Forward Deployed Engineer I/II, AI Enablement

The Forward Deployed Engineer, AI Enablement partners with business areas across

the Bank to identify, design, build, document, and improve AI-enabled workflows

and capabilities that make it easy to Sell, Service, and Scale the company. This

role helps translate business needs into practical solutions by combining

business process understanding, data literacy, AI fluency, stakeholder

communication, and lightweight technical implementation. The Forward Deployed

Engineer works with business users, process owners, technology, data, security,

risk, and governance partners to develop safe, useful, and reusable AI-enabled

tools, templates, workflows, documentation, and service patterns. This position

requires curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, strong follow-through, and

comfort operating in work that may not be fully defined at the start.

Essential Functions:

* Embeds with business teams and process owners to understand how work moves

end to end across people, processes, systems, data, decisions, controls,

handoffs, and exception paths.

* Identifies high-value opportunities to reduce cognitive, context,

coordination, execution, quality, or design burden.

* Determines whether AI, deterministic automation, data capability, reporting,

process redesign, or human judgment is the appropriate response.

* Designs future-state workflows with clear ownership, human and AI

responsibilities, review points, exception handling, data boundaries, system

interactions, and control requirements.

* Designs, builds, and validates working AI-enabled solutions that combine

agents, approved data, APIs, automation, reporting, workflow components, and

human review into cohesive business capabilities.

* Develops agent instructions, system prompts, tool-use patterns, structured

outputs, context and retrieval approaches, evaluation criteria, error

handling, and escalation paths appropriate to the use case.

* Uses programming, scripting, agentic development workflows, APIs, approved

platforms, and automation tools to build, inspect, test, debug, and refine

solutions.

* Builds small, testable versions; validates them with domain experts and

users; and iterates based on workflow fit, output quality, reliability,

usability, adoption, and business value.

* Advances successful prototypes toward operational use by defining

production-readiness requirements, runbooks, monitoring expectations, service

ownership, permissions, support paths, change requirements, and control

points with appropriate partners.

* Documents assumptions, decisions, limitations, risks, dependencies,

evaluation results, support requirements, and handoff information so

capabilities can be reviewed, maintained, supported, and reused.

* Measures outcomes such as reduced cycle time, fewer handoffs, less rework,

improved consistency, stronger decision context, increased operating

capacity, adoption, governance confidence, and reuse.

* Converts successful local solutions into reusable agents, modules, templates,

data or context assets, playbooks, evaluation patterns, and service models

that accelerate future work.

* Identifies when an AI-enabled approach is inappropriate and recommends

deterministic process, data, reporting, automation, or human-owned

alternatives.

* Escalates data, security, privacy, risk, compliance, governance, production,

integration, or supportability concerns early and works with the appropriate

owners to resolve or document them.

Qualifications

• * Demonstrated ability to understand complex business processes, identify
• high-value improvement opportunities, and translate them into practical
• technology-enabled solutions.
• * Experience designing, building, testing, and operationalizing AI-enabled
• workflows, agents, automations, applications, reporting, or decision-support
• capabilities.
• * Working knowledge of agentic AI concepts, including instructions, tool use,
• structured outputs, contextual grounding, retrieval, human review, exception
• handling, orchestration, and evaluation.
• * Proficiency with at least one modern programming or scripting language, such
• as Python, C#, JavaScript, or TypeScript, with the ability to learn and apply
• new technologies quickly.
• * Experience using agentic and command-line development workflows—including
• tools such as GitHub Copilot and Codex-style coding agents—to plan, generate,
• inspect, test, debug, and refine solutions.
• * Ability to direct coding agents through clear goals, context, constraints,
• acceptance criteria, and iterative review while maintaining human
• accountability for the resulting solution.
• * Experience integrating systems and data through APIs, connectors, automation
• platforms, relational databases, analytical platforms, or event-driven
• patterns.
• * Ability to build small, testable solutions, validate them directly with
• users, and iteratively improve reliability, usability, workflow fit, and
• measurable business value.
• * Strong data fluency, including experience with structured and unstructured
• data, data models, reporting, analytics, and the context required to ground
• AI solutions.
• * Experience within Microsoft’s enterprise technology ecosystem, which may
• include Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot
• Studio, GitHub Copilot, Power BI, Power Platform, Azure, and related
• services.
• * Understanding of production-readiness considerations, including permissions,
• security, monitoring, error handling, documentation, support ownership,
• change management, and operational controls.
• * Ability to work across business, operations, technology, data, security,
• risk, compliance, and governance teams in a regulated enterprise environment.
• Banking or financial-services experience is preferred.
• * Strong written, verbal, documentation, and facilitation skills, including the
• ability to create clear technical and operational materials, embed with
• business teams, learn unfamiliar domains quickly, explain technical concepts
• clearly, and navigate ambiguity.
• * Sound judgment in determining when AI is appropriate and when deterministic
• processes, traditional automation, reporting, data, or human-owned solutions
• would be more effective.
• * A builder mindset characterized by curiosity, adaptability, ownership,
• practical problem-solving, accountability for measurable outcomes, and the
• ability to convert successful solutions into reusable components and
• patterns.
• * Demonstrated self-motivation, initiative, attention to detail, and
• organizational ability; works effectively both independently and
• collaboratively.
• * Ability to prioritize multiple assignments, manage interruptions, and
• maintain a high level of service in a deadline-driven environment.
• * Ability to work additional hours as required by operational and production
• workloads.

Compensation

Forward Deployed Engineer I - $87,093 - $130,697

Forward Deployed Engineer II - $99,830 - $149,745

The compensation range represents the low and high end of the base compensation

range for this position located in Spokane, WA. Actual compensation will vary

and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not

limited to location, experience, and performance. This position is eligible to

participate in an applicable incentive plan.

What Our Culture Can Offer You:

Our benefit philosophy is to provide you with a comprehensive package to secure

your overall wellness and help you become and remain a fulfilled and productive

employee. Our benefits include Health, Financial, Retirement and Work/Life

Benefits. We are proud to share an overview of our benefits HERE

[https://www.watrust.com/assets/files/qFqeTTn6]as part of your total

compensation.

Washington Trust Bank celebrates diversity in the workplace and actively

recruits talent to help reflect the unique communities where we live and work.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination or

harassment based on race, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation,

national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, genetic information and any other

protected characteristics outline by state, federal and local laws. We believe

strength comes from the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our team, and we

are dedicated to fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment.