Principal AI/ML Engineer

Role Overview

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of the company's AI/ML platforms, infrastructure, and services.
• Drive technical vision, architecture, and strategy for AI/ML engineering needs, ensuring platform reliability, performance, and scalability.
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, mentorship, and foster a culture of continuous innovation within engineering teams.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (security, solutions architecture, product, engineering, vendors) to deliver integrated AI/ML solutions.
• Oversee project roadmaps, deliverables, and report progress to management and stakeholders.
• Ensure security, compliance, and operational excellence in all AI/ML initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and implement robust AI/ML platforms and infrastructure.
• Build and deploy supervised and unsupervised machine learning models, leveraging LLMs where applicable.
• Champion best engineering practices, automation, CI/CD, and agile development methodologies.
• Partner with business leaders and senior engineers to align technical solutions with organizational needs.
• Ensure platform security, data privacy, and adherence to SLOs and error budgets.
• Engage with external partners to evaluate and integrate complementary AI/ML technologies.
• Set and monitor measurable quality goals and OKRs for teams.
• Manage team performance, financials, and accountability for deliverables.
• Advise senior leadership on complex technical initiatives and business strategy.

Required Experience & Skills

• 15-20 years of large-scale software design and development experience.
• Strong hands-on expertise in Java and Python.
• Proven experience building supervised, unsupervised, and (preferably) reinforcement learning models.
• Experience with LLMs and distributed computing frameworks (Ray, Spark).
• Proficient with Kubernetes, Terraform, and cloud architecture (AWS, Azure, S3, EMR, Lambda).
• Deep knowledge of big data platforms and large-scale data engineering.
• Extensive experience with CI/CD, agile methodologies, and end-to-end SDLC including production operations.
• Demonstrated leadership, mentorship, and team-building abilities.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field required; advanced degree preferred.

Location & Work Arrangement:

• Hybrid role (1-3 days onsite/week) in Portland, ME; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; or San Francisco, CA (must reside within 50 miles of location).