Principal AI Engineer (GenAI & Azure)

VectorIQ is a pioneering AI services provider specializing in Generative AI solutions. They are seeking a Principal AI Engineer to lead a distributed engineering team, focusing on technical leadership, coding, and architectural guidance for GenAI applications.

Responsibilities:

• Own the end-to-end technical architecture for GenAI applications, from design through production
• Define and enforce clean architecture principles, separation of concerns, and scalable system design
• Provide architectural guidance across:
• Backend (Python) , Frontend (React preferred) , GenAI orchestration , Azure cloud infrastructure
• Review and approve technical designs with a focus on performance, scalability, reliability, and maintainability
• Anticipate and mitigate production challenges, including latency, throughput, cost, and operational risks
• Contribute directly to the codebase with a strong focus on:
• Production Quality Python backend services
• GenAI pipelines and orchestration layers
• Performance- and scale-critical components
• Perform deep code reviews and refactoring where needed
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and guide resolution
• Design and guide implementation of applied GenAI solutions, including:
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Agent-based workflows
• Prompt orchestration and evaluation strategies
• Provide technical leadership across frameworks such as:
• LangChain
• LlamaIndex
• Azure OpenAI SDK or similar
• Vector search technologies (e.g., Azure AI Search)
• Experience implementing various LLM-powered APIs in production including prompt design
• Evaluate and adopt new AI techniques intentionally, avoiding unnecessary complexity
• Define and enforce Python coding standards and best practices
• Strong experience building production APIs using FastAPI, including async request handling, Pydantic-based data modeling, API design best practices, testing, and deployment in cloud environment
• Hands-on ownership of Azure-based architectures (Azure OpenAI, App Services, Functions, Storage, Azure AI Search), including building, deploying, and operating secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient production systems, and approving all infrastructure and deployment changes
• Define and enforce DevOps best practices, including:
• GitHub and/or Azure DevOps workflows
• Branching strategies and pull request standards
• CI/CD pipeline design and release discipline
• Promote DevOps maturity across the team
• Ensure consistent use of version control, automation, and deployment hygiene
• Provide technical leadership to a team of 5–7 engineers
• Establish internal engineering guidelines and playbooks
• Raise the team’s overall Python maturity through mentorship and reviews
• Act as the technical escalation point for the offshore team
• Be accountable for offshore delivery quality, timelines, and technical outcomes
• Identify skill gaps and proactively drive improvement plans
• Serve as the single technical interface between the India-based team and US leadership
• Communicate clearly on:
• Technical progress
• Risks and trade-offs
• Architecture decisions
• Engage with US leadership 2–3 times per week
• Push back on unrealistic timelines while proposing viable alternatives