Lead AI Engineer
This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Lead AI Engineer based in Australia.
This role sits at the forefront of generative AI innovation, leading the design, development, and delivery of advanced AI-powered systems that operate at production scale. The position combines hands-on technical depth with strategic leadership, guiding engineering teams in building scalable, reliable, and high-performing GenAI solutions. You will shape the technical direction of AI initiatives while working closely with product managers, designers, and business stakeholders to ensure strong alignment with real-world needs. Acting as both a technical authority and a mentor, you will elevate engineering standards, promote responsible AI practices, and foster a culture of continuous learning and experimentation. The environment is fast-paced, collaborative, and focused on delivering meaningful, production-grade AI systems that create measurable impact. This is a key leadership role for someone passionate about both engineering excellence and shaping the future of AI adoption.
Accountabilities:
- Lead and mentor a cross-functional team of software engineers, data scientists, and AI specialists delivering generative AI solutions
- Define and guide the architecture and design of scalable, reliable, production-ready AI systems
- Drive technical decision-making with a focus on performance, cost efficiency, maintainability, and scalability
- Collaborate with product managers, designers, and stakeholders to translate business needs into AI-driven technical solutions
- Establish and enforce best practices across AI engineering, including testing, monitoring, documentation, guardrails, and responsible AI principles
- Provide architectural leadership while balancing experimentation with safe, iterative delivery cycles
- Review system designs and code to ensure engineering quality, consistency, and robustness across AI solutions
- Define and optimize GenAI applications, including model tuning, performance improvements, and LLM-based system enhancements
- Champion knowledge sharing and uplift team capability through mentoring, tooling, and engineering enablement
Requirements:
- Strong experience in software engineering with advanced proficiency in Python and modern engineering practices (CI/CD, testing, version control, reliability engineering)
- Proven track record of designing and delivering end-to-end AI systems at scale in production environments
- Deep expertise in generative AI, LLMs, and agentic frameworks, including applied use in real-world systems
- Strong experience building and scaling RAG pipelines and integrating vector databases into production architectures
- Hands-on experience deploying AI solutions on cloud platforms using containers and CI/CD pipelines
- Strong understanding of LLMOps, including monitoring, observability, and production model management
- Experience with model fine-tuning, adaptation, and advanced ML/NLP frameworks
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders and senior leadership
- Proven leadership experience in mentoring engineers and building high-performing, collaborative teams
- Strong strategic thinking with the ability to anticipate AI trends and influence technical direction
- Ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments and drive alignment between technical and business goals
Benefits:
- Competitive compensation package aligned with senior technical leadership roles
- Flexible and hybrid work arrangements based in Australia
- Opportunity to lead cutting-edge generative AI initiatives at scale
- Strong focus on learning and development with structured career growth support
- Collaborative, inclusive, and innovation-driven engineering culture
- Exposure to advanced AI engineering challenges across multiple domains and industries
- Access to modern tools, cloud platforms, and experimentation-friendly environments
- Emphasis on continuous learning, mentorship, and professional development
