Forward Deployed Strategist

About Nearform

Nearform is an independent team of data & AI experts, engineers, and designers who build intelligent digital solutions and capability at pace. We create AI-enabled solutions that enhance digital experiences, empower developers, and deliver measurable results. In these ways, we partner with ambitious enterprises to deliver enduring impact.

Our deep expertise in solving the world’s most complex digital problems, along with our collaborative, people-first approach, enables enterprises to build breakthrough products and modernise legacy systems by unleashing the power of AI.

Today, our team of 500 experts in 20+ countries is trusted by leading enterprises including Lululemon, Puma, Sun Life, Starbucks, Travelex, Virgin Media 02, and Walmart. 

We're on a mission to reinvent how our clients work

Most companies are bolting AI onto old processes and hoping for the best. We think that's the wrong way round.

Nearform is on an exciting journey with AI, and we're building a new team to lead it. The team brings together two worlds that rarely meet: the business thinking of a strategy firm and the engineering depth of a company that builds and ships real products. That puts us in a small group of firms that can do both. We work out what should change and we build it.

The Role

Our clients don't all start in the same place. Some know something has to change but have no idea where to start. Others have a clear picture of the future and are ready to build. Most are somewhere in between.

Your job is to work out where each client really is and shape the right solution for them. That could mean helping a leadership team choose which process to tackle first. It could also mean turning a rough idea into something our engineers can build.

This isn't a traditional management consulting role

You won't be writing a strategy deck that sits on a shelf. This is  hands-on work, close to the technology, and focused on results you can see.

Primary Responsibilities:

•  Get on the ground. Sit with the teams doing the work, whether they're checking customers against sanctions lists or pulling together month-end reports. Learn how it really happens, including the workarounds, the judgement calls and the steps nobody wrote down.
• Spot the opportunity. Find where AI and automation can change the game, and where a person still needs to make the call.
• Design what comes next. Work side by side with a forward deployed engineer to shape a better way of working, testing ideas against what can actually be built.
• Prove the value. Own the business case for each process you redesign. Work out where the value is, put numbers on it, and set up how it will be measured, so that after go-live you can show the client what changed.
• Make it real. Turn your design into a plan clear enough for our engineering teams to build, then see it go live.
• Bring people with you. Run workshops, win over frontline staff and make the case to senior leaders.

Between clients, you'll help build what comes next:

• Help win new work. Join early conversations with prospective clients and help shape proposals that show what's possible.
• Shape our offer. Turn what you learn on projects into the methods, tools and stories that make the next engagement faster and sharper.
• Make the team stronger. Share what works, test new ideas and help define how this team operates as it grows.

Experience:

•  At least 10 years in consulting, business analysis, operations improvement or a similar role.
• A track record of mapping a business process and redesigning it with real stakeholders.
• Confidence in front of clients, whether you're running a workshop, interviewing frontline staff or presenting to a broad group of client stakeholders, including the C-suite.
• Outcomes thinking. You start with the result the client needs, such as faster turnaround, lower cost or fewer errors, and work backwards from there. You judge success by what changes for the business, not by what gets delivered.
• Commercial sharpness. You've built business cases before and can turn operational improvements into numbers a CFO will believe.
• Storytelling. You can pull together a clear, compelling storyline for presentations, quarterly business reviews and leadership updates, the kind that gets decisions made.
• Builder's mindset. You work in short cycles and test ideas quickly. You'll spin up a proof of concept with tools like Claude Cowork, Lovable or Replit to show a client what's possible, rather than waiting for a perfect plan.
• A solid grasp of what AI and automation can and can't do. You don't need to code, but you'll hold your own with engineers.
• Sharp writing: you turn messy conversations into a clear document others can act on.
• Able to spend time on client sites.

Benefits

• Competitive employee benefits package
• Work flexibly; we appreciate there are more important things in life than work so our flexible working culture allows you to work around what matters - school run, no problem!
• The Wellness Hub: We have a genuine commitment to fostering/improving NearFormers’ wellbeing; we offer resources and support, including a NearForm advice line which offers confidential support for anything from relationship issues to staying healthy.