AI Architect

Total Quality Logistics; Cincinnati (AR); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Employee discounts

Financial wellness planning

Tuition reimbursement

Certified Great Place to Work

Job summary

Total Quality Logistics (TQL) is actively seeking an AI Architect to define and lead the enterprise AI architecture across our logistics platform from Cincinnati, OH. You will steer security, scalability, and cost efficiency while embedding AI into business workflows.

You will partner with Engineering, Product, Data, and Operations to deliver AI capabilities that boost pricing, capacity matching, and customer service.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, AI/ML or related field.
• 7–12+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, cloud architecture or enterprise software engineering.
• Proven experience architecting and delivering production AI/ML solutions on Azure.
• Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• AI Strategy & Enterprise Architecture: establish enterprise AI standards and reference architectures.
• Application Architecture & Integration: design AI service integration with core apps and APIs.
• Data & Integration Architecture: support Fabric Lakehouse, Delta tables and streaming systems.
• MLOps, Governance & Operational Readiness: define lifecycle management and monitoring.
• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: evaluate models and lead PoCs.

Skills

AI architecture

Azure / cloud

Python

REST APIs

Docker & Kubernetes

Security & governance

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science/Data Science/Engineering

Tools

Azure OpenAI

Azure ML

Azure AI Search

Microsoft Fabric

Lakehouse

LangChain

MLflow

Vector databases

Job description

General information

Country

USA

State

Ohio

City

Cincinnati

Descriptions & requirements

About the role:

As an AI Architect at TQL, you will define and lead the enterprise-wide AI architecture that powers next-generation intelligence and automation across our logistics and freight brokerage ecosystem. This role is responsible for setting how AI systems are designed, built, governed and scaled – ensuring solutions are secure, reliable, cost-efficient and deeply embedded into business workflows.

You will partner closely with Engineering, Product Management, Data and Operations leadership to identify high-impact use cases and deliver AI capabilities that drive measurable improvements across pricing, capacity matching, customer service, claims, risk and operator productivity.

What’s in it for you:

• Competitive compensation
• Opportunity to influence enterprise‑wide AI architecture
• High visibility partnership with executive leadership
• Long‑term career growth in a collaborative, AI‑driven organization
• Comprehensive benefits package
  • Health, dental and vision coverage
  • 401(k) with company match
  • Perks including employee discounts, financial wellness planning, tuition reimbursement and more
• Certified Great Place to Work and voted a 2019-2026 Computerworld Best Places to Work in IT

What we’re looking for:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, AI/ML or a related field
• Azure certifications (Solutions Architect, Azure AI Engineer) preferred
• 7–12+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, cloud architecture or enterprise software engineering
• Proven experience architecting and delivering production AI or ML solutions on Azure
• Experience with REST APIs, serverless functions, microservices and event-driven architectures
• Backend development in Python with working knowledge of C# or Node.js.
• Hands‑on experience with Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning, Azure AI Search, Microsoft Fabric and Lakehouse architectures
• Experience with embeddings, vector databases, RAG patterns, LangChain, Semantic Kernel and MLflow
• Proficiency with Git, Azure DevOps CI/CD, Docker and Kubernetes
• Strong understanding of data modeling, governance, lineage and security
• Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to translate business workflows into scalable technical architectures
• Strong ownership mindset with focus on reliability, cost optimization and long‑term scalability
• Product mindset with ability to align AI architecture to business outcomes

What you’ll be doing:

• AI Strategy & Enterprise Architecture
  • Evaluate and recommend AI models, APIs and platforms (e.g., Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google) based on security, reliability, cost and enterprise fit
  • Define the enterprise AI architecture across Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, Microsoft Fabric, Azure ML, APIs, event-driven systems and operator-facing tools
  • Establish standards for building LLM applications, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, intelligent agents and ML models at scale
  • Create reference architectures for AI-powered solutions including real-time workflows, automation, copilots and knowledge assistants
• Application Architecture & Integration
  • Design how AI services integrate with core applications, including broker tools, APIs, workflows and backend services
  • Establish patterns for serverless functions, microservices, REST APIs, event-driven pipelines and end-to-end orchestration
  • Partner with application development teams to embed AI into product features with the right performance, security, authentication and data flow patterns
  • Ensure AI solutions meet enterprise CI/CD, observability, reliability and SLA standards
  • Solution Design & Technical Leadership
  • Lead solution designs for AI platforms including vector databases, embedding pipelines, inference services, feature stores and model registries
  • Translate complex operator workflows into scalable, AI-enabled architectures that improve decision‑making and productivity
  • Conduct architecture, design reviews and mentor AI Engineers, Software Engineers, Data Engineers and Data Scientists
• Data & Integration Architecture
  • Partner with Data Engineering to ensure Fabric Lakehouse, Delta tables, warehouse layers and streaming systems support both training and inference workloads
  • Architect and optimize RAG pipelines using Azure AI Search, vector indexing, embeddings and metadata strategies
  • MLOps, Governance & Operational Readiness
  • Define and implement enterprise MLOps standards for model lifecycle management, versioning, monitoring and retraining
  • Apply Responsible AI practices including content filtering, privacy, compliance and hallucination mitigation
  • Ensure AI systems are observable with performance and cost monitoring
• Innovation & Continuous Improvement
  • Evaluate emerging AI models, agent frameworks and Azure capabilities for use in logistics workflows
  • Lead proofs of concept (PoCs) and accelerate adoption of high‑value AI initiatives
  • Develop reusable technical playbooks and architectural patterns to mature AI across engineering teams

Where you’ll be:

4289 Ivy Pointe Blvd Cincinnati, OH 45245

Employment visa sponsorship is unavailable for this position. Applicants requiring employment visa sponsorship now or in the future (e.g., F-1 STEM OPT, H-1B, TN, J1 etc.) will not be considered.

About Us

Total Quality Logistics (TQL) is one of the largest freight brokerage firms in the nation. TQL connects customers with truckload freight that needs to be moved with quality carriers who have the capacity to move it. As a company that operates 24/7/365, TQL manages work-life balance with sales support teams that assist with accounting, and after hours calls and specific needs. At TQL, the opportunities are endless which means that there is room for career advancement and the ability to write your own paycheck.

What’s your worth? Our open and transparent communication from management creates a successful work environment and custom career path for our employees. TQL is an industry‑leader in the logistics industry with unlimited potential. Be a part of something big.

Total Quality Logistics is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.

If you are unable to apply online due to a disability, contact recruiting at [e-mail]