Consulting Director -Forward Deployed Engineering

Company Description We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future.  As strategies, technologies, and innovation collide, we create opportunity from complexity. Our teams of interdisciplinary experts combine innovative thinking and breakthrough technologies to progress further, faster. Our clients adapt and transform, and together we achieve enduring results. We are over 4,000 strategists, innovators, designers, consultants, digital experts, scientists, engineers, and technologists.

And we have deep expertise in consumer and manufacturing, defence and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government and public services, health and life sciences, and transport.  Our teams operate globally from offices across the UK, Ireland, US, Nordics, and Netherlands. PA. Bringing Ingenuity to Life.

Job Description We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future. We challenge where it matters and own the outcome. We combine strategic thinking, customer-centric service design, and agile engineering practices to accelerate innovation in a tech-driven world. Why consider joining as a Consulting Director? Join a team where you're trusted to shape your own path, manage your time, and influence real change for our clients and communities.

Grow a flexible and unique career within a trust-based, inclusive environment that values excellence, innovation, and curiosity.  Join other experts within our supportive and collaborative community through knowledge-sharing and peer-level support, coaching and mentoring What you can expect Be part of our management team, helping shape and launch new service propositions while driving strategic business growth. Lead business development initiatives —building trusted client relationships, owning outcomes, and delivering innovative, high-impact solutions.

Collaborate with FTSE 100 clients as a respected advisor, guiding them through complex challenges with clarity and creativity. Support your team’s growth through coaching, knowledge-sharing, and creating opportunities for them to thrive. Be part of an environment that deeply cares about its values
- Values | PA Consulting Contribute to thought leadership and the development of market-relevant offerings that showcase innovation and deliver value to clients.

Hybrid working with the team on client site or in our office a minimum of two days per week. However, the actual time you spend and where you spend it will vary by role or assignment, including up to 5 days per week on a client site. Our Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) are embedded with strategic customers, lead end-to-end deployments of AI systems in production, and measure success through adoption and workflow impact rather than strategies.

We are bringing this model to complement our existing AI propositions with one addition: FDEs work with Domain-Adapted Language Models (DALMs) and Small Language Models (SLMs) tuned to the client's sector, data, and codebase. One or two FDEs with the right model stack can produce the output of a conventional team of 5-7.You will build this unit from scratch. You define the operating model, recruit the founding cohort, either internally or externally, stand up the model tooling, and land the first client deployments.

This is a founder role inside an established firm, with the platform, brand, and client access to match.

The role Build and lead the FDE unit, from a founding cohort of 8 to 12 engineers to a 100 plus person team within 24 months

Design the operating model: embedded deployment structure, delivery cadence, eval-driven quality gates, and commercial packaging including outcome-linked pricing

Stand up the DALM and SLM enablement stack: model selection, fine-tuning pipelines, evaluation harnesses, and secure deployment patterns for regulated clients, including on-premises and in-VPC serving

Own the productivity thesis. Define the metrics, instrument every deployment, and publish evidence of the multiplier FDEs achieve against baseline

Support our client Partners and lead the first deployments in priority sectors: data centres, semiconductors, water, and energy infrastructure.

Se…