Talent, Enablement & AdvisoryAI Engineering Talent
Embedded AI Engineer
A senior BigStep AI engineer working inside the client’s team — in their standups, their tools and their repository — for three to twelve months, directed day to day by the client.
Embedded AI Engineer
$20K–$50K a month
- Duration: 3–12 months
- Tier: Embed
- Format: Managed capacity
You leave withSenior AI capability inside the client team at a fraction of US senior hiring cost
Book a Free SessionSound familiar?
We need someone who has actually shipped LLM systems in production to sit with our team. We can’t find one — the good ones are hugely expensive and get poached within a year — and consultants who write a deck and leave don’t help us.
What you leave with
Approved senior AI engineer
Format: Named engineer, full-time
How we know it’s acceptableThe client interviewed and approved the engineer before the start date.
The engineer’s work (code, pull requests, documentation)
Format: Client’s repository and tools
How we know it’s acceptableAccepted through the client’s own review process. The client directs the work and owns it from day one; BigStep does not sign it off separately.
Monthly check-in note
Format: Short document
How we know it’s acceptableReviewed with the client’s manager each month: focus areas, progress against the client’s priorities, and any concerns on either side.
Knowledge-sharing sessions
Format: Live, recorded
How we know it’s acceptableHeld at least monthly and attended by the client’s team.
Handover document at exit
Format: Document in client’s wiki
How we know it’s acceptableA client engineer can carry on the work without contacting the FDE.
Replacement engineer, if the original leaves
Format: Named engineer, full-time
How we know it’s acceptableApproved by the client and started within the agreed replacement window.
Also included
- Full participation in the client’s ceremonies and tools, during agreed overlap hours.
How it runs
3–12 months
Onboarding
Two weeks before start
Match
Profiles, client interview.
An approved engineer.
Weeks 1–2
Onboarding
OutAccess in place and agreed 30-day objectives.
Then, on a repeating cadence
Every month
Embedded work
OutA check-in note against objectives.
Final month
Exit or renewal
OutHandover document, or a renewal decision.
Is this right for you?
This is for you if
- Buyerthe engineering manager or CTO who has an AI initiative and nobody senior enough to lead the technical side of it.
- Also has to say yesHR or procurement (policy on contractors); security (access for an external engineer); Finance. The team the engineer joins should meet them before signature — an interview is part of the process.
This is the wrong answer if
- They need team throughput, not one person’s expertise. That is a pod.
- There is nobody on the client side for the engineer to work with or teach. An FDE amplifies a team; with no team, sell the Full Stack pod.
- The work is a bounded build with a defined outcome in under two months. That is the FDE Sprint or a fixed-scope sprint.
- They really want to hire this person permanently. Possible, but only if conversion terms are agreed.
What’s included, and what isn’t
In scope
- one engineer, full-time
- a monthly BigStep check-in
- replacement if they leave
- a handover document at the end
Out of scope
- accountability for delivery outcomes (the client directs the work — if they want us accountable for an outcome, that is the FDE Sprint)
- managing the client’s staff
- on-call outside agreed hours
- travel unless agreed
- equipment and licences
Before we start
Before day one
- The client has interviewed and approved the engineer.
- Repository, tools and environment access.
- A named manager on the client side.
- Agreed 30-day objectives and overlap hours.
- Contractor and security paperwork completed.
What we’ll need from your team
- The engineer’s manager, one hour a week for a one-to-one.
- The rest of the team as ordinary colleagues — the engineer is part of the team, not a vendor alongside it.
Pricing
What we need to give you a quote
- A role description and the skills needed.
- Seniority.
- Overlap hours.
- Duration and start date.
- Their interview process.
After we hand over
Who owns it after we leave
The client’s manager. The work belongs to their team from day one, so there is nothing to hand back — only knowledge to leave behind, which is why the sessions and handover document matter.
What we measure
- 30/60/90-day objectives met
- What shipped
- How many of the client’s engineers can ship an LLM feature on their own by the end
What comes next
- Extending the FDE
- Adding a second
- Moving to a podwhen the work outgrows one person
- An FDE Sprintfor a specific system that needs to reach production.
Questions buyers ask us
Keep hiring. The FDE gets you shipping while you do, and can help you interview.
Fair, and true of any single hire. That is why the work is documented as it goes, a BigStep lead checks in monthly, and we replace the engineer if they leave.
The engineer is vetted by a practice that does this work, backed by colleagues they can ask, and replaced if it does not work out. You are not managing a freelancer alone.
Overlap hours are written into the contract before we start, and we tell you honestly if we cannot meet them.
You interview before anyone starts, and the first 30 days have written objectives so a bad fit shows quickly.