Junior Forward Deployed Engineer

Accenture Federal Services•Arlington, TX

35d•$72,600 - $132,100•Hybrid

About The Position

The APX Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) Program represents a strategic initiative to position Accenture Federal Services at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation in government. This program embeds top technical talent directly with federal clients to fast track the adoption and implementation of advanced technologies from Palantir, Databricks, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and cutting edge AI partners. As an FDE, you will serve as the critical bridge between breakthrough AI technology and mission-critical federal requirements. You'll work hands-on with the most advanced AI models available, translating their transformative potential into tangible value for defense, intelligence, civilian, and public health missions. This is not a traditional consulting role; FDEs are technical practitioners, innovators, and trusted advisors who operate at the cutting edge of what's possible with AI in highly regulated, high-security federal environments.

Requirements

Mission-first Mindset & Relentless Problem Solving: You move fast because the mission can’t wait. You make smart bets in ambiguous terrain, taking ownership early and giving every challenge your full drive before ever considering stepping back. You push through ambiguity, communicate risks and trade-offs, investigate solutions independently to forge the future, and maintain momentum even when the path forward is unclear.
Grit & Tenacity to Engineer at the Edge: You remain steady when projects get messy and keep pushing forward through rapid experimentation cycles. You show up confidently in client working sessions, support senior FDEs at the mission edge, adapt in real time, and help teams operate decisively even in uncertainty.
Bias for Building: You iterate quickly, communicate plainly across technical and non-technical teammates, ask sharp questions, and summarize decisions in a way that moves teams forward with confidence and alignment. You build work that adds value for our clients, making bold ideas happen fast.
Limitless Curiosity & Frontier Learning: You learn rapidly across a wide, rapidly changing technical frontier, from LLMs and agent frameworks to cloud platforms and enterprise AI ecosystems. You approach new tools with curiosity, adaptability, and velocity, and you prefer building and testing over long specification cycles.
Bachelor’s Degree or demonstrated hands-on coding experience building and shipping software projects
Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, R, Rust) with knowledge of building production services
Familiarity with Generative AI (LLMs, chatbots, or AI-powered apps) and eagerness to learn how model outputs influence product workflows
Exposure working with APIs and simple data flows, managing structured and unstructured data and ensure data quality.
Ability to travel, dependent on client and team
Must be a U.S. Citizen and ability to obtain a federal security clearance

Nice To Haves

Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Economics, Statistics, or a related technical field
Experience with Palantir, Databricks, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or other emerging technology platforms
Prior client experience or collaborative technical work (consulting internships, hackathons, customer success engineering, or team-based builds)
Exposure to cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP) from coursework, certificates, internships, or individual projects
Experience integrating or deploying code in environments with constraints (legacy systems, governance, access controls)
Demonstrated ability to take a small idea from zero-to-prototype independently
Curiosity about how different frontier labs operate and eagerness to learn their platforms: Vertex AI, Azure OpenAI, Claude, etc.
Relevant Google, Anthropic, or OpenAI certifications or training courses
Ability to travel (up to 50%) depending on business need and client requirements
Active federal security clearance

Responsibilities

Embed within client environments as part of a forward deployed engineering (FDE) team to build rapid prototypes using AI tools, coding assistants, and modern frameworks
Use AI tools (LLMs, coding assistants, agentic frameworks) as part of daily development work
Support integration of solutions into complex client environments, including legacy systems and regulated data contexts
Work across the tech stack (frontend, backend, APIs, simple data pipelines) and help develop applications and workflows that use structured and unstructured enterprise data
Assist in evaluating model outputs, testing workflows, and applying responsible AI guardrails
Implement AI solutions such as RAG workflows, semantic search, prompt engineering patterns, and simple agent behaviors
Work with senior FDEs to clarify problem statements and translate them into technical plans
Participate in rapid experimentation cycles and incorporate user feedback into updates, documenting solution decisions and contributing to internal learning assets
Leverage technical expertise to help clients navigate the rapidly evolving technological landscape, serving as a trusted advisor on emerging AI capabilities, increasing user adoption and scaling mission impact
Share observations, user friction points, reusable assets and field intelligence back to APX teams to improve delivery approaches