Sr AI Engineer

Work Authorization: Must be legally authorized to perform services in the United States About the Role Kopius is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to join our Solutions Division - Research and Innovation team and help lead cutting-edge AI initiatives across a diverse portfolio of client engagements and internal innovation projects. This is a high-impact, high-variety role. You will act as a senior technical lead across multiple teams, projects, and clients simultaneously - shaping architecture, designing AI solutions, partnering with sales on pre-sales conversations, and rolling up your sleeves with delivery teams when it counts. We’re looking for someone who genuinely enjoys context-switching, thrives in collaborative environments, brings positive energy and curiosity to every conversation, and earns trust quickly across engineers, clients, and executives alike. You will research, design, and build technical AI solution offerings for our enterprise customers - solutions that are packaged as formal offerings for our sales team. You’ll also provide technical leadership and guidance to our client-facing delivery teams, working directly with Kopius engineers using Agile methodologies, and supporting the Solutions and Sales teams with technical expertise and pre-sales support as needed., * Collaborate across multiple teams, projects, and clients simultaneously - moving fluidly between strategy, architecture, hands-on delivery, and pre-sales conversations

• Work closely with sales, pre-sales, and delivery teams to solicit feedback on customer trends and AI industry needs, and propose innovation ideas for solution offerings Kopius can sell to new and existing customers
• Serve as the technical lead for researching and building AI/ML solutions - responsible for overall architecture and technical guidance
• Balance hands-on technical contributions to client projects with strategic AI solution development and sales support, ensuring both execution excellence and innovation
• Act as technical lead for dynamic development teams using Agile methodologies to deliver innovative AI solutions, both internal and customer-facing
• Partner with the Solutions and Sales teams to identify AI opportunities, recommend viable technical approaches, and prototype solutions
• Represent AI technical expertise in pre-sales engagements, articulating complex AI solutions to prospective clients
• Create detailed technical documentation including architecture diagrams, data flows, implementation guides, and as-built project documentation
• Establish and maintain technical standards, best practices, and architectural governance for AI project delivery
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend adoption strategies that deliver competitive advantages
• Conduct architecture review sessions and provide technical guidance to development teams, including peer collaboration, mentorship, and fostering knowledge sharing and continuous learning within Kopius
• Develop proof-of-concepts / proof-of-values to validate AI architectural decisions and mitigate technical risks
• Build strong relationships with clients and technology partners throughout the project lifecycle
• Serve as the technical escalation point for complex AI issues requiring architectural expertise, * Location: Remote within the United States (any location); candidates based in Seattle, WA or Atlanta, GA preferred
• Note: As an independent contractor, you are responsible for your own taxes, insurance, benefits, and equipment. No employee benefits are provided.

Things to keep in mind!

• Work Authorization: Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis without requiring sponsorship, transfer, or extension of work authorization now or in the future.
• Equal Opportunity: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law.

• Community and Connection: Foster team connection; contribute to a collaborative environment.
• Exceptional Experiences: Strive for outstanding communication experiences; align actions with delivering excellence.
• Embrace New Ideas: Demonstrate openness to innovation; adapt and learn quickly.
• Ownership Mentality: Take responsibility and ownership of tasks and projects; drive issues to resolution.
• Walk the Talk: Consistently align actions, communication, and problem-solving with company values.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage directly with client engineers, product managers, and executive stakeholders
• Collaborative, flexible, and approachable - genuinely enjoys working across multiple teams, projects, and clients simultaneously, and brings positive energy to every interaction
• Self-directed and proactive - able to hit the ground running with minimal ramp and operate independently across engagements
• Executive presence - adept at interfacing with clients, Kopius executives, and investors as required
• Thrives in a team environment, actively contributes to collaboration, and fosters a sense of community
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills, with a keen eye for detail and a proactive approach to issue resolution
• Excellent technical documentation skills with a proven history of documenting complex AI solutions
• Strong sense of accountability and ownership over technical outcomes and delivery quality

Technical Requirements

• Senior-level, hands-on AI/ML engineering experience with deep production expertise
• Strong hands-on experience with Python for AI/ML development
• Deep, hands-on experience with the Microsoft Azure AI stack - Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI / Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning, and Azure AI Foundry
• Hands-on experience with LLMs and Generative AI - RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) patterns, prompt engineering, and AI frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, or similar)
• Experience with model deployment, optimization, and MLOps - CI/CD for ML, model monitoring, and performance management
• Hands-on experience with vector databases and embeddings (Azure AI Search, Pinecone, Weaviate, or similar)
• Understanding of AI evaluation methods, guardrails, and responsible AI practices
• Experience designing and building scalable AI-ready architectures - data pipelines, service orchestration, and integration patterns
• Strong foundation in API design and development (REST, GraphQL, gRPC)
• Familiarity with relational and NoSQL databases and their integration into modern AI applications
• Experience supporting sales, pre-sales, and delivery to scope AI development projects or provide ROM (rough order of magnitude) estimates in sales pursuits
• Currently set up as an independent contractor in the U.S. (EIN or SSN, ability to invoice, manage own taxes and insurance)
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field (or equivalent professional experience)
• Nice to have: Hands-on experience with additional cloud AI stacks (AWS Bedrock, SageMaker, Google Vertex AI) - the broader the exposure, the better
• Nice to have: Experience with agentic AI frameworks and multi-agent architectures
• Nice to have: Experience with fine-tuning, model distillation, or custom model training
• Nice to have: Experience integrating AI capabilities into full-stack applications (Python, Node.js, .NET)
• Nice to have: Containerization and orchestration experience (Docker, Kubernetes, AKS)
• Nice to have: Prior consulting or client-facing engineering experience with enterprise clients

Engagement Details

• Engagement type: 1099 Independent Contractor
• Duration: 6-month initial contract with possibility of extension based on performance and project needs

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At Kopius, we’re passionate about technology and driven by our partners’ potential to make a difference in the world. Our expert teams in digital strategy, design, and engineering are dedicated to solving complex problems and exploring new frontiers. With over 40 active projects and 500+ talented professionals across USA, LATAM, and Europe, we’re committed to creatively tackling big challenges and helping our customers stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Join us on this exciting journey of innovation and growth!, Aquent Talent

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