AI Solutions Engineer

California State University, Northridge • Los Angeles, CA

4d • $7,284 - $10,611 • Hybrid

About The Position

California State University, Northridge (CSUN) seeks an AI Solutions Engineer to advance the design, development, and deployment of agentic solutions and AI-integrated workflows across the university community. Under the general supervision of the Assistant Vice President of IT and Technology Strategy Officer, the incumbent consults independently with campus stakeholders to identify opportunities and architect cost-effective, scalable solutions. The role engineers, configures, tests, and deploys context-grounded agentic solutions and AI-integrated workflow automations, such as support agents, research accelerators, and administrative process automations.

The engineer develops technical design documents, architectural specifications, integration blueprints, and cost models to support stakeholder approval and funding. The role also establishes safety mechanisms—including prompt-injection mitigations, abuse guardrails, evaluation frameworks, and human-in-the-loop escalation paths—and supports student team members in requirements gathering, proof-of-concept development, and pilot testing. Other duties may be assigned.

This is a regular, full-time position with a one-year probationary period. It is currently hybrid, with three days in the office and two days remote, subject to change based on student or operational needs. The schedule is 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday, and may include evenings and weekends. The anticipated hiring range is $7,284–$9,237 per month; the classification salary range is $7,284–$10,611 per month, depending on qualifications and experience.

Requirements

• Equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in a related field and four years of relevant experience.
• Additional experience demonstrating the required knowledge and abilities may substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.
• An advanced degree in a related field may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.
• Ability to assess business requirements, evaluate AI-enabled technologies, and design cost-effective, scalable solutions.
• Ability to communicate technical recommendations, architectural trade-offs, and security considerations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Hands-on experience designing, developing, testing, and deploying secure AI-powered solutions using enterprise platforms such as Azure AI Foundry and ServiceNow, including Python, REST APIs, and Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Knowledge of AI security frameworks, risk mitigation, and enterprise integration standards.
• Ability to mentor student developers, coordinate agile sprint activities, translate project requirements into actionable tasks, and provide technical guidance, code reviews, and quality assurance.
• Ability to ensure solutions meet institutional security, accessibility, and governance standards.
• Knowledge of emerging AI frameworks, agentic technologies, vector databases, and developer platforms; ability to research, evaluate, and recommend solutions, collaborate across technical working groups, and contribute to IT planning and technology improvement initiatives.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline.
• Four years of relevant experience, including two to three years of progressive, hands-on professional experience with AI, software development, scripting, API engineering, or systems integration.
• Active industry certification in AI or cloud engineering, such as Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate or Azure Fundamentals.
• Experience leading agile software sprint cycles in higher education IT or supervising student developer teams in an academic setting.

Responsibilities

• Consult independently with campus stakeholders to evaluate opportunities and architect cost-effective, scalable solutions, including determining when agentic, AI-enabled, or AI-integrated workflow automation is appropriate.
• Author technical design documents, architectural specifications, integration blueprints, and cost models to obtain stakeholder support and funding.
• Engineer, configure, test, and deploy context-grounded agentic solutions and AI-integrated workflow solutions.
• Configure safety mechanisms, including prompt-injection mitigations, abuse guardrails, evaluation frameworks, and human-in-the-loop escalation paths.
• Empower student team members to participate in stakeholder requirements gathering, rapid proof-of-concept development, and pilot testing.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Retirement and savings benefits.
• Tuition waiver.
• Additional benefits are offered.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level