Forward Deployed Engineer

Vitol•Houston, TX

7d•Onsite

About The Position

We are looking for a hands-on Forward Deployed AI Engineer to join our global AI team. This is a hybrid role across engineering and commercial teams. You will sit directly with commercial users, build and ship agentic solutions that solve real workflow problems, and communicate technical requirements back to our foundational engineering teams. You will own technical design and delivery from prototype to production. As Vitol's AI portfolio grows, you will help shape what gets built, in what order, and make sure what the team builds gets used. The successful candidate will join a growing, collaborative team of experienced practitioners who are solving some of the most challenging and impactful problems the energy industry is facing, as well as pushing the boundaries around the 'art of the possible'.

Requirements

Degree in computer science, statistics, mathematics, data science, or a related quantitative field
Fluency in Python for both applied AI and engineering purposes: clean, modular, well-documented code, with strong understanding of software engineering best practices including version control, testing, and code review
Minimum 3 years of experience in software engineering, AI engineering, machine learning, data science or a related hands-on technical role
Practical understanding of generative AI concepts, including prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, tool use, agentic workflows, model evaluation, and responsible AI considerations. Including proficiency with modern GenAI orchestration and tooling frameworks (e.g. LangChain, LlamaIndex, or equivalent)
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred)
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal; able to engage effectively with technical teams and commercial stakeholders
Self-motivated and comfortable working autonomously in a fast-paced environment, with a collaborative, non-political style and high personal integrity
Strong curiosity for emerging AI developments, with a proactive commitment to continuously learning, experimenting and expanding your skills
Genuine intellectual curiosity about commodities markets, global energy flows, and the commercial dynamics of trading; willingness to develop deep domain knowledge as part of the role
Strong management commitment to putting AI at the heart of the future of Vitol's operations

Responsibilities

Embed with commercial teams to understand their workflows, constraints, and business objectives; identify high-value opportunities for AI solutions
Translate business problems into clear technical requirements, solution designs, and delivery plans to build, integrate, and deploy agentic solutions
Development of the firm's internal GenAI platform, extending its capabilities through new integrations, data connectors, MCP servers, tool-calling, and domain-specific skills
Apply a broad range of AI and modelling techniques, including LLMs, RAG, NLP, time-series forecasting, and optimization, to commodity pricing, supply/demand signals, trade flow analysis, and operational optimization problems
Communicate requirements, technical constraints, and reusable patterns back to the foundational AI and platform engineering teams
Present capabilities, assumptions, and limitations clearly to traders and senior management, supporting confident commercial decision-making and building trust in AI outputs among technical and non-technical audiences
Champion AI best practice on the desk and across the team: participate in code reviews, experiment and evaluation design, and tooling decisions; mentor colleagues and help raise the overall standard of engineering and applied-AI practice