VP of AI Engineering

Baker Tilly•San Diego, CA

2d•$250,000 - $400,000

About The Position

Baker Tilly is seeking a VP of AI Engineering to lead its Applied AI and Data & Intelligence engineering capabilities as one integrated organization. The leader will oversee the Agent Factory, which builds AI agents, agentic experiences, and evaluation capabilities, and Data & Intelligence, which builds Compass, the BT Intelligence Platform, including its ontology, knowledge and judgment graphs, and product data estate that power the firm’s agentic solutions. The VP will establish engineering standards, delivery practices, and talent strategy across both areas, ensuring the organization delivers high-quality, production-ready AI products. The role will build and develop engineering teams across the U.S. and India, including forward-deployed AI engineers, data and knowledge-graph engineers, machine-learning engineers, and AI evaluation talent. A key focus is transitioning engineering capabilities from expert partners to Baker Tilly teams through defined processes, standards, patterns, and internal expertise. This is a player-coach leadership role that combines executive-level engineering leadership with current technical credibility. The VP will stay close enough to the work to evaluate agent architectures, evaluation frameworks, engineering estimates, and delivery decisions while developing the organization and operating model needed to scale. The role works closely with Platform & Production Engineering, Architecture, AI Product Management, Design, subject matter experts, and the India engineering organization as one engineering system. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience; an advanced degree is preferred. Candidates should have 15+ years of software and product engineering experience, including significant senior leadership experience, and demonstrated experience building an engineering organization from an early or founding stage and delivering AI products. The pay range is $250,000 to $400,000. Actual compensation depends on relevant factors, and Baker Tilly offers a compensation and benefits package to eligible employees.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
15+ years of software and product engineering experience, including significant senior leadership experience within product engineering organizations.
Demonstrated experience building an engineering organization from an early or founding stage and successfully delivering AI products through that organization.
Recent hands-on technical credibility with LLM-based and agentic systems, including the ability to evaluate agent architectures, evaluation suites, technical approaches, engineering estimates, and trade-offs.
Strong knowledge of agentic AI product engineering, including LLM systems, evaluation-gated delivery, context and memory management, and tool use.
Experience with data and knowledge systems, including lakehouse environments, knowledge graphs, retrieval systems, and evaluation-driven approaches to retrieval quality.
Deep engineering management expertise, including establishing technical standards, hiring practices, delivery systems, and dependency-management processes.
Experience leading engineering organizations that build products and services on platforms owned by separate teams, with the ability to establish effective interfaces and operating models across organizational boundaries.
Experience leading distributed U.S. and India engineering organizations as an integrated engineering system.
Experience leading complex engineering programs across vendors, product teams, partners, and multiple time zones.
Experience working within forward-deployed, client-embedded, or partner-supported engineering models, including transitioning engineering capabilities from external partners to internal teams.
Demonstrated ability to develop internal engineering capabilities, practices, and talent while reducing long-term reliance on external delivery partners.
Strong executive communication skills and the ability to clearly and proactively communicate delivery status, risks, dependencies, and technical considerations.
Demonstrated ability to use AI and agentic development tools as a force multiplier in engineering and leadership work.
Ability to balance hands-on technical depth with organizational leadership, talent development, delivery accountability, and executive stakeholder management.
No certifications or licenses required.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.

Responsibilities

Build and lead an integrated engineering organization across the Agent Factory and Data & Intelligence, establishing engineering standards, delivery systems, culture, and a consistent talent bar.
Hire, develop, and retain high-performing engineering teams across the U.S. and India, including forward-deployed AI engineers, data and knowledge-graph engineers, machine-learning engineers, and AI evaluation talent.
Establish and maintain engineering hiring standards and structured selection practices across the organization.
Design and lead a product pod model that integrates U.S. and India engineers, product managers, subject matter experts, and other partners.
Partner with the VP, Engineering – India to grow the India engineering organization while maintaining consistent engineering standards and practices across geographies.
Own engineering delivery across the APG-built portfolio, including agents, Compass product experiences, the intelligence layer, product data estate, and evaluation evidence supporting release decisions.
Establish an operating cadence across product teams, engineering partners, and the India organization to drive accountability, visibility, and delivery quality.
Maintain a high bar for engineering and release quality, ensuring evaluation baselines and evidence inform release decisions.
Oversee engineering dependencies across the agentic and data layers and ensure release candidates transition effectively to Platform & Production Engineering through established interfaces and release processes.
Lead the transition of engineering capabilities from expert partners to Baker Tilly teams through a structured shadow, pair, lead, and own model with defined milestones and ownership gates.
Translate partner-developed capabilities into Baker Tilly-owned patterns, runbooks, engineering practices, and internal expertise.
Manage partner engineering delivery against defined outcomes and technical standards as capabilities transition in-house.
Partner with Platform & Production Engineering to maintain a clear and effective interface between product development and the path to production.
Partner with the Chief Architect on technical design, architecture standards, and interfaces between the agentic, intelligence, and platform layers.
Collaborate with AI Product Management to translate product definition and acceptance criteria into engineering execution, using evaluation results to inform product and release decisions.
Partner with Design and subject matter experts to ensure agentic products reflect high-quality user experiences and practitioner expertise.
Provide leadership and mentorship to the Head of Agent Engineering and Head of Data & AI Platform and ensure alignment across both engineering pillars.
Serve as a senior engineering and delivery advisor to the CAITO, providing clear visibility into delivery progress, risks, dependencies, and organizational needs.
Represent APG engineering with executive stakeholders and communicate complex engineering topics, trade-offs, risks, and delivery status clearly and effectively.
Engage in special projects and perform other duties as assigned.