Lead AI Agent Developer_Irvine, CA- Hybrid work (3 days office, 2 days remote)

We are seeking an experienced Senior / Lead AI Agent Developer to design, develop, and deploy enterprise-grade AI agents using the Microsoft AI Stack. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience with Generative AI, agent orchestration, Azure OpenAI, Microsoft Foundry, MCP, and enterprise application integration.

Role: Lead AI Agent Developer

Location: Irvine, CA- Hybrid work (3 days office, 2 days remote) - only locals

Duration: 12 Months of Contract to hire

Key Responsibilities:

·       Design, develop, and deploy AI agents using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Foundry, and Azure OpenAI.

·       Build agentic workflows, tool calling, multi-agent orchestration, and human-in-the-loop processes.

·       Develop MCP clients and servers to integrate AI agents with enterprise APIs, tools, and data sources.

·       Integrate AI agents with enterprise systems, databases, REST APIs, and business applications.

·       Implement secure authentication, authorization, data protection, and responsible AI guardrails.

·       Develop scalable, reliable, and maintainable solutions using Python and/or C#.

·       Establish reusable AI components, engineering standards, and best practices.

Mandatory Skills:

·       Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI.

·       Experience building and deploying LLM-powered AI agents and agentic workflows.

·       Working knowledge of Microsoft Foundry and relevant agent-development frameworks.

·       Strong programming skills in Python and/or C#.

·       Experience with MCP, function calling, tool integration, and API orchestration.

·       Hands-on experience with vector search, and Azure AI Search or equivalent.

·       Knowledge of identity management, access controls, secrets management, and AI security.

·       Strong troubleshooting, problem-solving, and technical communication skills.

Preferred Skills:

·       Microsoft Agent Framework, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Graph, and SharePoint integration.

·       Azure Functions, Logic Apps, API Management, and Azure Service Bus.

·       Experience with agent evaluation, LLM observability, and prompt-injection mitigation.

·       Familiarity with LangGraph or comparable agent orchestration frameworks.

·       Experience delivering enterprise AI solutions at scale.

Experience and Qualifications:

·       8+ years of software engineering, cloud development, or enterprise integration experience.

·       3+ years of relevant AI/ML or Generative AI experience preferred.

·       Demonstrated experience delivering AI agents beyond proof of concept into production.

·       Proven ability to work independently, lead technical implementation, and collaborate across teams.