Forward Deployment AI Engineer

Lyra Technology Group•Columbus, OH

4d•$120,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Lyra Technology Group, a private equity-backed holding company, is seeking a Forward Deployed AI Engineer for its portfolio company, Accellis. This role involves working directly within client businesses to design, build, and deploy AI-powered solutions. The engineer will be on-site at small and mid-size businesses, identifying inefficiencies, building trust with stakeholders, and implementing AI agents, automated workflows, and engineering solutions. This is a hands-on, client-facing position requiring both technical expertise and strong communication skills, suitable for individuals comfortable presenting to business owners and writing Python code.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship now or in the future.
2+ years of professional experience in software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or a technical consulting role
Working proficiency in Python and familiarity with REST APIs and cloud services
Hands-on experience building with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or similar)
Understanding of prompt engineering, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and agentic workflow patterns
Ability to work independently in ambiguous, fast-moving client environments
Strong communication skills — you can explain a vector database to a CFO without losing them
Willingness to travel regularly to client sites throughout the Cleveland and Columbus areas

Nice To Haves

Experience with workflow automation platforms (Zapier, Make, n8n, or similar)
Familiarity with vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma) and embedding pipelines
Exposure to low-code/no-code tools alongside custom-code solutions
Prior client-facing, consulting, or forward-deployed engineering experience
Experience working with SMB clients
Legal services or law firm experience

Responsibilities

Embed directly with clients to discover operational pain points, map workflows, and identify high-ROI opportunities for AI and automation
Design and build AI agents using frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, or similar — including tool-use, memory, and multi-agent orchestration patterns
Develop AI-powered workflows that integrate with clients' existing systems (CRMs, ERPs, cloud platforms, communication tools, etc.)
Engineer automation solutions across areas such as document processing, data extraction, reporting, customer communication, and internal operations
Own the full delivery lifecycle — from scoping and architecture to build, testing, handoff, and lightweight documentation
Train and enable client teams to maintain and iterate on solutions post-deployment
Serve as a trusted technical advisor, translating complex AI capabilities into clear business value for non-technical stakeholders
Contribute internally by codifying reusable components, playbooks, and delivery templates that scale across the practice