Forward Deployed Engineer

JLL empowers you to shape a brighter way.
Our people at JLL are shaping the future of real estate for a better world by combining world class services, advisory and technology for our clients. We are committed to hiring the best, most talented people and empowering them to thrive, grow meaningful careers and to find a place where they belong. Whether you’ve got deep experience in commercial real estate, skilled trades or technology, or you’re looking to apply your relevant experience to a new industry, join our team as we help shape a brighter way forward.
Forward Deployed Engineer
About JLL
Our people at JLL are shaping the future of real estate for a better world by combining world class services, advisory and technology for our clients. We are committed to hiring the best, most talented people and empowering them to thrive, grow meaningful careers and to find a place where they belong. Whether you’ve got deep experience in commercial real estate, skilled trades or technology, or you’re looking to apply your relevant experience to a new industry, join our team as we help shape a brighter way forward.
Role Overview
As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will operate at the front lines of innovation — embedded directly with subject matter experts, product, and engineering teams to rapidly design, architect, prototype, and deploy solutions that solve high-priority business problems. This is not a traditional engineering role with long delivery cycles. You will be expected to go from concept to working prototype in days, not months, while maintaining enterprise-grade standards for quality, security, and scalability.
You bring an exceptional combination of skills: deep hands-on engineering experience across AI agents and full-stack development, and the interpersonal skills to earn trust, drive alignment, and influence without authority. You are equally comfortable whiteboarding a system architecture with senior stakeholders and writing production code the same afternoon. You have direct experience developing agents on platforms like AWS Agent Core, and you thrive in fast, ambiguous environments where creative thinking and execution speed matter.
Key Responsibilities
Solution Design & Architecture
Lead solution design for complex, cross-functional data and AI problems — from initial discovery through to technical blueprint
Define and communicate architecture decisions, trade-offs, and delivery approaches to both technical and non-technical audiences
Design scalable, modular systems that balance the need for speed with enterprise standards for reliability, security, and maintainability
Participate in architecture reviews, ensuring alignment with enterprise patterns and platform standards
Create clear technical documentation: architecture diagrams, data flow maps, API contracts, and solution briefs
Rapid Prototyping & Solution Delivery
Design and deliver working prototypes for complex data and AI problems within compressed timeframes, often days to weeks
Translate ambiguous business requirements into concrete technical solutions with minimal hand-holding
Balance speed of delivery with enterprise standards — your prototypes are production-ready, not throwaway
Continuously iterate on solutions based on direct feedback from product managers, program leads, and end users
Develop intuitive front-end interfaces and dashboards that bring data and AI outputs to life for business users
Apply strong UX instincts to simplify complex flows and make agent outputs accessible and actionable for non-technical stakeholders
AI Agent Development
Design, build, and deploy AI agents and multi-agent systems that automate complex workflows end-to-end
Develop and maintain agent skills — discrete, reusable capabilities that compose into larger agentic pipelines
Implement and extend Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and clients to connect AI agents with enterprise tools, APIs, and data sources
Design evaluation harnesses, guardrails, and monitoring pipelines to ensure agent reliability and safety in production
Stay current with the rapidly evolving agentic AI landscape and proactively introduce new techniques and tooling to the team
Integrate LLMs, RAG systems, and ML models into production workflows
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
Embed directly with product, program, and engineering teams to co-define problems and co-deliver solutions
Influence technical direction and build alignment across teams without relying on formal authority
Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical business stakeholders — in writing, in meetings, and in executive presentations
Mentor and elevate junior engineers, sharing patterns and practices for agentic development, prompt design, and rapid delivery
Foster a collaborative, low-ego team culture where speed and quality go hand in hand
Qualifications
Critical skills
8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including solution design and architecture ownership
Demonstrated ability to architect end-to-end systems — from requirements through deployment — with clear documentation and stakeholder communication
Hands-on experience building AI agents, including defining agent skills, tool use, memory, and multi-step reasoning
Experience with AI-Augmented Engineering (Harness Engineering) — actively use tools like Claude Code, Codex, or equivalent assistants to accelerate coding, documentation, and problem-solving day-to-day.
Direct experience with AWS Agent Core or equivalent — building, deploying, and operating agents in production
Working knowledge of Model Context Protocol (MCP) — including building or consuming MCP servers to connect agents with external systems
Experience with agentic frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, or Semantic Kernel
Proficiency in Python and at least one front-end framework (React, Vue.js, or Angular)
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills — you can earn trust quickly, navigate ambiguity, and drive alignment across diverse teams
Comfort working in fast-paced environments with shifting priorities and high ownership expectations
Desirable skills
Experience with RAG architectures, vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector), and semantic search
Familiarity with prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and LLM evaluation techniques
Experience with agent observability and tracing tools (LangSmith, Arize, Weights & Biases, or similar)
Experience with containerization and CI/CD practices (Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions)
Background in real estate, financial services, or other data-intensive enterprise domains
Experience facilitating technical discovery workshops, design sprints, or architecture reviews
Range for base compensation in Chicago: $187,100 - $229,200
Range for base compensation in San Francisco: $221,100 - $270,900
This position does not provide visa sponsorship. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.
Expected compensation for this position:
280,000.00 – 300,000.00 USD per year
Final compensation packages are determined by various considerations including but not limited to candidate qualifications, location, market conditions, and internal considerations.
Location:
On-site –Chicago, IL, San Francisco, CA
If this job description resonates with you, we encourage you to apply, even if you don’t meet all the requirements. We’re interested in getting to know you and what you bring to the table!
Personalized benefits that support personal well-being and growth:
JLL recognizes the impact that the workplace can have on your wellness, so we offer a supportive culture and comprehensive benefits package that prioritizes mental, physical and emotional health. Some of these benefits include:
401(k) plan with matching company contributions
Comprehensive Medical, Dental & Vision Care
Paid parental leave at 100% of salary
Paid Time Off and Company Holidays
Early access to earned wages through Daily Pay
At JLL, we harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to efficiently accelerate meaningful connections between candidates and opportunities. Using AI capabilities, we analyze your application for relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications to generate valuable insights about how your unique profile aligns with the specific requirements of the role you're pursuing.
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