AI Lead

Compunnel, Inc.; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company in Richmond, Virginia is seeking an AI Lead to drive the design and development of AI-enabled data engineering solutions. The role demands strong Python expertise and leadership in building scalable data platforms aligned with business and AI objectives. The candidate will collaborate with data scientists and enhance data processing while establishing best practices. This position offers an exciting opportunity to lead AI/ML initiatives in a growing team.

Qualifications

• Strong proficiency in Python for data engineering, automation, and pipeline development.
• Solid experience building and transforming data pipelines.
• Experience with large-scale data platforms and complex datasets.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of end-to-end data engineering pipelines for AI.
• Develop and optimize Python-based data processing frameworks.
• Enable AI/ML initiatives with reliable data pipelines.

Skills

Python for data engineering

Data pipeline development

Problem-solving

Technical leadership

Tools

Cloud-based data services

Job description

The AI Lead is responsible for driving the design, development, and delivery of AI-enabled data engineering solutions that support analytics, machine learning, and intelligent applications.

This role requires strong Python-based data engineering expertise and technical leadership to build scalable, reliable, and production-ready data platforms aligned with business and AI objectives.

The AI Lead partners closely with data scientists, platform teams, and other stakeholders to ensure high-quality data pipelines, efficient data processing, and seamless integration with AI/ML workflows.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of end-to-end data engineering pipelines that support AI and analytics use cases.
• Develop and optimize Python-based data processing frameworks for data ingestion, transformation, and enrichment.
• Architect scalable solutions for both structured and unstructured datasets.
• Enable AI/ML initiatives by ensuring data pipelines are reliable, governed, and production-ready.
• Collaborate with data scientists to support model training, validation, and deployment workflows.
• Establish standards and best practices for data engineering, coding, testing, and performance optimization.
• Ensure data solutions meet performance, scalability, and reliability requirements.
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and conduct design reviews for engineering teams.
• Partner with stakeholders to translate business needs into effective technical data solutions.
• Drive continuous improvement in data platform maturity, operational efficiency, and delivery processes.

Required Qualifications

• Strong proficiency in Python for data engineering, automation, and pipeline development.
• Solid experience building, transforming, and orchestrating data pipelines.
• Experience working with large-scale data platforms and handling complex datasets.
• Understanding of the AI/ML data lifecycle and related system dependencies.
• Experience designing solutions for high-availability and performance-critical systems.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and demonstrated technical leadership experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting AI/ML platforms and analytics ecosystems.
• Familiarity with cloud-based data services and modern data architectures.
• Knowledge of DevOps or automation practices for data platforms.
• Experience working within Agile delivery environments.