AI Engineer

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Pension plan

Generous time off

Career advancement opportunities

Job summary

Health & Human Services Commission (HHSC) is seeking an AI Engineer/Systems Analyst VII to lead design, development, and deployment of AI-enabled data pipelines and services. You will work on governance, security, and scalable AI solutions for enterprise modernization within the CTO team.

Responsibilities include building AI agents, orchestration workflows, and reusable services, while ensuring compliance, guardrails, and auditability across cloud platforms.

Qualifications

• Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in computer science, data engineering, artificial intelligence, or related field.
• Minimum of 4 years of experience in data engineering, programming, or supporting AI or LLM-based solutions.
• Experience with AI or ML preferred.

Responsibilities

• Designs, develops, and implements AI agents, orchestration workflows, reusable AI services, prompt management, APIs, and automation components.
• Builds secure data ingestion structures, RAG vector stores, embeddings, semantic search, and governed pipelines.
• Evaluates model performance, guardrails, privacy, and auditability for reliable, compliant solutions.
• Documents architecture, runbooks, and guidance for teams on AI integration and modernization.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Skills

Python

AI frameworks

Cloud services

Vector databases

Security & access

Data pipelines

Agent orchestration

Prompt management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Pinecone

Chroma

pgvector

Neo4j

Job description

Join the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and be part of a team committed to creating a positive impact in the lives of fellow Texans. At HHSC, your contributions matter, and we support you at each stage of your life and work journey. Our comprehensive benefits package includes 100% paid employee health insurance for full-time eligible employees, a defined benefit pension plan, generous time off benefits, numerous opportunities for career advancement and more. Explore more details on the Benefits of Working at HHS webpage.

Job Details

• Functional Title: AI Engineer
• Job Title: Systems Analyst VII
• Agency: Health & Human Services Comm
• Department: Chief Technology Office EI 3b
• Closing Date: 09/17/2026
• Posting Audience: Internal and External
• Occupational Category: Computer and Mathematical
• Salary Range: $8,488.33- $11,666.66
• Pay Frequency: Monthly
• Salary Group: TEXAS-B-29
• Shift: Day
• Additional Shift: Days (First)
• Telework
• Travel:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Full Time/Part Time: Full time
• FLSA Exempt/Non-Exempt: Exempt

Job Location

• Job Location City: AUSTIN
• Job Location Address: 701 W 51ST ST
• Other Locations: 0171,8848,8858,181X,182X,1D7X1,255A,255S,25B,25D,25H,26B,62E,681X,682X,781X,CTI,CTM,CTR,CYB10,CYB11
• MOS Codes: 0171,8848,8858,181X,182X,1D7X1,255A,255S,25B,25D,25H,26B,62E,681X,682X,781X,CTI,CTM,CTR,CYB10,CYB11
• Prefix: ISM,IT,Z

This position is open to U.S. Citizens and permanent residents.

This onsite role requires the selected candidate to work from an HHS office in Austin, Texas.

Job Description

Performs highly complex computer systems analysis and AI engineering work for the CTO team. Work involves designing, engineering, configuring, and implementing data pipelines, AI agents, orchestration workflows, retrieval patterns, reusable AI services, secure integrations, and automation capabilities that support enterprise modernization and responsible AI innovation. The position helps translate business and technical needs into scalable AI-enabled solutions by preparing governed data sources, developing reusable components, evaluating model and prompt performance, supporting secure access controls, and documenting repeatable implementation patterns. The position also supports responsible AI practices, solution monitoring, technical standards alignment, and collaboration with architecture, cloud, data, security, privacy, and application teams to deliver reliable, maintainable, and agency-owned enterprise technology capabilities.

Works under general supervision, with moderate latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.

Essential Job Functions (EJFs)

• Designs, develops, and implements AI agents, orchestration workflows, reusable AI services, prompt management solutions, API integrations, and automation components using approved cloud services, Python frameworks, and AI toolchains to support modernization, service delivery improvement, and responsible AI innovation. 45%
• Designs and modifies secure data ingestion structures, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) vector stores, embeddings, semantic search patterns, metadata strategies, and automated processing pipelines to provide AI solutions with clean, structured, governed, and access-controlled agency data. 30%
• Evaluates, tests, and tunes AI model performance, agent behavior constraints, prompt effectiveness, retrieval quality, guardrails, auditability, and solution reliability to support security, privacy, compliance, accessibility, and approved system requirements. 15%
• Prepares technical documentation, implementation notes, architecture diagrams, data flow diagrams, operational runbooks, and decision support materials; provides technical guidance to staff and project teams on AI integration, reuse, supportability, and secure modernization practices. 5%
• Performs other duties as assigned 5%

Knowledge

• Thorough knowledge of Python programming and object-oriented software patterns.
• Thorough knowledge of modern AI frameworks, such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, and CrewAI, and cognitive orchestration architecture patterns.
• Thorough knowledge of AI platforms and services offered by cloud service providers, such as Azure, AWS, and Google.
• Thorough knowledge of vector and graph databases, such as Pinecone, Chroma, pgvector, and Neo4j, text embeddings, and semantic index optimization.
• Thorough knowledge of enterprise data security regulations, data masking, and access management within state processing systems.

Skills

• Strong skill in configuring secure ETL/ELT pipelines to structure, clean, and securely ingest large sets of semi-structured and unstructured data.
• Strong skill in building stateful, autonomous AI agents, establishing logic guardrails, and managing programmatic prompt lifecycles.
• Strong skill in debugging asynchronous code flows, multi-threaded worker routines, and API call limits within complex codebases.

Abilities

• Ability to systematically benchmark AI systems for precision, context recall, safety, and toxicity using automated evaluation tools.
• Ability to translate multi-agent AI patterns into clear technical flowcharts and data maps.
• Ability to provide technical guidance and support developers through complex pipeline refactoring assignments.

Registrations, Licensure Requirements Or Certifications

None

Initial Screening Criteria

• Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in computer science, data engineering, artificial intelligence, or a related field. Experience may substitute for education on a year-for-year basis.
• Minimum of 4 years of experience in data engineering, programming, or supporting AI or LLM-based solutions.
• preferred to have experience with AI or ML

Additional Information

Any employment offer is contingent upon available budgeted funds. The offered salary will be determined in accordance with budgetary limits and the requirements of HHSC Human Resources Manual.

Selected candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

Selected candidate must be willing to commute to the office on the required days.

Review our Tips for Success when applying for jobs at DFPS, DSHS and HHSC.

Active Duty, Military, Reservists, Guardsmen, And Veterans

Military occupation(s) that relate to the initial selection criteria and registration or licensure requirements for this position may include, but not limited to those listed in this posting. All active-duty military, reservists, guardsmen, and veterans are encouraged to apply if qualified to fill this position. For more information please see the Texas State Auditor’s Job Descriptions, Military Crosswalk and Military Crosswalk Guide at Texas State Auditor's Office - Job Descriptions.

ADA Accommodations

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), HHSC and DSHS agencies will provide reasonable accommodation during the hiring and selection process for qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance completing the on-line application, contact the HHS Employee Service Center at 1-888-894-4747. If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodation to participate in the interview process, please notify the person scheduling the interview.

Pre-Employment Checks And Work Eligibility

Depending on the program area and position requirements, applicants selected for hire may be required to pass background and other due diligence checks.

HHSC uses E-Verify. You must bring your I-9 documentation with you on your first day of work. Download the I-9 Form

Telework Disclaimer

This position may be eligible for telework. Please note, all HHS positions are subject to state and agency telework policies in addition to the discretion of the direct supervisor and business needs.