Forward deployed ai engineer

D.R. Horton, Inc., the largest homebuilder in the U.S., was founded in 1978 and is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. It is engaged in the construction and sale of high-quality homes designed principally for the entry-level and first time move-up markets. The Company also provides mortgage financing and title services for homebuyers through its mortgage and title subsidiaries. Please visit our website at www.drhorton.com for more information.

D.R. Horton, Inc. is currently looking for a Forward Deployed AI Engineer. As the nation's largest homebuilder by volume, D.R. Horton is transforming how it uses data, AI, and digital solutions for the next generation of homebuilding, and we pair the reach of a national enterprise with a culture built on local ownership, practical innovation, and deep business partnerships. Our teams focus on solutions that work in the field and deliver real results, not technology for its own sake. In this role, you'll have a critical opportunity to shape modern capabilities that will influence how the company operates for years to come.

The Forward Deployed AI Engineer will work at the intersection of business problems and technical execution, helping turn emerging AI capabilities into practical solutions. This role will partner directly with business and technology teams to discover opportunities, rapidly prototype, connect data and AI to real workflows, and help move successful ideas into production. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable in a business conversation and writing code, thrives in ambiguity, and enjoys demonstrating what is possible through working solutions. Success in this role means working solutions in the hands of business users within weeks, measurable improvement in the workflows they touch, and patterns that other teams reuse.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Embed with business and field teams to understand workflows, decisions, pain points, data, local variation, and measurable outcomes
• Rapidly prototype and productionize AI-enabled applications, agents, copilots, APIs, workflow automations, and decision-support experiences
• Connect enterprise data, models, APIs, and third-party capabilities into practical end-user solutions
• Work with Product to define MVP scope and with Architecture, Platform, Governance, and Security to ensure solutions can scale safely
• Drive field testing, feedback, adoption, and iteration and translate lessons from one business unit into reusable enterprise patterns
• Represent the function in cross-functional discovery, architecture, governance, operational-readiness, and continuous-improvement activities as appropriate
• Stay current on relevant data, AI, digital, software, and industry practices and apply new capabilities when they create practical business value
• Identify, shape, and pilot new opportunities where data, AI, and digital capabilities can create business value, operating with an owner's mindset and a bias toward building, testing, and learning quickly
• Conduct all business in a professional and ethical manner
• Ability to travel overnight

Education and/or Experience

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent experience

5+ years of software engineering, AI engineering, solutions engineering, data engineering, or comparable experience

Strong Python and/or TypeScript/JavaScript skills with experience building APIs, applications, integrations, and AI-enabled solutions

Practical experience with LLMs, RAG, agents, tool and MCP integration, prompt/context engineering, evaluation, document AI and unstructured data, and production AI patterns

Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills with willingness to spend significant time with business users and field teams

Demonstrated ability to work independently, take ownership, communicate clearly, and deliver results in an evolving environment

Ability to build trusted relationships across the organization, balancing enterprise standards with business needs and operating realities

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in forward-deployed engineering, consulting, solution architecture, product engineering, or startup environments, and experience working across multiple model providers and AI platforms, is preferred

Experience in homebuilding, real estate, construction, mortgage, title, land development, sales, purchasing, finance, customer care, or another distributed operating business is a plus

Experience working in a large enterprise with complex enterprise environments is preferred

Experience founding, incubating, or building new products, capabilities, or businesses from the ground up is a plus

Come join a winning team with a Fortune 500 company! We are growing fast and are looking for enthusiastic attitudes and team players to join our success. We offer an excellent benefits package including:

• Medical, Dental and Vision
• 401(K)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Flex Spending Accounts
• Life & Disability Insurance
• Vacation, Sick, Personal Time and Company Holidays
• Multiple Voluntary and Company provided Benefits

Build YOUR future with D.R. Horton, America’s Builder. #WeBuildPeopleToo