AI Lead

Whatsnext Ai; Rotterdam; Hybrid; EUR 50,000 - 67,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work from Rotterdam or Lelystad

Laptop provided

AI tools subscriptions

Travel allowance

Onboarding and training

Job summary

Whatsnext Ai is seeking an AI Lead to own the architecture and lead the build team's developers. You will act as the technical contact for clients, translate questions into working solutions and define where LLMs add value versus deterministic workflows.

You will oversee security, scalability, and maintenance, develop evaluation frameworks for AI output, and set development standards while collaborating with consultants and project leads. The role is hybrid in Rotterdam with 40 hours per week.

Qualifications

• Experience setting the architecture of software or AI systems.
• Strong Python production experience.
• Hands-on with LLMs, RAG, embeddings, vector databases.
• Understanding agentic RAG and multi-model orchestration.
• APIs, databases and backend development experience.
• Production experience with cloud platforms, Docker and CI/CD.
• Ability to test, evaluate and improve AI output.
• Knowledge of security, privacy and data handling.
• Ability to explain technical choices to clients in non-technical language.
• Fluent Dutch and English; HBO/WO level.

Responsibilities

• Set the architecture of the AI applications we build: LLM integrations, RAG systems, AI agents and workflows.
• Lead the developers in the build team and build alongside them in Python.
• Be the technical point of contact for clients and translate questions into working solutions.
• Decide where an LLM adds value and where a deterministic workflow or classic ML is better.
• Own security, scalability, error handling and maintenance of what we build.
• Develop evaluation frameworks for accuracy and reliability of AI output.
• Define and enforce development and deployment standards across projects.
• Work with consultants and project leads on client projects.
• Onboard new developers as the team grows.

Skills

Architecture design

Python production

LLMs & RAG

Multi-model orchestration

APIs & backend

Security & data handling

Client communication

Dutch & English

Team leadership

Production experience

Education

HBO/WO working and thinking level

Tools

Docker

CI/CD

GCP

AWS

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

We build AI agents and automations for mid-market companies. As AI Lead you are the technical lead of our build team: you set the architecture, lead the developers, build alongside them and are the technical point of contact for our clients.

Team Engineering

Location Rotterdam (hybrid)

Type Full-time

Hours 40 hours per week

Contract Employed

Salary €4,500 – €6,000 gross per month, plus 8% holiday allowance

• + Set the architecture of the AI applications we build: LLM integrations, RAG systems, AI agents and workflows.
• + Lead the developers in the build team and build alongside them in Python.
• + Be the technical point of contact for clients and translate their questions into working solutions.
• + Decide where an LLM adds value and where a deterministic workflow, rules or classic ML work better.
• + Own security, scalability, error handling and maintenance of what we build.
• + Develop evaluation frameworks for the accuracy and reliability of AI output.
• + Define and enforce development and deployment standards across projects.
• + Work with consultants and project leads on client projects.
• + Onboard new developers as the team grows.

What you bring

• + Experience setting the architecture of software or AI systems and guiding other developers.
• + Strong experience with Python and bringing applications to production.
• + Hands-on experience with LLMs, RAG architecture, embeddings, vector databases and retrieval.
• + Solid understanding of agentic RAG, multi-step reasoning and multi-model orchestration.
• + Experience with APIs, databases and backend development.
• + Hands-on production experience with GCP and/or AWS, Docker and CI/CD pipelines.
• + You can test, evaluate and improve AI output.
• + You understand security, privacy and data handling.
• + You can explain technical choices to clients in non‑technical language.
• + Fluent Dutch and strong English.
• + HBO/WO working and thinking level.

Nice to have

• + Experience with LangChain, LlamaIndex, LangSmith, n8n or similar tools.
• + Experience with Kubernetes and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or similar).
• + Knowledge of LLM deployment patterns and inference optimisation.
• + Model fine‑tuning experience (PEFT, LoRA).
• + Knowledge of GDPR, AI governance or working with sensitive business data.
• + Consultancy or agency experience.

What we offer

• + €4,500 – €6,000 gross per month, plus 8% holiday allowance.
• + Hybrid working from Rotterdam or Lelystad.
• + A laptop for your work.
• + The latest AI tools and subscriptions, paid by the company.
• + You take the AI trainings we give clients yourself.
• + Travel allowance and reimbursement for business trips.
• + Short lines and little meeting overhead.