Senior Program Director

Job Description

Senior Program Director

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Job Summary

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you operate at the front line of delivery ; embedded with the client, turning ambiguous business problems into working software, fast. You own the outcome end to end: conceptualize the solution, prototype it, integrate it into the clients real environment, harden it, and lead a small team to ship and sustain it. You are part builder, part consultant, and an engineer who uses AI/GenAI as a force multiplier for delivery and operational efficiency. You bring HCLTechs AI/GenAI capabilities to life inside the clients world, with Responsible AI and security as non-negotiables.

• Strong software engineering fundamentals - design, clean code, version control, testing, sound architecture; with hands-on full-stack delivery.
• Proven experience with standards-based integrations, integration patterns, DevOps/DevSecOps and test automation.
• Conceptual fluency in AI/GenAI and a working habit of using AI coding assistants for productivity; understands what agents, prompting, RAG and context graphs are and where they add value.
• Ability to conceptualize solutions to business problems quickly and operate effectively in ambiguous, customer-embedded settings.
• Client-facing maturity: translates fluidly between technical and non-technical stakeholders, and owns outcomes.
• Experience mentoring or leading small teams.
• A genuine appetite to deepen AI/GenAI skills fast.

Key Responsibilities

• Conceptualize fast: embed with stakeholders, rapidly frame a solution to a business problem, and stand up a working prototype in days, not weeks.
• Own efficiency as the scorecard: drive measurable delivery efficiency and operational efficiency ; shorter cycle times, less manual effort, lower defect leakage, clear ROI.
• Engineer with AI leverage: use AI coding assistants / toolset across the SDLC to lift your own and the pods productivity and quality.
• Apply agents and automation: work with coding agents, custom agents and reusable skills to automate delivery and operations workflows; build them where the problem warrants it.
• Get reliable AI output: apply prompt engineering and sound context practices (context engineering, prompt caching, RAG / context-graph patterns) so AI output is accurate, cost-aware and production-grade.
• Integrate to standards: design standards-based integrations using proven integration patterns that plug into client ecosystems predictably and securely.
• Make reusability and predictability the default: build assets, templates and patterns the pod and account can re-apply, so outcomes are consistent and repeatable.
• Prototype and iterate quickly: favor fast, testable prototypes over big up-front design; learn from each loop.
• Own DevOps and DevSecOps: CI/CD, shift-left security, infrastructure-as-code, and automated testing built in from day one.
• Run a continuous, adaptable feedback loop: use telemetry, quality signals, evals and client feedback to iterate both the solution and the AI behind it.
• Stay ahead of the curve: adopt emerging AI and engineering concepts quickly, and bring field learnings back to the practice.
• Lead and mentor: set technical direction for a lean team of 3 or 4, raise the engineering bar, and grow the pods overall capability and AI fluency.

Skill Requirements

Other Requirements

• Hands-on experience building custom agents and reusable skills, not just consuming AI tools.
• Practical command of prompt engineering, context engineering, prompt caching and RAG / context-graph design, including cost and latency optimization.
• Experience designing agentic / GenAI solutions on platforms such as GHCP, Claude Code, Kiro, Cursor or comparable (multi-LLM, Responsible AI, governance-aware).
• A track record of turning field patterns into reusable accelerators adopted beyond a single engagement.

Apply now

Information at a Glance

Why HCLTech?

At HCLTech, youll supercharge your potential. Youll find your career. And youll find your spark. All at a place that knows that helping its customers stay on top starts by putting its people first.

HCLTech is a global technology company, home to more than 230,000 people across 60 countries, delivering industry-leading capabilities centered around digital, engineering, cloud and AI, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. We work with clients across all major verticals, providing industry solutions for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, and Public Services. Consolidated revenues as of 12 months ending September 2026 totaled $14.8 billion.