AI Engineer Manager / AI Development Manager

Carters; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Carter's is assembling an enterprise AI Center of Excellence (CoE) and seeks an AI Development Manager to lead the CoE build team, mentor developers, and deliver high-value AI solutions across the business. You will balance hands-on development with leadership, working on agentic workflows, LLM apps, and governance-aligned integrations.

You will partner with architecture and delivery leaders to ensure scalable, secure AI deployments and maturing patterns for reuse across the enterprise.

Qualifications

• At least 7+ years of software and/or data analytics development experience.
• At least 2+ years leading or managing developers including 1+ years building GenAI/LLMs-based solutions.
• Hands-on AI development with shipped LLM applications or AI-powered automations.
• Experience with enterprise AI platforms and frameworks (Claude/Anthropic API, Azure OpenAI, MCP integrations, RAG).
• Experience leading sprint planning, backlog grooming, and delivery with stakeholders.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor the AI CoE development team and align with business needs.
• Own sprint planning, backlog prioritization, and delivery of AI solutions.
• Provide hands-on design and code reviews for high-stakes AI projects.
• Collaborate with Solutions Manager and Tech & Platform Lead on architecture.
• Define development standards and build a reusable pattern library.

Skills

Team leadership

AI development

Agile delivery

Stakeholder collaboration

Code reviews

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering

Tools

Claude/Anthropic API

Azure OpenAI

MCP-style tool integrations

RAG architectures

Job description

AI Engineer Manager / AI Development ManagerServing the needs of all families with young children, Carter's Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter's, OshKosh B'gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's.HOW YOU'LL MAKE AN IMPACT:Carter's is standing up an enterprise AI Center of Excellence (CoE) to bring safe, governed, and high-value AI to every part of the business. As Manager, AI Development, you will be the player-coach who leads the CoE's build team - managing and mentoring our AI developers, consulting on solution design, and staying hands-on in the code. You will translate prioritized use cases into shipped, supported AI solutions (agentic workflows, connectors, automations, and reporting tools) while raising the technical bar of the team and the reusable patterns the whole enterprise builds on. You will partner closely with the Tech & Platform Lead on architecture and with the Solutions Manager on delivery commitments.Delivery Leadership & Team Management (40%)Manage the AI CoE development team (Junior/Mid AI Developers and intern developers): assignments, priorities, performance, and career growthOwn sprint planning and delivery execution for the CoE build backlog, in partnership with the Solutions Manager's intake and prioritizationRun code and design reviews; unblock developers and manage delivery risks and dependenciesCoordinate with Forward-Deployed Engineers so embedded builds follow CoE standards and hand back cleanlyReport delivery status, capacity, and velocity to CoE leadershipHands-On Development & Technical Consulting (35%)Personally design and build the most complex or highest-stakes AI solutions (agentic workflows, LLM applications, skills, and connector-based automations)Consult with business units and FDEs on solution feasibility, approach, and effort - turning ambiguous asks into buildable designsPrototype new patterns (e.g., natural-language query over governed data, document generation, incident summarization) and harden successful pilots into production solutionsServe as escalation point for technical issues across CoE-supported solutionsStandards, Quality & Enablement (25%)Define and enforce development standards: coding practices, testing, documentation, versioning, and release management for AI solutionsCurate the CoE pattern library of reusable, governed building blocks for business super users and championsPartner with the AI Security & Governance Manager so every building pass security review efficiently (access controls, data flows, prompt-injection safeguards)Mentor super developers in business units; support office hours and paired builds that move prototypes into supported solutionsWE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF:Must have:At least 7+ years of software and/or data analytics development experience,At least 2+ years leading or managing developers including 1+ years building Generative AI (GenAI)/large language models (LLMs)-based solutionsHands-on AI development - practical experience shipping LLM applications, agentic workflows, or AI-powered automations against enterprise systems and APIsProven experience with enterprise AI platforms and frameworks (e.g., Claude/Anthropic API, Azure OpenAI, MCP-style tool integrations, RAG architectures)Experience in leading sprint planning, backlog grooming, and prioritization processes, collaborating with stakeholders to deliver critical features and meet strategic goals.Communication - excels at partnering with non-technical stakeholders, clarifying ambiguous needs, facilitating productive discussions, and guiding developers with clear, constructive, and empathetic feedback.Delivery leadership - track record running agile delivery: backlog management, code review discipline, and predictable releasesIntegration fluency - comfort working with enterprise data and platform integrations (e.g., BI tools, cloud data warehouses, collaboration and ticketing systems)At least a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, and/or related field, or equivalent practical experienceundefinedPreferred skills and experienceFamiliarity with MLOps/LLMOps practices: evaluation, monitoring, versioning, and cost managementRetail or consumer-products industry experienceBuilding out cross-functional teams along with team developmentCarters is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.