AI Engineer IV

Premera Blue Cross; Mountlake Terrace (WA); Hybrid; USD 150,300 - 270,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, vision, and dental coverage

Tuition assistance

Employee recognition program

Commuter perks

On-site health and wellness events

Job summary

Premera Blue Cross is looking for an AI Engineer IV based in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. In this role, you will provide technical leadership for AI/ML solutions, shaping strategy, guiding design, and leading delivery. You must have a Bachelor's degree and over 8 years of relevant software development experience, including AI/ML systems. The company offers a competitive salary range of $150,300 to $270,500 and various employee benefits like medical coverage and tuition assistance.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant experience in software development, focusing on AI/ML systems.
• Experience building AI solutions in cloud environments and productionizing AI models.

Responsibilities

• Architect and deliver AI systems end-to-end.
• Lead ideation and rapid validation of AI solutions.
• Operationalize AI via services and APIs.
• Document with production discipline.

Skills

AI/ML solutions

Deep learning architectures

Cloud platforms

Software engineering

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Azure AI services

Job description

As an AI Engineer IV, you’ll provide technical leadership to a team building AI/ML solutions that tackle complex business problems—from early concept and experimentation through secure, scalable production deployment. You’ll shape AI strategy, guide solution design, and lead the delivery of high‑impact capabilities across data pipelines, model development, and AI‑enabled services. This hybrid role is located on our campus in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

What you’ll do

• Architect and deliver AI systems end‑to‑end. Recommend and develop comprehensive systems and frameworks for AI applications and products, balancing speed to value with reliability and maintainability.
• Lead ideation and rapid validation. Pitch concepts to leadership, then lead the design and build of prototypes and minimum viable products to validate AI/ML solutions before scaling investment.
• Shape cloud architecture for complex AI platforms. Contribute to designing and implementing cloud architecture for large, multi‑faceted AI systems (compute, storage, security, deployment, monitoring).
• Enable robust data foundations. Assist in the design and scaffolding of scalable data pipelines that power advanced AI systems and enable model lifecycle improvements.
• Operationalize AI via services and APIs. Define specifications for low‑latency APIs/services that deploy models and integrate AI into enterprise applications.
• Build monitoring and reliability into production. Develop code and approaches for monitoring models and AI systems to ensure consistent performance, accuracy, and reliability in production.
• Driving engineering excellence. Participate in principled, agile‑like development practices; ensure peer review for all assigned work and conduct reviews for others as needed.
• Document with production discipline. Create and maintain thorough documentation aligned with team procedures, SDLC expectations, and corporate policies.
• Mentor and raise the bar. Guide AI engineers on AI/ML best practices and help grow team capability through feedback, coaching, and knowledge sharing.
• Influence strategy and roadmaps. Advise team and division leadership on enterprise AI strategy, AI technology roadmaps, and AI infrastructure direction.
• Partner with stakeholders and uphold governance. Collaborate with external stakeholders to conceptualize AI solutions that deliver business value while adhering to AI governance, best practices, and data quality/security standards.
• Provide thought leadership. Contribute to the broader AI community through best‑practice sharing, patterns, reusable frameworks, and technical leadership.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least 8+ years of relevant experience in software development, including knowledge of the software development lifecycle and proficiency in multiple programming languages, and industry experience developing, deploying, and maintaining AI/ML systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building AI solutions using cloud platforms and services (e.g., Azure AI services or similar) in a highly regulated environment; healthcare experience preferred.
• Experience successfully productionizing AI models, including scalable pipelines and robust monitoring systems.
• Strong background developing deep learning models using modern frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, MLX).
• Experience with software design patterns, microservices, distributed systems, and container orchestration.
• Knowledge of ethical AI practices (explainability, fairness, bias mitigation) and applying them in real solutions.
• Experience implementing advanced LLM solution patterns (e.g., retrieval‑augmented generation and structured reasoning approaches) and setting team best practices through reviews and standards.

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Proven experience developing deep learning architectures (e.g., transformers, CNNs, GANs, LSTMs, GNNs, autoencoders, diffusion models, NODEs).
• Proven ability to debug and optimize AI systems, including performance analysis and tuning approaches.
• Strong software engineering skills and the ability to build secure, stable systems at scale.
• Expertise in AI system design and deployment patterns (pipelines, low‑latency services, monitoring).
• Strong communication and stakeholder influence—able to explain technical tradeoffs clearly to non‑technical audiences.
• Mentorship and leadership mindset with a commitment to knowledge sharing and raising team capability.

Premera Total Rewards

• Medical, vision, and dental coverage with low employee premiums.
• Voluntary benefit offerings, including pet insurance.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Retirement programs, including a 401(k) employer match and a pension plan that vests after 3 years.
• Wellness incentives with a wide range of mental well‑being resources (counseling services, stress management programs, mindfulness programs).
• Generous paid time off.
• Tuition assistance for undergraduate and graduate degrees.
• Employee recognition program.

Hybrid Employee Perks

• Commuter perks.
• Free convenient on‑site parking.
• Subsidized on‑campus cafes.
• On‑site health and wellness events.
• Complementary fitness & well‑being center (in‑person and virtual workouts, nutritional counseling).
• On‑campus recreational activities (shuffleboard, ping‑pong).

Equal Employment Opportunity / Affidavit of Non-Discrimination

Premera is an equal‑opportunity/affirmative action employer. We seek to attract and retain the most qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Salary Range

The salary range for this role is posted below; we generally target up to and around the midpoint of the range.

National Plus Salary Range: $150,300.00 – $270,500.00 (used in higher cost of labor markets including Western Washington and Alaska).