AI Engineer / Application Analyst

Socket.dev; Birmingham (AL); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Southern Company is seeking an AI Engineer or Application Analyst to design and deploy AI agents, models, and workflows within its enterprise environment in Birmingham, AL.

You will collaborate with data teams and ML Ops, emphasize governance, safety, and cost efficiency, and translate business use cases into production-ready AI solutions. The role blends hands-on development with strategic thinking in a hybrid 4 days in-office / 1 day remote setup.

Qualifications

• Experience building AI and ML applications in enterprise settings.
• Understanding of agentic AI concepts and multi-agent collaboration.
• Familiarity with enterprise data platforms and APIs.
• Awareness of AI governance, risk, and compliance in regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop AI solutions with agents that reason, plan, and act.
• Translate requirements into end-to-end AI workflows.
• Embed safety controls and explainability into agent logic.
• Collaborate with architects and ML Ops for deployment and monitoring.
• Tune prompts and models to improve accuracy and cost.
• Prototype new AI capabilities while adhering to standards.
• Refine agent performance using feedback and signals.

Skills

Agentic AI concepts

Problem solving

Clear communication

Governance & compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Python

Databricks

Vector databases

API integration

CI/CD

Job description

AI Engineer, or Application Analyst

Location: The Energy Center, Birmingham, AL

4 days in-office / 1 day remote

Designs, builds, and evolves AI solutions that deliver measurable business and operational value across Southern Power. The AI Engineer translates use‑case intent into production‑ready agents, models, and workflows, working within the enterprise architectural, governance, and operational standards to ensure solutions are scalable, safe, and fit for a critical‑infrastructure environment.

JOB REQUIREMENTS: (Experience, Knowledge, Skills)

Domain Expertise:

• Experience building AI and machine learning applications in enterprise settings.
• Practical understanding of agentic AI concepts, including planners, tool‑calling, memory, and multi‑agent collaboration.
• Familiarity with enterprise data platforms and APIs, including structured, unstructured, and document‑based data.
• Awareness of AI governance, risk, and compliance considerations in regulated environments

Individual Skills:

• Strong problem‑solving skills with the ability to decompose complex use cases into modular agent behaviors.
• Product‑oriented mindset, focused on delivering tangible outcomes rather than experimentation alone.
• Ability to work effectively within defined architectural and governance constraints.
• Clear communicator who can explain AI behavior and limitations to non‑technical stakeholders.

Technical Skills:

• Proficiency in Python and AI frameworks for LLMs and agents.
• Proficiency with Databricks preferred.
• Experience with prompt engineering, evaluation techniques, and structured outputs.
• Familiarity with vector databases, embeddings, and retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) patterns.
• Working knowledge of API integration and tool execution within agent workflows.
• Exposure to CI/CD, model deployment, and observability concepts sufficient to operate within pipelines.

MAJOR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop AI solutions. Build and configure agents that reason, plan, and act using models, tools, and enterprise data, aligned to approved patterns.
• Implement use‑case workflows end‑to‑end. Translate business and operational requirements into AI workflows spanning data ingestion, inference, tool execution, and human‑in‑the‑loop review.
• Apply responsible AI and guardrails. Embed safety controls, validation steps, and explainability mechanisms into agent logic and prompts by design.
• Collaborate across the AI delivery lifecycle. Partner with architects on design decisions and with ML Ops to ensure smooth deployment, monitoring, and iteration.
• Optimize performance and cost. Tune prompts, models, and agent interactions to improve accuracy, latency, and cost efficiency.
• Support experimentation to production. Rapidly prototype new AI capabilities while adhering to standards that enable promotion to enterprise‑graded deployments.
• Continuously improve agent behavior. Use feedback, evaluations, and operational signals to refine agent performance and reliability over time.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

• Some relocation assistance is available if you do not already live within a reasonable commute distance.

About Southern Company

Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is a leading energy provider serving 9 million customers across the Southeast and beyond through its family of companies. Providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy with excellent service is our mission. The company has electric operating companies in three states, natural gas distribution companies in four states, a competitive generation company, a leading distributed energy solutions provider with national capabilities, a fiber optics network and telecommunications services. Through an industry‑leading commitment to innovation, resilience and sustainability, we are taking action to meet customers' and communities' needs while advancing our goal of net‑zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our uncompromising values ensure we put the needs of those we serve at the center of everything we do and are the key to our sustained success. We are transforming energy into economic, environmental and social progress for tomorrow. Our corporate culture has been recognized by a variety of organizations, earning the company awards and recognitions that reflect Our Values and dedication to service. To learn more, visit www.southerncompany.com.

Southern Company invests in the well‑being of its employees and their families through a comprehensive total rewards strategy that includes competitive base salary, annual incentive awards for eligible employees and health, welfare and retirement benefits designed to support physical, financial, and emotional/social well‑being. This position may also be eligible for additional compensation, such as an incentive program, with the amount of any bonus/awards subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable incentive plan(s). A summary of the benefits offered for this position can be found here https://seo.nlx.org/southernco/pdf/SOCO-Benefits.pdf. Additional and specific details about total compensation and benefits will also be provided during the hiring process.

Southern Company is an equal opportunity employer where an applicant's qualifications are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis prohibited by law.