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engineer in agronomy

Title posted on AgCareers.com - Principal Forward Deployed Engineer

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Employer details McCain Foods

Job details

&nbsp;Requisition ID: 43592&nbsp;Job DescriptionIn every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and passionate about creating exceptional work experiences - together. With a customer-first mindset, we make doing business with McCain easy.About the role.The FDE Practice Manager is responsible for setting and elevating the Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) capability across McCain, ensuring a high standard of technical excellence, business impact, and career development within the FDE community. This player-coach leadership role owns the Yellow-portfolio FDE talent pool, personally contributes to strategic engagements, and serves as the accountable leader for FDE quality, talent development, staffing, and practice standards. Working closely with Artificial Intelligence, engineering, and business stakeholders, the FDE Practice Lead will champion best practices and drive measurable value through AI-enabled transformation initiatives.What you&rsquo;ll be doing.Establish and maintain the FDE competency framework, role definition, and development pathways across McCain.Build, coach, mentor, and develop the FDE community through structured feedback, training, and professional development initiatives.Lead hiring, talent calibration, workforce planning, and performance management activities for the Yellow-portfolio FDE team.Own the allocation and assignment of FDE resources across Yellow business portfolios, aligning talent to business priorities and development objectives.Personally lead selected business engagements as a player-coach, providing hands-on guidance and in-flight coaching to FDE team members.Partner with Commercial, Marketing, and Manufacturing FDE leaders to build consistency in standards, practices, and outcomes across the broader FDE community.Collaborate with AI Platform &amp; Engineering, Knowledge Engineering, AI Deployment &amp; Enablement, and Governance leaders to drive alignment and delivery success.Develop and maintain FDE playbooks, engagement models, operating standards, and reusable methodologies that improve efficiency and business outcomes.Ensure all FDE-led initiatives adhere to McCain Responsible AI, security, governance, and risk management requirements.Represent the FDE practice with senior leadership teams, executive sponsors, and business stakeholders to drive alignment and adoption of AI-enabled solutions.&nbsp;What you&rsquo;ll need to be successful.Bachelor&rsquo;s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline; advanced degree preferred.10+ years of experience managing complex business, customer, or technology engagements.3+ years of experience leading a professional practice, center of excellence, or team of senior individual contributors.Demonstrated success operating as a player-coach, combining hands-on delivery with coaching and team development responsibilities.Proven ability to establish and maintain a high-performance culture among senior practitioners.Strong influencing skills and experience partnering with senior leaders without direct authority.Executive presence, customer focus, and the ability to navigate ambiguity in fast-changing environments.Track record of delivering measurable business outcomes and driving organizational adoption of new capabilities.Experience with AI transformation, consulting, forward-deployed engineering models, or related disciplines is preferred.Strong commitment to ethical and responsible AI practices, governance, and risk management.&nbsp;About the team.The FDE Practice Manager is part of the Artificial Intelligence organization and reports to the Vice President, Artificial Intelligence. This role leads the Yellow-portfolio FDE talent pool and partners closely with AI Engineering, AI Platform &amp; Engineering, Knowledge Engineering, AI Deployment &amp; Enablement, Governance, and business stakeholders across multiple functions. The team operates through a player-coach model focused on develo