Lead AI/ML Engineer

Join a collaborative team building enterprise-scale Generative AI solutions that make a real impact in a highly regulated environment. This Lead AI/ML Engineer role offers the opportunity to combine hands-on technical execution with strategic leadership, guiding production-ready LLM applications, retrieval-augmented generation systems, and responsible AI practices from concept through deployment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of production-ready Generative AI and LLM-powered applications at enterprise scale.
• Build and optimize retrieval-augmented generation solutions, including vector search and enterprise knowledge retrieval workflows.
• Develop scalable APIs, AI services, and cloud-based infrastructure to support machine learning and LLM applications.
• Create and maintain evaluation frameworks to assess model quality, grounding, latency, accuracy, and safety.
• Apply responsible AI principles by helping reduce bias, improve reliability, protect privacy, and strengthen security and compliance.
• Partner with product leaders, engineers, data professionals, and business stakeholders to define and deliver high-value AI use cases.
• Mentor developers and provide technical direction on complex AI initiatives.
• Evaluate emerging AI tools, frameworks, and approaches to recommend practical innovations for the platform and team.

Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, machine learning, or AI engineering.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience building, fine-tuning, and deploying Generative AI or LLM solutions in production.
• Strong Python programming skills and experience with modern software engineering practices, including CI/CD, automated testing, and design patterns.
• Experience designing solutions on major cloud platforms such as Azure or AWS.
• Practical experience with RAG frameworks, vector databases, prompt engineering, and LLM application development tools such as LangChain or LlamaIndex.
• Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and collaborate effectively across teams.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in healthcare or other regulated industries.
• Background balancing hands-on engineering with platform strategy and enterprise AI vision.
• Familiarity with responsible AI governance, risk mitigation, and privacy/security best practices.
• Experience working in cross-functional, agile teams.

Horizontal is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences. We believe inclusive teams create better ideas, stronger solutions, and more meaningful outcomes for everyone.

By applying for this position, you acknowledge and agree that Horizontal Talent may contact you regarding your application using automated technology, including phone calls, SMS/text messages, or email, which may be delivered by our virtual AI recruiter, Alex.

Please apply through this online posting or by visiting our Job Board at www.horizontaltalent.com/job-board. Applications will be accepted for 4 weeks. For those that join the team, we offer competitive compensation and benefits including medical, dental, vision, and retirement. Check out all we have to offer and how you can become part of the Horizontal Talent Team. The pay range for this role is $36 - $70 per hour based on qualifications and experience.