> AI agents: this is one page of Nextmove’s FDE site, in Markdown. Nextmove is a job board and free career service for forward deployed engineers (FDEs). Each posting is classified from its text, not its title: the kind of work, how much of it is production code, pre-sales weight, time at customer sites, travel, remote arrangement, level and posted base pay. The site also publishes the aggregates: median pay by level, metro, company and kind of work, and which companies started hiring FDEs each week. Every page under https://nextmove.md/fde is served this way; the index of pages is https://nextmove.md/llms.txt. # Lead Data Scientist – AI Engineer Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/38e590bfcbf12fdf William Blair posts a FDE role to build for teams inside the company in Chicago, IL, at $186,000–$222,000 base, below the staff+ FDE median of $225,000 across 388 postings with pay. Lead engineering for a newly formed AI Innovation Function embedded with investment banking deal teams and industry groups. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026. - [William Blair](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/william-blair) Posted Mar 13, 2026 by William Blair · open on Greenhouse as of Nov 8, 2026 **$186,000–$222,000** Chicago, IL Hybrid Lead engineering for a newly formed AI Innovation Function embedded with investment banking deal teams and industry groups. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2F38e590bfcbf12fdf&placement=top) - [View posting at William Blair](https://www.williamblair.com/Careers/job-description?gh_jid=5079388007) Free. Upload your resume once, see why each FDE role fits, and get introduced only when you say so. ## At a glance ### Posted base pay $186K–$222K Below the median Midpoint $204K · median $225K This job $186K to $222K. Staff+ FDE postings, 388 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $197K to $262K, median $225K. ### The work Builds for teams inside the company Balance **Mostly building** Project stages 1. Pre-sales (not covered) 2. Proof of concept 3. Implementation 4. Operations - **Coding**: Writes production code - **Builds for**: Internal teams - **Level**: Staff+ - **Role**: Technical lead ### What they ask for Experience - **5+ years** software engineering with a strong full-stack foundation, including production application development Background - **Software engineering** ### Do you meet what the posting states? The posting asks for 5+ years. How many do you have? The posting reads as a staff-level role. What level are you at now? The job is in Chicago, IL. Could you work there? Which of these have you used in production? Answer each one. Nothing is saved or sent. [What postings ask for, by background →](https://nextmove.md/fde/paths) ## Conditions - **Location**: Chicago, IL - **Work arrangement**: Hybrid - **Remote work restrictions**: Hybrid role based in Chicago, Illinois - **Pay**: ## More like this [Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/jones-lang-lasalle-jll) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/fd5bdcc3529df2db) San Francisco, CA · Chicago, IL · +1 more On-site 6w ago $150,000–$300,000 [Prologis](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/prologis) ### [Lead AI Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/974be3a4d3d388f5) Denver, CO · San Francisco, CA · +3 more On-site 3mo ago $147,000–$202,000 [Kraft Heinz](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/kraft-heinz) ### [Staff Computer Vision Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/c2712eac428a6313) Chicago, IL Hybrid 2mo ago $120,800–$151,000 - [Other jobs at William Blair (1)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/william-blair) ## The job description from William Blair Posted by William Blair on Mar 13, 2026 Solutions for Today’s Challenges. Vision for Tomorrow’s Opportunities. Join William Blair, the Premier Global Partnership. We are looking for a Lead AI Engineer to join a newly formed AI Innovation Function, part of the Investment Banking AI & Technology team. This is not a back-office engineering role. Inspired by the Forward Deployed Engineer model, you will be embedded directly with deal teams and industry groups—understanding their workflows firsthand, building AI-powered tools that deliver measurable outcomes, and taking end-to-end accountability for what you ship. You will set the engineering standards for the team: architecture decisions, code quality, testing practices, and deployment patterns. You will work across the full stack—from data pipelines and ML models to LLM orchestration and Salesforce integrations—with the options to choose the right tool for each problem and the discipline to build for longevity. RESPONSIBILITIES - Design and build the integration layer between Enterprise Claude, Salesforce CRM, and our proprietary ML models, creating the orchestration backbone for AI-powered banking workflows. - Develop AI agents and multi-step LLM applications for high-value use cases: CIP first-draft generation, buyer landscape analysis, intelligent process letter drafting, and deal status automation. - Set engineering standards for the Innovation Team: code review practices, CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and documentation norms that enable speed without sacrificing reliability. - Work directly with deal teams and industry/sector groups to understand workflows, identify automation opportunities, and iterate on deployed tools based on real-world banker feedback. - Build and maintain data pipelines using Databricks and Dagster for feature engineering, model training, and analytics that feed AI capabilities. - Perform rapid analysis and prototyping—translate a banker’s pain point into a working proof of concept within days, not weeks. - Evaluate and integrate point solutions (Rogo.ai, Blueflame AI, Fellow.ai) via APIs, ensuring clean data flows and consistent user experiences within Salesforce. - Implement security and data governance protocols appropriate for confidential deal information. QUALIFICATIONS - 5+ years of software engineering experience with a strong full-stack foundation, including production experience building applications that serve demanding end users. - Hands-on experience building applications or agents using large language models: prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, multi-step orchestration, tool use, and evaluation frameworks. - Experience deploying and operating multi-agent ecosystems in production — including reliability engineering, monitoring, failure recovery, and scaling agent infrastructure for enterprise workloads. - Strong ML fundamentals—ability to train, evaluate, and deploy models, perform exploratory data analysis, and build feature pipelines. - Rigorous engineering practices: you write tested, reviewed, well-documented code and build systems designed for maintainability, not just demos. - Familiarity with capital markets, and preferably direct experience in or adjacent to investment banking, private equity, venture capital, or hedge funds. - Experience with cloud infrastructure (Azure preferred), data platforms (Databricks/Spark), and orchestration tools (Dagster, Airflow, or equivalent). - Outcome orientation—you measure success by business impact delivered, not features shipped. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS - Experience in a Forward Deployed Engineer, solutions engineer, or embedded technical role where you owned outcomes alongside business stakeholders. - Prior work with Salesforce APIs, SOQL, or CRM integration patterns. - Experience architecting production-grade, interconnected multi-agent ecosystems — designing agent coordination patterns, shared tooling layers, and communication protocols across autonomous components. - Experience building AI tools for financial professionals, including document generation, financial analysis automation, or deal workflow tooling. - Contributions to engineering culture: mentoring, establishing best practices, or leading technical design reviews in a small-team environment. #LI-CH #LI-HYBRID A reasonable estimate of the current base salary range at time of posting is below. Base salary does not include other forms of compensation or benefits. Actual base salary within the specified range is based on several factors, including but not limited to applicant's skills, prior relevant experience, specific degrees and certifications, job responsibilities, market considerations and, if applicable, the location of the position. This role is eligible for either a discretionary annual bonus (based on company, business unit and individual performance) and/or commission-based incentives. Our featured benefit offerings include medical, dental and vision coverage, employer paid short & long-term disability and life insurance, 401(k), profit sharing, paid time off, Maven family & fertility benefit, parental leave (including adoption, surrogacy, and foster placement), as well as other voluntary benefits. Salary Range $186,000—$222,000 USD ### About Our Firm William Blair strives to attract qualified candidates who specialize in investment banking, investment management, private wealth management, and other strategic resource groups. We are committed to empowering our colleagues to deliver client success and engage in our communities. Our firm has delivered trusted advice for nine decades, continuing to deepen our expertise and relationships across asset classes and markets throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet clients’ evolving needs amid dynamic market conditions and varying industries. What sets us apart is that we are an independent partnership, with colleagues who have unique experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. We empower our people to bring their best thinking so we can deliver the tailored, thoughtful work and problem-solving abilities that our clients expect. We invite you to learn more about us by visiting **williamblair.com**. *William Blair is an equal opportunity employer. It complies with all laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in employment practice because of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, marital status, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, unfavorable discharge from the military service or on the basis of a physical or mental disability that is unrelated to the employee's ability to perform the duties of the job applied for. EOE m/f/d/v* * **Be aware of hiring scams**: William Blair has clear processes and guidelines with regards to recruiting. We do not request personal financial information in connection with an employment application nor does William Blair extend any employment offers without first conducting an interview through one of its registered offices. William Blair does not use instant messaging services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or iMessage as part of the recruiting or interviewing process.* * **Note to External Recruiters / Search Firms**: William Blair does not accept unsolicited resumes and will not pay for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. Any unsolicited resumes received will not be considered as a valid submission.* *Download William Blair's privacy policies for job applicants:* - California Consumer Privacy Act Privacy Notice (CCPA) - General Data Protection Regulation Privacy Notice (GDPR) *Contact us should you have any questions or concerns.* [View posting at William Blair](https://www.williamblair.com/Careers/job-description?gh_jid=5079388007) ## Similar jobs [LinkedIn](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/linkedin) ### [AI Architect - SaaS GTM Tech & Analytics | IC4](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/5059032a435a0a6f) San Francisco, CA · Sunnyvale, CA · +2 more Hybrid 2w ago $141,000–$231,000 [Stripe](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/stripe) ### [AI Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/2da873ae60f23bfb) Atlanta, GA · Chicago, IL · +2 more 4w ago $172,600–$258,800 [PwC (US)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/pwc-us) ### [Tax Innovation - AI Engineer - Manager](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/49bfe340b2d7ec88) Dallas, TX · Chicago, IL · +2 more 2mo ago $99,000–$266,000 [Salesforce](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/salesforce) ### [Partner Technical Architect - Agentforce](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/0d3316c6c5777485) Chicago, IL · New York, NY · +2 more 5mo ago $172,500–$285,800 [MiQ](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/miq) ### [Automation & Innovation Manager](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/0466c65720862fbe) New York, NY · Chicago, IL Hybrid New · 2d ago $140,000–$180,000 - [Compare staff+ FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/staff) - [Similar jobs in Chicago](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?region=chicagoland) - [Similar jobs that build for teams inside the company](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=internal-deployment) Hiring at William Blair and want this page changed or removed? 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