Director of AI Forward Deployed Researcher

**Description

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic AI Research & Executive Consulting (Primary)**
   

• Act as a trusted technical and research advisor to customer 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 customer understanding of what constitutes "production-ready," "scalable," and competitive" AI systems within regulated industries
• Conduct market and technical landscape analysis to inform customer 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 customer organizations
• Mentor customer AI leadership teams on research methodologies, experimentation, and validation practices
• Work as part of a 2-in-a-box team where you are paired with a Sales Executive to drive revenue and find new opportunities in the Hyperscaler or AI Labs.

2. Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Oversee the development and delivery of bespoke, research-backed production systems across multiple, concurrent customer engagements
• Establish best practices, technical frameworks, methodologies, and accelerators for the team that benefit multiple customers 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, customer-centricity, continuous improvement, and technical excellence within the team
• Establish metrics, KPIs, and performance management systems for team success and customer impact

3. Customer-Embedded Research & Production Delivery

• Lead high-impact, applied AI research initiatives to address the customer's most complex and ambiguous challenges
• Design and implement advanced Physical AI, World Models, GenAI/LLM solutions (e.g., Egocentric data collection, advanced RAG, multi-agent systems, custom fine-tuning, synthetic data generation, RLHF, RL Gyms) tailored to customer's 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 customer 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 customer infrastructure, data platforms, and workflows
• Architect systems that customers 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

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Product Influence

• Partner with TELUS Digital Product, Engineering, and Research teams to leverage platform capabilities and inform product roadmap based on customer research insights
• Collaborate with Sales and Account teams on opportunity expansion, account strategy, and customer success
• Represent customer 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

5. Technical Excellence & Innovation

• 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 customer 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 Qualifications

Required

• 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
• 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 customer sites and leading without direct authority
• Customer-centric mindset with ability to build trust and credibility quickly with C-level stakeholders
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or related field Preferred
• 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 customer engagement
• Open-source contributions or active participation in AI research community
• Experience building bespoke solutions vs. configuring off-the-shelf products

What Success Looks Like First 90 Days

• Successfully embedded at assigned customer account(s)
• Built trust and credibility with customer technical and executive leadership
• Conducted discovery and scoped research initiatives aligned with customer strategy
• Established team structure, processes, and success metrics for Forward Deployed team
• Delivered initial research insights, POC, or quick wins demonstrating value
• Established clear research roadmap and delivery milestones

Year 1

• Delivered production AI system(s) informed by applied research, driving measurable customer business outcomes
• Customer views TELUS Digital as indispensable technical and research partner
• Identified and scoped additional research and implementation opportunities within customer organization(s)
• Mentored customer 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 customers and Forward Deployed Engineers
• Established team as high-performing unit with strong retention and customer satisfaction ongoing
• Consistently delivers high-quality, production-ready, research-backed AI solutions across multiple customer engagements
• Maintains deep, trusted relationships with customer technical and executive leadership
• Expands TELUS Digital footprint and influence within customer organizations
• Serves as technical authority and thought leader in AI research and enterprise implementation
• Mentors Forward Deployed Engineers, Solutions Engineers, and customer 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 high-performing Forward Deployed team with strong talent retention and career development

Work Environment

• Embedded at customer locations (Fortune 500 enterprises, Hyperscalers, AI Labs, banks, healthcare organizations, AI-native companies)
• Work within customer facilities alongside their engineering and AI teams
• Adapt to customer culture, processes, and working styles
• Build deep relationships and trust through consistent presence and technical credibility

Travel Expectations

• 50-60% travel to customer sites
• Extended onsite engagements (weeks to months)
• Occasional travel to TELUS Digital offices for team collaboration and knowledge sharing
• Flexibility to support customer location as needed

Customer Types

• Fortune 500 enterprises and Hyperscalers (Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and similar)
• AI Labs and frontier AI research teams
• Highly regulated industries (financial services, healthcare) with complex AI requirements
• Organizations with mission-critical, research-intensive AI challenges

Geographic Focus

Customers primarily in major US metro areas (Seattle, Bay Area, Boston, New York, etc.)

Key Competencies

Technical

• Production software engineering (Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, SQL)
• Frontier GenAI/LLM systems (RAG, agentic AI, fine-tuning, evaluation, vector databases)
• Applied AI research methodologies and experimentation
• Cloud platforms and MLOps (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, CI/CD)
• Data engineering, integration, and synthetic data generation
• System architecture, scalability, and performance optimization
• Model evaluation frameworks and metrics

Research & Innovation

• Applied research in production environments
• Frontier model evaluation and adaptation
• Experimentation design and validation
• Technical writing and documentation
• Thought leadership and knowledge sharing
• Emerging technology assessment and adoption

Consulting & Strategy

• AI strategy and roadmap development
• Requirements gathering and technical discovery
• Stakeholder management and executive communication
• Problem-solving in ambiguous, research-intensive environments
• Change management and adoption strategies
• Business value articulation and ROI analysis

Leadership & Management

• Team leadership, recruitment, and development
• Mentoring and coaching of technical professionals
• Building trust and credibility quickly
• Working effectively in customer cultures
• Influencing without direct authority
• Collaboration across organizational boundaries
• Adaptability and resilience
• Executive presence and communication
• Performance management and KPI development

Why This Role Matters

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.

Forward Deployed Researchers, Directors are the bridge between possibility and production. By embedding with customers 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.

This role is for technical leaders who want to:

• 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

What We Offer

• Executive leadership role overseeing cutting-edge AI research and implementations with Fortune 500 enterprises
• Opportunity to build and scale world-class Forward Deployed team
• Exposure to diverse industries, use cases, and frontier technical challenges
• Direct impact on customer success, TELUS Digital growth, and AI industry advancement
• Collaboration with world-class AI researchers, engineers, and thought leaders
• Professional development in AI research, consulting, and executive leadership
• Opportunity to contribute to thought leadership (publications, presentations, open-source)
• Competitive compensation with performance bonuses
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Remote flexibility with meaningful customer engagement
• Clear pathway to VP and C-suite leadership roles

TELUS Digital Commitment

TELUS Digital is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion.

About Company:

TELUS Digital is the customer experience transformation partner to the world's most admired brands. Our diverse team weaves data, technology, and human ingenuity to deliver differentiated customer journeys, drive operational effectiveness, and scale AI solutions with meaningful value and positive impact.

We craft real-world solutions in the moments that matter, from customer acquisition to lifelong loyalty. Enabled by our global reach - spanning 78,000 experts in 33 countries - and deep industry expertise, we help over 600 organizations make the customer experience feel effortless.

Our solutions span Data & AI, Digital Experience & IT, CX Management and Trust & Safety. At the core of our innovation is Fuel iX™, an enterprise-grade generative AI platform that helps clients safely access and optimize leading LLMs to scale their own AI from pilot to production.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

At TELUS Digital, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All aspects of employment, including the decision to hire and promote, are based on applicant's qualifications, merits, competence and performance without regard to any characteristic related to diversity.