Senior AI/ ML Engineer

Universal Orlando•Orlando, FL

18h

About The Position

The Senior AI/ML Engineer role will design and build custom AI-powered applications end-to-end, from prototype to production, focused on delivering measurable business value. The Senior AI/ML Engineer will engineer full AI systems that integrate model capabilities into real products: robust API endpoints, agentic or AI workflow orchestration, scalable backend services, and well-designed data models. Hands-on in implementation, deeply involved in system quality and reliability, and eager to mentor junior engineers while raising the team’s engineering bar.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field is required.
5+ years in software engineering and/or applied AI/ML roles, with demonstrated delivery of production systems.
AI/ML Expertise: Strong working knowledge of modern ML/GenAI tools (e.g., PyTorch/TensorFlow, Hugging Face, LangChain/LlamaIndex or similar).
Backend Engineering: Proven ability to build and maintain backend services and APIs (Python/TypeScript/Java/Go or similar).
Data & Storage: Experience designing database schemas and working with relational and/or NoSQL databases; familiarity with vector databases is a plus.
Cloud Proficiency: Proficient in at least one major cloud provider (AWS, GCP, or Azure), including deployment and managed services.
Evaluation Discipline: Demonstrated experience measuring AI system quality with repeatable evaluation methods and production monitoring.
Scaling Mindset: Ability to design systems for performance, reliability, and maintainability at scale.
Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to explain tradeoffs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Mentorship: Eagerness and ability to mentor junior engineers and elevate team practices.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in a relevant field is strongly preferred, emphasizing computer science, machine learning, robotics, or business management.

Responsibilities

AI Development Architect and implement end-to-end AI solutions, including backend services, APIs, databases, and model integration layers.
Develop and maintain API endpoints (REST/GraphQL) that reliably serve AI capabilities to internal and external consumers.
Design and implement backend database schemas (relational and/or NoSQL) and data access patterns optimized for AI workloads and application needs.
Build scalable AI infrastructure patterns (job queues, caching, streaming, async workers) to support low-latency and high-throughput use cases.
Apply secure engineering practices including authentication/authorization, secrets management, threat modeling, and PII handling.
Engineer AI & Agentic Workflows Implement AI pipelines including Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), tool/function calling, structured output, and agentic workflows.
Choose appropriate model strategies: prompt-based, RAG, fine-tuning, or hybrid approaches based on cost, latency, and quality requirements.
Evaluate and integrate foundation models (open-source and commercial) with attention to licensing, security, privacy, and performance.
AI Evaluation Define and implement evaluation frameworks to measure AI system quality (accuracy, relevance, grounding, hallucination rates, safety, latency, cost).
Create automated test suites for prompts/workflows and regression testing for model and data changes.
Monitor production systems for drift, degradation, and reliability issues; establish observability (logs, traces, metrics) and incident response practices.
Collaboration and Mentorship Partner with Product, Data Science, Data Engineering, DevOps and Platform teams to translate requirements into robust technical solutions.
Mentor junior engineers through code reviews, technical guidance, and best-practice sharing.
Lead by example in engineering rigor, craftsmanship, and pragmatic decision-making.
Understands and actively participates in Environmental, Health & Safety responsibilities by following established UO policy, procedures, training and team member involvement activities.
Performs other duties as assigned.