Staff AI Engineer

Staff AI EngineerLocation: Milwaukee, WI / Raleigh, NC – HybridContract: 1+ YearWork Authorization: USC OnlyRead on to find out what you will need to succeed in this position, including skills, qualifications, and experience.Required QualificationsProven experience personally building and deploying AI systems into production from scratchStrong hands-on experience with LLMs, Generative AI, RAG, embeddings, AI agents, and modern AI application architecturesExperience with model selection, model APIs, prompt engineering, retrieval strategies, agentic workflows, and AI system integration.Strong experience with Python and SQLTechnical EnvironmentThe team works across a broad modern technology stack, including:Python, SQL, PostgreSQL, React, C#, iOS, LLMs, Generative AI, Agentic AI, RAG, Embeddings, Model APIs, Cloud Platforms, AI Evaluation, Observability, and Production AI Systems.Candidates are not expected to have experience with every technology listed. Strong software engineering fundamentals, deep AI application experience, architecture ownership, and demonstrated production experience are more important than knowledge of every individual technology.Staff-Level ExpectationsAt the Staff level, the successful candidate will be expected to:Own architecture across a product or technical domain.Make high-impact technical decisions and communicate tradeoffs effectively.Establish reusable AI engineering patterns that can be adopted by other teams.Raise the technical quality and judgment of the broader engineering organization.Balance hands-on implementation with technical leadership and mentorship.Take ownership from problem discovery through architecture, implementation, production deployment, evaluation, and iterationLocation & Work ArrangementMilwaukee, WI: Preferred location, with approximately 2–3 days/week onsite.Raleigh, NC: Hybrid candidates considered.Chicagoland: Candidates who can travel to Milwaukee approximately 2 days/week may also be considered.Hybrid requirements are flexible for an exceptionally strong candidate with the required AI and architecture background.Interview ProcessApproximately 3 rounds, beginning with two back-to-back 30-minute technical discussions, followed by a potential final round.The interview process will focus on:AI system architectureProduction AI engineeringLLM/RAG/agentic AI experienceSoftware engineering fundamentalsTechnical decision-making and tradeoffsCustomer/product judgmentArchitecture ownership and technical leadershipImportant Candidate RequirementCandidates must demonstrate real, hands-on ownership of production AI systems. xhyhwjd Experience limited primarily to AI integrations, experimentation, demonstrations, or POCs will not be sufficient for this Staff-level position.