Forward Deployed Engineer - AI​/ML Data Science

** We believe in the power and joy of learning*
* At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping learners around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose - driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

** About This Role*
* Cengage is at an inflection point. As we scale our AI-powered learning ecosystem including Student Assistant, AI faculty insights, and Cengage Unlimited the gap between a polished platform demonstration and a deeply embedded, outcomes-driving deployment at an institution is where the real work lives. The Lead Field Development Engineer closes that gap.

As a Lead FDE, you will embed directly with Cengage's most strategic institutional partners to architect, configure, and ship production-grade AI and platform solutions tailored to their academic, compliance, and pedagogical environments. This is not a sales engineering role: you will write and own production code, influence Cengage's core platform roadmap with field-derived insights, mentor other engineers, and establish the standard for complex institutional AI deployments.

** What You'll Own*
* STRATEGIC INSTITUTIONAL DEPLOYMENT

+ Embed with 3-5 strategic institutional accounts at a time, working directly with partners to understand instructional workflows, legacy LMS architectures, and institutional data environments before proposing a solution

+ Lead end-to-end delivery of Mind Tap AI, Web Assign, Cengage Unlimited, and custom GenAI integrations from discovery through production launch and ongoing iteration

+ Design and build institution-specific configurations including adaptive learning paths, RAG-backed course assistants, and auto-graded problem banks that address pedagogical challenges at scale

+ Drive LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage integrations between Cengage platforms and institutional LMS environments such as Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, and Moodle, including SSO, grade passback, and data flows

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING

+ Write production-quality code in Python, JavaScript/Type Script, and SQL to build integration middleware, data pipelines, and custom tooling that extend Cengage's core platforms

+ Architect and deploy agentic AI workflows using LLM APIs and retrieval-augmented generation pipelines grounded in institutional course content

+ Build and maintain automated evaluation frameworks that measure the accuracy, safety, and pedagogical quality of AI-generated student guidance at the institution level

+ Ensure deployments meet FERPA, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, institutional data-governance requirements, and Cengage's AI safety standards

+ Translate field-derived deployment patterns, integration heuristics, and failure modes into first-class contributions to Cengage's product and engineering roadmap

LEADERSHIP & ENABLEMENT

+ Serve as the technical authority for field deployment practices, establishing standards, reusable integration templates, and a shared knowledge base of institutional patterns

+ Mentor junior and mid-level FDEs and conduct technical reviews of deployment architectures, code, and stakeholder communication

+ Partner closely with Cengage product managers, platform engineers, content teams, Sales, and Customer Success to prioritize roadmap features and define technical success criteria

+ Present deployment architecture, outcomes data, and AI safety posture to institutional CIOs, Chief Academic Officers, and VP-level stakeholders with authority and clarity

+ Define adoption milestones and renewal-driving outcomes for strategic accounts, ensuring technical delivery translates into measurable institutional value

WHAT YOU'LL BUILD IN YOUR FIRST 12 MONTHS

+ A reference deployment architecture for Cengage AI and LTI 1.3 integration that can serve as the team standard across institutions

+ Custom RAG-powered course-assistant deployments embedded inside Mind Tap for strategic universitypartners, with measurable engagement and learning-outcome targets

+ An automated AI evaluation harness for Cengage Student Assistant covering accuracy, academic-integrity safety, and response quality across FDE-managed accounts

+ A faculty analytics integration layer connecting Student Assistant interaction data to institutional LMS grade books and early-alert systems

+ A library of reusable integration modules for Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, and Moodle that reduces institutional onboarding time from weeks to days

** What You Bring*
* TECHNICAL

+ 7+ years of software engineering experience with a track record of shipping production systems in complex, customer-facing environments

+ 3+ years in a customer-embedded or field-facing engineering role such as FDE, Solutions Engineer, Applied AI Engineer, or Implementation Architect, with ownership of full deployments rather than demonstrations along

+ Strong full-stack engineering skills, including Python, JavaScript/Type Script, REST or GraphQL API design, and modern application frameworks

+ Hands-on…