Remote Forward Deployed Engineer Jobs in Columbus, OH

Here at Scotts Miracle-Gro there is no such thing as a typical day. Our culture is constantly energized by new and exciting growth opportunities and at a rapid pace. Below are details on an open job. If the role interests you and you would like to be considered we encourage you to apply!

Role Summary
You will own the AI agent development lifecycle at Scotts Miracle-Gro - from pilot through deployment and continuous iteration. Using platforms like Sierra and modern agent frameworks, you will design and deliver production-grade AI agents that solve real business challenges: customer service, commerce, internal workflows, and cross-functional automation. You are joining SMG to become our in-house expert who learns, configures, and extends agent platforms to drive measurable outcomes for our brands and consumers.
In this role you will:
Agent Development Lifecycle (ADLC):

• Own end-to-end agent development - from requirements and design through pilot, deployment, monitoring, and iterative improvement.
• Build production-grade AI agents using Sierra and complementary tools (LangChain, ADK, or similar orchestration frameworks) for customer-facing and internal use cases.
• Design agent architectures: conversation flows, tool use, RAG integration, human handoff logic, and multi-channel deployment (chat, SMS, voice, email).
• Implement prompt engineering, guardrails, and evaluation pipelines to ensure agents meet quality, safety, and brand standards.

Platform Mastery and Technical Leadership:

• Become the in-house expert on Sierra and related agent platforms - learn the Agent SDK, Agent Studio, and deployment options to maximize platform value.
• Evaluate when to use platform-native capabilities vs. custom extensions; recommend build vs. buy vs. configure for new agent use cases.
• Integrate agents with SMG systems: CRM, e-commerce, knowledge bases, and internal tools. Ensure secure, compliant access to data and APIs.
• Establish reusable patterns, templates, and best practices for agent development that the CoE and FDEs can leverage.

Cross-Functional Delivery:

• Partner with Digital and CS teams to identify high-value agent opportunities and define success metrics.
• Track agent performance (resolution rates, satisfaction, deflection, latency) and drive continuous improvement based on data and user feedback.
• Document agent designs, runbooks, and operational procedures. Support responsible AI practices and governance requirements.

What you'll need to be successful:
Required:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of software engineering experience, with 1+ years building or integrating AI/LLM-powered applications or agents.
• Strong programming fundamentals - Python required; experience with React, TypeScript/JavaScript and API design is a plus.
• Hands-on experience with generative AI: LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, Gemini), prompt engineering, RAG, vector databases, and agent orchestration (LangChain, Flowise, or similar).
• Ability to learn new platforms quickly - you will ramp on Sierra (or equivalent) and become productive within weeks.
• Track record of shipping production software with clear ownership of design, implementation, and iteration.
• Clear communicator who can explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders and align on priorities.

Preferred:

• Experience with Sierra, Voice AI, or other enterprise conversational AI platforms.
• Familiarity with customer service, e-commerce, or CPG/retail domains.
• Experience with cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure) and CI/CD for ML or agent deployments.
• Exposure to agent evaluation, A/B testing, or observability for AI systems.
• Understanding of responsible AI, data governance, and compliance considerations for customer-facing AI.

How this role connects to our AI vision:
The AI CoE delivers value through a combination of strategy, platform expertise, and forward-deployed execution. The Agent Engineer is the platform specialist - the person who owns the agent stack, learns the tools deeply, and ensures SMG can reliably build and operate AI agents at scale. You enable the FDEs and business units to deploy agents with confidence, while you focus on the technical depth required to make those agents production-ready and continuously improving.The starting budgeted pay range for this role will generally fall between $140,000.00 - $164,700.00 per year. Scotts will consider various factors in determining the actual pay including your skills, qualifications, experience, and geographical location.In addition to the determined base salary, this role is also incentive eligible under our corporate bonus programs.For remote roles where the final candidate resides in Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oregon or Washington, state required pay thresholds will be factored into base salary.

Here at ScottsMiracle-Gro, we believe providing an enriching and engaging employee experience is what sets us apart from other organizations. We recognize our employees are so much more than just their job title so we offer programs and benefits that support them in all aspects of their lives. Wondering how we do it? Below is a glimpse of our highlight reel...

• Our Live Total Health program provides you with options to align to your personal needs. Selections range from medical, dental and vision coverage for you, your spouse/domestic partner and dependents to an outstanding wellness reimbursement program to an unbelievable 401K match (up to 7.5%) as well as a 15% discount on company stock and much more

• We know our talent is our most precious asset and your unique development contributes to our organization's success now and in the future. Career growth at our company is not always a ladder. It's much more like a rock climbing adventure. Grow through exploration and experiences rather than a predictable linear path.

• We value the importance of family. We provide access to Maven Family Planning and up to $30,000 to accommodate for adoption, fertility and surrogacy.

• Be part of something bigger by joining one of our Employee Resource Groups focusing on diversity and inclusion, family, education and sustainability: Scotts Women's Network, Scotts Black Employees' Network, Scotts Veterans Network, Scotts Young Professionals, Scotts Pride Network (GroPride), Scotts Associates for a Greener Earth (SAGE), Scotts Family TREE and our Associate Boards.

• Join a company with a strong belief in giving back to the communities where we live and work. We have a shared passion for service and volunteerism and believe participating in community service benefits our communities and strengthens our team.

Not interested in this role? Stay up to date on future opportunities by joining our ScottsMiracle-Gro and Hawthorne Gardening talent communities.

Scotts is an EEO Employer, dedicated to a culturally diverse, drug free workplace.

EEO/AA Employer/Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Notification to Agencies:

Please note that the Scotts Miracle-Gro company does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Master Service Agreement, and specific approval to submit resumes to an approved requisition, the Scotts Miracle-Gro company will not consider or approve payment regarding recruiter fees or referral compensations.