Associate Engineer - AI

Zs Associates; Toronto; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

ZS Associates is a management consulting and technology firm seeking an LLM Engineer to design scalable software solutions. The role emphasizes ownership in architecture design, LLM application development, and collaboration with teams. The ideal candidate will have a strong foundation in software engineering and expertise in LLM solutions, contributing to impactful projects globally.

Benefits

Health and well-being benefits

Financial planning assistance

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• 1-5 years of experience in software development with relevant work experience in LLM app development.
• Experience with API frameworks such as Fast API, Django.
• Strong communication skills to convey complex concepts.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable and distributed software systems.
• Translate business requirements to technical specifications.
• Implement DevOps practices ensuring continuous integration.

Skills

Python

LLM solution patterns

DevOps tools

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field

Tools

AWS

Databricks

Azure

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it, our most valuable asset is our people. Here you’ll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers, and consumers worldwide. ZSers drive impact by bringing a client first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning; bold ideas; courage and passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS.

Our most valuable asset is our people.

At ZS we honor the visible and invisible elements of our identities, personal experiences and belief systems—the ones that comprise us as individuals, shape who we are and make us unique. We believe your personal interests, identities, and desire to learn are part of your success here. Learn more about our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and the networks ZS supports to assist our ZSers in cultivating community spaces, obtaining the resources they need to thrive, and sharing the messages they are passionate about.

We are seeking a highly skilled LLM Engineer with 1-4 years of experience in software development and 1-2 years in LLM solution development. The ideal candidate will have strong experience working with Python, LLM solution patterns and tools (RAG, Vector DB, Agentic workflows, LoRA, etc.), cloud platforms (AWS, Databricks and Azure), and DevOps tools. They will be responsible for designing and developing scalable software solutions, leading architecture design, and ensuring the performance and reliability of our systems.

What You’ll Do :

• Take ownership of architecture design and development of scalable and distributed software systems.
• Translate business to technical requirements.
• Own technical execution, ensuring code quality, adherence to deadlines, and efficient resource allocation.
• Data driven decision making skills with focus on achieving product goals.
• Design, develop and deploy LLM based pipelines involving patterns like RAG, Agentic workflows, PEFT (e.g. LORA, QLORA, etc.).
• Responsible for the complete software development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, design, coding, testing, and deployment.
• Utilize Databricks capabilities, esp. Unity Catalog and be able to architect the governance layer from data all-the-way to the AI model output.
• Design, develop and deploy prompt and response guardrails to enable responsible AI requirements.
• Implement DevOps practices using tools like Docker, Kubernetes to ensure continuous integration and delivery. Develop DevOps scripts for automation and monitoring.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, conduct code reviews, and provide guidance on software design and best practices.

What You'll Bring :

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).
• 1-5 years of experience in software development, with relevant work experience in LLM app development.
• Experience with API frameworks both stateless and stateful such as Fast API, Django.
• Proficient in cloud platforms, specifically AWS, Databricks and Azure.
• Proficient in Infra-as-Code, esp. focused on developing Terraform scripts and Cloudformation.
• Knowledge and hands-on experience with front-end development (React JS, Next JS, Tailwind CSS) preferred.
• Strong experience with LLM APIs (Open AI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock), SDKs (Langchain, DSPy).
• Hands-on experience with DevOps tools including Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS services (Redshift, RDS, S3).
• Hands-on experience with Databricks solutions including Unity Catalog.
• Experience in production deployments involving thousands of users, esp with capabilities like Redis, Vector Search, etc.
• Strong understanding of scalable application design principles and experience with security best practices and compliance with privacy regulations.
• Good knowledge of software engineering practices like version control (GIT), DevOps (Azure DevOps preferred) and Agile or Scrum.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey complex technical concepts to a diverse audience.
• Experience of SDLC and best practices while development.
• Experience with Agile methodology for continuous product development and delivery.

ZS offers a comprehensive total rewards package including health and well-being, financial planning, annual leave, personal growth and professional development. Our robust skills development programs, multiple career progression options and internal mobility paths and collaborative culture empowers you to thrive as an individual and global team member.

We are committed to giving our employees a flexible and connected way of working. A flexible and connected ZS allows us to combine work from home and on-site presence at clients / ZS offices for the majority of our week. The magic of ZS culture and innovation thrives in both planned and spontaneous face-to-face connections.

Travel :

Travel is a requirement at ZS for client facing ZSers; business needs of your project and client are the priority. While some projects may be local, all client-facing ZSers should be prepared to travel as needed. Travel provides opportunities to strengthen client relationships, gain diverse experiences, and enhance professional growth by working in different environments and cultures.

Considering applying?

At ZS, we're building a diverse and inclusive company where people bring their passions to inspire life-changing impact and deliver better outcomes for all. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job and recognize the value that candidates with all backgrounds, including non-traditional ones, bring. If you are interested in joining us, we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet 100% of the requirements listed above.

ZS is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment and advancement opportunities without regard to any class protected by applicable law.

To Complete Your Application :

Candidates must possess or be able to obtain work authorization for their intended country of employment. An online application, including a full set of transcripts (official or unofficial), is required to be considered.