Senior Associate - Forward Deployed Engineer
New York Life· startup· Financial Services· Oct 8, 2026 · 20d ago
New York,New York,United States
Hybrid
Full-time
Senior
$160K–$220K est.
5+ years exp
Job description
Location Designation: Hybrid - 3 days per week
Technology, Data, AI and Ventures:
Within the Tech, Data, AI, Ventures (TDAV) organization, our work is guided by a shared vision: deploying the power of technology, data, AI and ventures to accelerate sustainable competitive advantage for New York Life's businesses. We build solutions that power how we serve policy owners, agents, advisors and employees while delivering measurable business outcomes.
Across technology, data, AI, cyber, product, digital experience, architecture and infrastructure, TDAV combines the scale and investment of an industry leader, access to leading-edge technologies and the opportunity to help shape how a world-class financial services company competes in the AI era - all backed by the stability and purpose of a mutual company built to last.
Business Overview
New York Life is advancing strategic transformations designed to reimagine critical enterprise capabilities through business process redesign, modern technology, data, analytics, automation, and AI. Delivery is organized around small, outcome-focused teams that bring together Product Owners, forward deployed talent, domain and data specialists, control partners, and strategic engineering partners.
The delivery model is designed around an agentic software development lifecycle. Teams move iteratively from business outcomes and rapid prototypes into implementation-grade specifications that can be used by AI engineering agents to accelerate design, coding, testing, documentation and refinement. Engineers increasingly orchestrate these agentic development workflows, applying human engineering judgment to architecture, integration, generated code, controls and production readiness.
The initial focus for these roles will be Enterprise Plan to Perform (EPP), one of New York Life's strategic transformations focused on reimagining enterprise financial planning and performance through modern Technology, data, analytics, automation and AI.
Role Overview
The Forward Deployed Engineer is an engineer embedded close to the business and outcome team, responsible for rapidly converting validated product intent, prototypes, and implementation specifications into working, production-ready technology. The role combines software engineering, systems thinking, AI-assisted development, integration, and direct collaboration with users and domain teams.
Forward Deployed Engineers do not wait for traditional handoffs or fully decomposed tickets. They work from a prototype, PRD or implementation specification, enterprise architecture patterns, and direct feedback from the team to build, test, integrate, and refine solutions quickly. AI-assisted engineering is a core competency and is used throughout the software development lifecycle.
How You’ll work
You will work as part of small, outcome-focused teams alongside Product Owners, business and domain experts, architects, data specialists, engineers, control partners and other Technology colleagues. Teams operate through an agentic software development lifecycle: rapidly prototype to validate product intent, translate that learning into precise implementation specifications, and use AI engineering agents to accelerate design, code generation, testing, documentation and iterative refinement.
As an engineer, your role increasingly shifts from manually executing every development task to orchestrating and directing agentic engineering workflows—providing the right context and specifications, evaluating generated solutions, making engineering tradeoffs, integrating components, resolving ambiguity and maintaining accountability for quality, security, controls and production outcomes. The model combines rapid learning and AI-driven development leverage with strong human engineering judgment and enterprise production disciplines.
What You'll Do
· Translate validated prototypes, product intent and implementation specifications into working software using agentic and AI-assisted development workflows.
· Orchestrate AI engineering agents across implementation activities such as code generation, refactoring, testing, documentation, debugging and implementation planning, while reviewing and validating generated output and retaining engineering accountability for the solution.
· Iterate between prototype, specification and implementation as technical learning emerges, working closely with Product Owners and other team members to resolve ambiguity quickly rather than relying on traditional sequential handoffs.
· Translate functional specifications into technical designs, components, APIs, integrations, data access patterns, and production-ready code.
· Partner closely with Forward Deployed Analysts to resolve ambiguity and refine specifications as technical learning emerges.
· Work directly with Product Owners, users, Domain SMEs, Data SMEs, architects, and strategic partner engineers in rapid feedback cycles.
· Integrate applications and agents with enterprise APIs, data products, platforms, identity, security, and control capabilities.
· Implement agentic and AI-enabled features using approved enterprise patterns, including tool integration, human checkpoints, observability, evaluation, and traceability.
· Develop automated tests and participate in validation, deployment, production readiness, and post-release improvement.
· Apply strong engineering judgment to distinguish prototype shortcuts from production requirements and close the gap deliberately.
· Contribute reusable code, patterns, components, and engineering practices that can be adopted across outcome teams.
What You'll Bring
Required Experience & Skills
· Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field with 5+ years of relevant experience; a Master’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experience; or equivalent practical experience.
· Agentic Software Development - Experience using AI engineering agents and specification-driven development practices to accelerate software design, implementation, testing and refinement while retaining accountability for engineering quality.
· Strong hands-on software engineering capability in one or more modern programming languages and frameworks.
· Experience building and integrating production applications using APIs, cloud services, data platforms, and modern software architecture patterns.
· Demonstrated ability to work from business intent and specifications rather than only from pre-defined technical tasks.
· Experience with automated testing, CI/CD, observability, security, and production support practices.
· Practical experience with generative AI, AI-assisted engineering and/or agentic software development, with demonstrated ability to rapidly learn and apply emerging AI engineering patterns.
· Strong problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills with the ability to work directly with business and technical stakeholders.
Preferred Experience
· Experience building generative AI or agentic applications, including tool use, retrieval, orchestration, evaluation, or human-in-the-loop patterns.
· Experience in financial services, insurance, finance, investments, or another regulated enterprise environment.
· Experience in forward-deployed, consulting, startup, or product engineering environments requiring high autonomy and rapid iteration.
· Experience with cloud-native architecture, APIs, data platforms, and enterprise integration.
· Experience in financial services, insurance, Finance/FP&A, investments, or another complex regulated enterprise environment.
Why This Role
The Forward Deployed Engineer operates in a high-leverage engineering model where rapid prototypes and product intent are translated into precise specifications and AI engineering agents accelerate implementation. The engineer orchestrates these workflows while retaining human accountability for system design, integration, engineering quality, controls and production readiness.
Job Level: LEVELPF3
Pay Transparency
Salary Range: $100,000-$143,000
Overtime eligible: Exempt
Discretionary bonus eligible: Yes
Sales bonus eligible: No
Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual’s experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.
Company Overview
At New York Life, our 180-year legacy of purpose and integrity fuels our future. As we evolve into a more technology-, data-, and AI-enabled organization, we remain grounded in the values that drive lasting impact.
Our diverse business portfolio creates opportunities to make a difference across industries and communities—inviting bold thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and purpose-driven innovation. Here, you’ll find the rare balance of long-standing stability and forward momentum, supported by an inclusive team that honors tradition while embracing progress.
As a Fortune 100 mutual company, we offer a place to grow your skills, contribute to meaningful work, and deliver solutions that matter. Your ideas drive what’s next, and your growth powers it.
Our Benefits
We provide a full package of benefits for employees – and have unique offerings for a modern workforce, including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs. Based on feedback from our employees, we continue to refine and add benefits to our offering, so that you can flourish both inside and outside of work. Click here to discover more about our comprehensive benefit options or visit our NYL Benefits Site .
Our Commitment to Inclusion
At New York Life, fostering an inclusive workplace is fundamental to who we are and how we serve our communities. We have a longstanding commitment to creating an environment where individuals can contribute their best and succeed together. This foundation is rooted in our core values of humanity and integrity, ensuring that every employee feels valued and supported. By embracing a broad range of perspectives and experiences, we achieve greater success and fulfill our promise of providing financial security and peace of mind to families across all communities. Click here to learn more about New York Life’s leadership in this space.
Recognized as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, New York Life is committed to improving local communities through a culture of employee giving and volunteerism, supported by the Foundation . We're proud that due to our mutuality, we operate in the best interests of our policy owners. To learn more about career opportunities at New York Life, please visit the Careers page of www.NewYorkLife.com .
Job Requisition ID: 95177
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