capabilities and business priorities.QualificationsBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.5 years of hands-on software engineering experience, including demonstrated success designing, developing, and delivering multiple production-quality applications or products from concept through deployment.Required experience deploying at least one LLM-powered feature or application to real users, regardless of scale.Required experience working directly with domain experts, business stakeholders, or customers to translate requirements into technical solutions and take ownership of delivered outcomes.Strong full-stack software engineering experience, including backend services, data models, APIs, and modern user-facing applications.Deep proficiency in at least one mainstream programming language, such as Python, TypeScript, Go, or Java, with demonstrated understanding of language fundamentals, design patterns, and production-quality development practices.Ability to quickly learn and apply new programming languages, frameworks, and technologies; familiarity with Python and TypeScript preferred.Strong software engineering fundamentals, including system design, application architecture, automated testing, debugging, performance optimization, and development of scalable, maintainable systems.Experience developing and integrating modern web applications, APIs, authentication mechanisms, and secure enterprise services.Demonstrated ability to validate technical solutions through measurable outcomes, including automated testing, benchmarks, experiments, evaluation frameworks, or A/B testing.Strong analytical thinking, technical judgment, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate trade-offs, resolve ambiguity, and develop practical solutions to complex challenges.Experience collaborating with nontechnical stakeholders and subject matter experts, with the ability to explain technical concepts and recommendations in clear, business-focused language.Familiarity with LLM applications, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), AI evaluation methodologies, or Model Context Protocol (MCP) preferred.Exposure to agentic AI concepts, including orchestration, tool use, context management, and human-in-the-loop workflows preferred; prior experience building AI agents is not required.Experience with cloud-based application development and technologies such as Microsoft Azure, containers, PostgreSQL, and React preferred.Experience working in professional services, regulated industries, or environments serving highly specialized business users preferred; prior Tax, Assurance, or Accounting experience is not required.Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document technical solutions, articulate design decisions, and collaborate effectively across technical and business teams.Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, adapt quickly to evolving requirements, and deliver high-quality solutions in a fast-paced environment.Experience using AI-assisted and agentic development tools to enhance engineering productivity, or a strong willingness to incorporate these technologies into daily development practices.No professional certifications or licenses required.The pay rate range for this job position are listed below. Actual compensation is influenced by a variety of relevant factors including but not limited to applicant’s skills, prior experience, qualifications, degrees, professional certifications, work arrangements and geographic location. Baker Tilly offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package to eligible employees.The national pay rate range is $205,000–$250,000In California: pay rate range is $205,000–$250,000#LI-AC1SummaryLocation: USA CA San Jose 300 Santana Row; USA CA Pasadena; USA CA Redwood City; USA CA Los Angeles 11150 Santa Monica Blvd; USA CA San Francisco 333 Bush St; USA CA San Diego 4747 Executive Dr; USA CA Santa Clara; USA CA Woodland Hills 6320 Canoga Ave; USA OR Portland; USA CA Walnut Creek 1333 N California Blvd; USA CA Irvine 2050 Main St; USA WA Seattle 999 Third AveType: Full time