Forward Deployed Engineer - AI SOC

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.   At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.    We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.    We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD. 

Responsibilities: Customer and Stakeholder Delivery

Serve as the technical lead for deploying and operationalizing security and AI solutions in customer or enterprise environments

Translate business, operational, and security requirements into deployable architectures and implementation plans

Partner with internal and external stakeholders to ensure solutions are aligned to operational goals, compliance requirements, and long-term platform strategy

Act as a trusted advisor during onboarding, implementation, rollout, and optimization phases

Solution Implementation and Integration

Design and implement integrations across SIEM, XDR, SOAR, case management, data platforms, and AI-enabled tooling

Build and configure cloud-native data ingestion, normalization, and enrichment pipelines for security telemetry

Integrate APIs, webhooks, message queues, and automation workflows across identity, endpoint, cloud, network, and application ecosystems

Develop reusable deployment patterns, templates, and technical assets to accelerate future implementations

AI-Enabled Security Operations

Operationalize AI and automation use cases within security workflows, including alert enrichment, triage support, summarization, clustering, playbook selection, and analyst copilots

Work with detection engineering and data teams to support implementation of behavioral analytics, anomaly detection, risk scoring, and other AI-assisted security use cases

Help define data requirements, feedback loops, and operational guardrails needed to support effective AI outcomes in production environments

Ensure deployed solutions are practical, measurable, and aligned to analyst workflows and response objectives

Automation and Reliability

Implement secure and governed automation for investigation and response use cases across heterogeneous environments

Support resiliency, observability, performance, and scale requirements for deployed solutions

Troubleshoot integration issues, deployment blockers, and production challenges in partnership with platform, cloud, and security teams

Improve reliability and maintainability through documentation, testing, monitoring, and standardized engineering practices

Cross-Functional Leadership

Collaborate across Security Operations, Security Engineering, Detection Engineering, Data Science, Infrastructure, and product or customer teams

Communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Mentor engineers and contribute to best practices for implementation, delivery, and technical solution design

Provide field feedback to influence platform roadmap, product direction, and architectural standards

Required Qualifications: 5+ years of experience in security engineering, platform engineering, forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, or related technical roles

Hands-on experience implementing and operating modern SOC technologies such as SIEM, XDR, and SOAR

Experience deploying cloud-native architectures on at least one major cloud provider such as AWS, Azure, or GCP

Strong background in data integration, telemetry pipelines, normalization, and security analytics workflows

Experience working directly with customers, internal stakeholders, or cross-functional delivery teams in implementation-focused environments

Ability to lead technical engagements, drive execution, and influence outcomes without direct authority

Technical Skills: Strong understanding of security operations, detection and response, cloud security, identity security, and endpoint security

Experience with scripting and automation using tools such as Python, PowerShell, or Bash

Familiarity with APIs and integration patterns including REST, webhooks, and event-driven workflows

Working knowledge of AI and ML concepts relevant to SOC use cases, including anomaly detection, behavior analytics, LLMs, vector search, and AI assistants

Experience with security data and analytics platforms such as Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub, Spark, Databricks, BigQuery, Snowflake, or similar technologies is a plus

Strong problem-solving skills, execution mindset, and ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-moving environments

Preferred Qualifications: Experience in MSSP, MDR, XDR, or other security service delivery environments

Experience deploying solutions in regulated or compliance-sensitive environments

Familiarity with infrastructure as code, CI/CD workflows, and production software delivery practices

Experience building reusable implementation frameworks or field engineering playbooks

Relevant certifications are a plus, including cloud, security, or platform-specific certifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings (“OTE”) for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.     Why AHEAD:   Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.   We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.   USA Employment Benefits include: 

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance 
• 401(k) 
• Paid company holidays 
• Paid time off 
• Paid parental and caregiver leave 
• Plus more! See benefits https://www.aheadbenefits.com/ for additional details.    Use of AI: We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, assessing responses, or to capture recordings and create transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.   If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at privacy@ahead.com.    You may opt-out of the review or analysis of your application and resume by AI tools by using the General Application. Please include the role you wish to apply for in the Additional Information field. You may also choose to opt-out of recording and transcription at any time, including after joining an interview.  Candidates will not be penalized for choosing to opt-out.