Lead - AI Engineer

iTech India; Chennai; On-site; INR 2,000,000 - 3,000,000; Full time

Job summary

iTech India in Chennai is seeking a Lead AI Engineer to oversee the design and delivery of AI solutions. This senior role demands expertise in AI systems, client interaction, and project management. You will manage the entire lifecycle of AI projects, oversee development teams, and ensure successful deployments. The ideal candidate has over 8 years of experience, particularly in AI, ML, and NLP. The position involves working on multiple projects and providing technical guidance, contributing to both pre-sales and proposal discussions.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years in software development and AI/ML systems.
• 4+ years hands-on experience in production AI/ML environments.
• Experience with vector databases and document processing is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead lifecycle of AI solutions from requirements to deployment.
• Design scalable AI systems including LLM-based solutions and NLP workflows.
• Provide technical direction to development teams.

Skills

AI/ML systems

Python programming

RESTful APIs

Docker

CI/CD pipelines

Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)

NLP and LLM systems

Tools

Docker

AWS

GCP

Azure

Vector databases

Job description

About iTech

iTech is a Dallas-headquartered IT CITES company with an offshore development center in Chennai. We build custom web and mobile applications and AI/ML solutions for global clients across logistics, HR, legal, healthcare, education, BFSI and engineering.

Our AI Work Focuses On

• Document AI and OCR (invoices, legal documents, resumes, plant drawings)
• LLM-based apps (RAG, copilots, intelligent search, summarization)
• API‑first SaaS products and on‑prem enterprise solutions

Role Summary

We are looking for a hands‑on Lead AI Engineer to drive the design, development, and delivery of AI solutions across multiple projects. This is a senior technical leadership role requiring strong expertise in AI systems, production deployments, and client interaction. The candidate must be capable of handling multiple parallel projects and guiding engineering teams to successful delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end lifecycle of AI solutions from requirement gathering to deployment and monitoring.
• Design scalable AI systems including LLM-based solutions, RAG pipelines, NLP workflows, and document processing systems.
• Provide technical direction to development teams and ensure alignment with solution design and delivery timelines.
• Conduct code reviews and ensure engineering best practices are followed.
• Evaluate feasibility of new project ideas and provide clear technical recommendations.
• Identify technical risks and propose practical, cost-effective solutions.
• Handle 2–3 parallel projects simultaneously with accountability for deliverables.
• Participate in client discussions to gather requirements and clarify expectations.
• Provide realistic timelines based on technical complexity and team capacity.
• Support pre‑sales and proposal discussions by providing technical input and effort estimation.
• Coordinate with cross‑functional teams to ensure successful cloud or on‑prem deployments.

Required Experience

• 8–12 years of total experience in software development and AI/ML systems.
• Minimum 4+ years of hands‑on experience in AI, ML, NLP, or LLM-based systems in production environments.
• Proven experience taking AI solutions from proof‑of‑concept to production.
• Strong programming skills in Python.
• Experience building and deploying RESTful APIs.
• Hands‑on experience with Docker and CI/CD pipelines.
• Exposure to cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Experience with vector databases and document processing pipelines is preferred.
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles and clean coding practices.

Core Competencies

• Strong technical depth in AI systems.
• Ability to guide and mentor engineering teams.
• Strong ownership and accountability mindset.
• Ability to evaluate what is feasible and push back on unrealistic requirements.
• Comfortable working with international clients.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects.

Preferred

• Experience working with data-sensitive domains such as BFSI, healthcare, legal, or HR.
• Exposure to AI cost optimization and production monitoring.
• Experience supporting pre‑bid or proposal discussions.