AI Engineering Lead

Vanguard; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 2,000,000 - 3,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard is seeking a seasoned professional in Hyderabad, Telangana, to provide expert-level system analysis, design, development, and implementation of applications and databases. This role requires a strong technical background with a focus on Python and database management and involves collaborating with cross-functional teams.

The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 8 years in the field, experience in Machine Learning, and a solid understanding of cloud platforms. This position offers an opportunity to guide complex data integrations and drive system performance improvements.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of experience in application development and database management.
• Strong programming skills in Python with experience in Java/TypeScript.
• Hands-on experience with Machine Learning frameworks and responsible AI principles.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert-level system analysis, design, and development of applications.
• Architect integration of complex data flows across APIs and platforms.
• Drive performance and scalability enhancements through system analysis.

Skills

Python

Java/TypeScript

Machine Learning

Cloud engineering on AWS/Azure/GCP

AI governance

API development

Education

Bachelors degree (B.E./B.Tech) or masters degree (M.E./MTech) in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Git

CI/CD pipelines

Docker

Kubernetes

PyTorch/TensorFlow

Job description

Role Summary

This role provides expert-level system analysis, design, development, and implementation of applications and databases, and directs business assessment and requirements analysis for hardware and operating systems, while architecting complex data integration and driving system performance and scalability improvements.

Responsibilities

• Provides expert level system analysis, design, development, and implementation of applications and databases; integrates third‑party products; ensures application performance levels are achieved.
• Ensures viability of IT deliverables; recommends development options, including design, build/buy, and vendor purchase; conducts testing (functionality, technical limitations, security).
• Elevates code into the development, test, and production environments on schedule; provides follow‑up production support; submits change control requests and documents.
• Provides subject matter expertise in software development methodology and development architecture standards; mentors and trains staff with less experience; resolves elevated issues and recommends enterprise‑wide improvements.
• Participates in design, code, and test inspections throughout the life cycle to identify issues; explains technical considerations at related meetings, including those with internal clients; performs systems analysis activities.
• Thoroughly understands client business functions and technology needs; has a broad and deep understanding of Vanguard’s technologies, tools, and applications; stays well‑versed on the latest technologies and tools supporting software development in the industry.
• Interfaces with cross‑functional team members and communicates systems issues at the appropriate technical level for each audience.
• Thoroughly understands and complies with Information Technology and Information Security policies and procedures and verifies that deliverables meet requirements.
• Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned.
• Architects and guides integration of complex data flows across distributed services, APIs, and platforms to enable reliable, secure, and seamless enterprise‑level interoperability.
• Drives performance and scalability enhancements by proactively analyzing system behavior, optimizing database architecture, and implementing high‑efficiency design patterns.

Qualifications and Skills

• Minimum 8 years of experience in application development, system architecture, and database management.
• Bachelors degree (B.E./B.Tech) or masters degree (M.E./MTech) in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong programming skills in Python (primary), with experience in Java/TypeScript and solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and software engineering fundamentals.
• Experience building production‑grade APIs and services (REST, async, scalable patterns), familiarity with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile delivery.
• Machine Learning & GenAI: hands‑on experience with LLMs (prompt engineering, embeddings, summarization, QA), experience with ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow or equivalent), understanding of model evaluation, performance metrics, and error analysis, and experience fine‑tuning, orchestrating, or integrating foundation models.
• RAG (Retrieval‑Augmented Generation) design and implementation; vector databases/search (embeddings, similarity search, metadata filtering); knowledge ingestion pipelines (documents, structured + unstructured data); tool/function calling and agent‑style workflows.
• Cloud‑platform engineering: cloud‑native development on AWS/Azure/GCP (Vanguard‑aligned experience preferred); containers & orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes); event‑driven and distributed systems; observability (logging, metrics, tracing, model monitoring).
• Responsible AI governance: understanding of responsible AI principles (privacy, bias, explainability, safety); experience with enterprise controls, security reviews, data protection, compliance; familiarity with model risk management, auditability, and guardrails; ability to operationalize AI safely in regulated environments.
• Product execution mindset: strong ability to translate ambiguous business problems into technical solutions; experience partnering with product, design, legal, and compliance stakeholders; bias toward shipping, learning, and iterating versus pure experimentation; clear written and verbal communication, especially with senior stakeholders.

Location

This role is based in Hyderabad, Telangana at Vanguard’s India office. Only qualified external applicants will be considered.