Forward Deployed Engineer
Houston, TX - USA
Job Summary
We are looking for a hands-on Forward Deployed AI Engineer to join our global AI team. This is a hybrid role across engineering and commercial teams. You will sit directly with commercial users build and ship agentic solutions that solve real workflow problems and communicate technical requirements back to our foundational engineering teams.
You will own technical design and delivery from prototype to production. As Vitols AI portfolio grows you will help shape what gets built in what order and make sure what the team builds gets used.
The successful candidate will join a growing collaborative team of experienced practitioners who are solving some of the most challenging and impactful problems the energy industry is facing as well as pushing the boundaries around the art of the possible.
Key Responsibilities
- Embed with commercial teams to understand their workflows constraints and business objectives; identify high-value opportunities for AI solutions
- Translate business problems into clear technical requirements solution designs and delivery plans to build integrate and deploy agentic solutions
- Development of the firms internal GenAI platform extending its capabilities through new integrations data connectors MCP servers tool-calling and domain-specific skills
- Apply a broad range of AI and modelling techniques including LLMs RAG NLP time-series forecasting and optimization to commodity pricing supply/demand signals trade flow analysis and operational optimization problems
- Communicate requirements technical constraints and reusable patterns back to the foundational AI and platform engineering teams
- Present capabilities assumptions and limitations clearly to traders and senior management supporting confident commercial decision-making and building trust in AI outputs among technical and non-technical audiences
- Champion AI best practice on the desk and across the team: participate in code reviews experiment and evaluation design and tooling decisions; mentor colleagues and help raise the overall standard of engineering and applied-AI practice
Qualifications :
- Degree in computer science statistics mathematics data science or a related quantitative field
- Fluency in Python for both applied AI and engineering purposes: clean modular well-documented code with strong understanding of software engineering best practices including version control testing and code review
- Minimum 3 years of experience in software engineering AI engineering machine learning data science or a related hands-on technical role
- Practical understanding of generative AI concepts including prompt engineering retrieval-augmented generation tool use agentic workflows model evaluation and responsible AI considerations. Including proficiency with modern GenAI orchestration and tooling frameworks (e.g. LangChain LlamaIndex or equivalent)
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred)
- Excellent communication skills both written and verbal; able to engage effectively with technical teams and commercial stakeholders
- Self-motivated and comfortable working autonomously in a fast-paced environment with a collaborative non-political style and high personal integrity
- Strong curiosity for emerging AI developments with a proactive commitment to continuously learning experimenting and expanding your skills
- Genuine intellectual curiosity about commodities markets global energy flows and the commercial dynamics of trading; willingness to develop deep domain knowledge as part of the role
- Strong management commitment to putting AI at the heart of the future of Vitols operations
This Role is located in Houston TX - In office 5x a week
Additional Information :
- Competitive salary and benefits package
- Large diversity of projects with real-world impacts on a truly global scale
- Entrepreneurial environment within a flat hierarchy where great ideas come to life quickly
- Direct close collaboration with trading desks and other business units across our key regions (e.g. London Singapore Houston Geneva)
- A highly motivated AI team comprised of experienced individuals with a supportive attitude and great team spirit
- Being part of the energy transition through increased emphasis on renewable and alternative energy sources at a pivotal moment in the industry
Comprehensive benefit coverage includes:
- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- Paid Vacation
- 401k with company contributions
- Life insurance
- Short-term & Long-term disability
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
Remote Work :
No
Employment Type :
Full-time
About Company
We are a leader in the energy sector with a presence across the spectrum; from oil through to power, renewables and carbon credits. Every day we use our expertise to distribute energy around the world. We source from producers, refiners and intermediaries and deliver to refineries, ut ... View more