AI Foundational Model Engineer

NTT DATA, Inc.; Jersey City (NJ); On-site; USD 139,872 - 209,808; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k program with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

NTT DATA, Inc. is looking for an AI Foundational Model Engineer in Jersey City, New Jersey. This role focuses on designing LLM-powered applications, building AI pipelines, and optimizing models for operational readiness. Candidates should have 7+ years in AI/ML engineering and proficiency in Python frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow.

The position offers remote or hybrid work options, and compensation is competitive, ranging from $139,872 to $209,808 based on experience.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in AI/ML engineering, platform engineering, or software engineering.
• Hands-on experience with LLMs and GenAI application patterns.
• Practical knowledge of model evaluation and secure data handling.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement LLM-powered applications.
• Build RAG pipelines using embeddings and semantic retrieval.
• Develop scalable APIs and microservices for AI applications.

Skills

AI/ML engineering

LLMs

Python engineering

transformers

APIs

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Hugging Face

LangChain

Kubernetes

Job description

AI Foundational Model Engineer

We are currently seeking a AI Foundational Model Engineer to join our team in Jersey City, New Jersey (US).

Primary Ownership

• Production LLM applications, RAG pipelines, AI services, and model-serving integrations.
• End-to-end LLMOps/MLOps lifecycle from experimentation to deployment, monitoring, evaluation, rollback, and continuous improvement.
• Model adaptation, inference optimization, APIs, observability, and operational readiness for GenAI solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement LLM-powered applications such as knowledge assistants, document intelligence solutions, workflow agents, summarization tools, and decision-support systems.
• Build RAG pipelines using embeddings, chunking strategies, vector databases, semantic retrieval, reranking, response grounding, and citation patterns.
• Adapt and optimize models using LoRA, PEFT, instruction tuning, distillation, transfer learning, quantization, and domain adaptation techniques.
• Develop scalable APIs, microservices, model-serving components, and integration patterns across cloud, hybrid, or containerized environments.
• Optimize inference workloads for latency, throughput, token efficiency, cost, reliability, and user experience.
• Implement model and application observability, including prompt logs, retrieval quality, hallucination indicators, drift signals, feedback loops, cost telemetry, and service health.
• Embed security, privacy, Responsible AI, and model risk controls into AI application design and delivery.
• Create production documentation, runbooks, release notes, test evidence, and audit-ready implementation records.

Must-have Candidate Profile

• 7+ years in AI/ML engineering, platform engineering, software engineering, or applied machine learning.
• Hands‑on experience with LLMs, transformers, embeddings, RAG, semantic search, and GenAI application patterns.
• Strong Python engineering skills with PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, or equivalent frameworks.
• Experience deploying production AI services using APIs, containers, Kubernetes, CI/CD, cloud‑native services, and monitoring platforms.
• Practical knowledge of model evaluation, fine‑tuning, inference optimization, and secure data handling.

Preferred Experience

• Banking, risk, compliance, financial crime, operations, or enterprise technology background.
• Experience with Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Vertex AI, Databricks, vLLM, Triton, MLflow, Kubeflow, or model gateways.
• Exposure to model risk, AI governance, audit controls, AI cost governance, and private or open‑source LLM deployments.

Compensation

NTT DATA provides a reasonable range of compensation for U.S.-based positions. The starting pay range for this role will depend on the nature of the role offered and will either be <$139,872 - $209,808>, or <$80-$100> if the role is hired as a temporary position.

Actual compensation will depend on a number of factors, including the candidate’s relevant experience, technical skills, and other qualifications. This position may also be eligible for incentive compensation based on individual and/or company performance. If the position offered is temporary, the position will not be eligible for incentive compensation. This position is eligible for company benefits that will depend on the nature of the role offered. Company benefits may include medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending or health savings account, life and AD&D insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off, employee assistance, participation in a 401k program with company match, and additional voluntary or legally-required benefits.

Location & Work Arrangement

The role is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. While many positions offer remote or hybrid work options, these arrangements are subject to change based on client requirements. For employees near an NTT DATA office or client site, in‑office attendance may be required for meetings or events, depending on business needs. At NTT DATA, we are committed to staying flexible and meeting the evolving needs of both our clients and employees.

EEO Statement

NTT DATA endeavors to make https://us.nttdata.com accessible to any and all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact us at https://us.nttdata.com/en/contact-us. This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications. NTT DATA is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

For our EEO Policy Statement, please click here. If you'd like more information on your EEO rights under the law, please click here. For Pay Transparency information, please click here.