AI Operations Engineer

Subcritical Systems; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Job summary

Subcritical Systems seeks an AI Operations Engineer in Austin, TX to identify, deploy, and scale AI solutions across engineering, manufacturing, project delivery, finance, recruiting, and operations. This role translates operational challenges into high-value AI use cases and pilots workflows, then partners with technical teams to integrate successful solutions and measure impact.

A key focus is expanding ATLAS, Subcritical Systems' central platform for AI-enabled workflows, built on a modern

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 1+ years hands-on experience building and implementing AI solutions in an operational environment.
• Working knowledge of generative AI, tool calling, retrieval-augmented generation, multi-agent workflows, data integration, and workflow orchestration.
• Experience connecting AI agents to enterprise data, internal tools, APIs, databases, and operational systems.
• Demonstrated ability to design, build, test, and deploy agentic AI systems that automate real workflows.

Responsibilities

• Own SSI's AI implementation roadmap, prioritizing use cases based on value, feasibility, and risk.
• Map current processes and identify opportunities for AI-driven improvements.
• Design, prototype, pilot, deploy, and scale AI-enabled workflows for ATLAS with software engineers.
• Define requirements for integrating AI workflows with SSI's software, data, and processes.
• Partner with engineering, operations, and business teams to deliver solutions meeting requirements.
• Evaluate AI tools and recommend build, adopt, pilot, or defer decisions.
• Define success metrics and measure improvements in quality, speed, cost, throughput, and hours saved.

Skills

Generative AI

Tool calling

RAG

Multi-agent workflows

Data integration

Workflow orchestration

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Muse

Qwen

Gemma

Job description

ABOUT SUBCRITICAL SYSTEMS

Subcritical Systems, Inc. is a venture-backed startup in Austin, Texas, developing accelerator-driven systems. We are the only U.S. commercial manufacturer of accelerator cavities. We aim to do for accelerator cavities what SpaceX did for rockets and commercialize them for power production, medical isotopes, semiconductor manufacturing, and waste transmutation.

We are developing the Energy Amplifier, a novel nuclear fission system in which a particle accelerator drives a subcritical core. The design makes melt physically impossible and supports clean power production. Its inherent safety provides a more streamlined licensing path. Our founding team includes deep-tech entrepreneurs who have built several multibillion-dollar companies and former U.S. national laboratory leaders with extensive accelerator and nuclear expertise.

We are expanding our team as we advance licensing, regulatory submissions, and construction of our first Energy Amplifier. Learn more at subcritical.com.

ROLE SUMMARY

The AI Operations Engineer will identify, deploy, and scale practical AI solutions across engineering, manufacturing, project delivery, finance, recruiting, and operations. This person will translate operational challenges into high-value AI use cases and pilot workflows, then partner with technical teams to integrate successful solutions and measure their impact.

A key focus of the role will be identifying workflows and opportunities to expand ATLAS (AI Three-dimensional Modeling, Layouts, Analysis, and Specifications), Subcritical Systems' central agentic platform for solving complex engineering problems. Built on a state-of-the-art knowledge layer, workflow agents, and tools, ATLAS enables teams to rapidly develop and deploy AI-enabled workflows.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Reporting to the System Engineer, own SSI's AI implementation roadmap, prioritizing use cases based on business value, feasibility, and risk, and defining how they can be incorporated into ATLAS
• Map current processes and identify opportunities for improvement through AI, agents, and automation.
• Design, prototype, pilot, deploy, and scale reliable AI-enabled workflows for ATLAS, partnering with software engineers to harden, deploy, and scale successful solutions.
• Define requirements for integrating AI workflows with SSI's existing software, systems, data, and operating processes, and partner with technical teams to implement them.
• Partner with engineering, operations, and business teams to deliver solutions that meet operational and technical requirements.
• Evaluate AI tools and recommend whether SSI should build, adopt, pilot, or defer them.
• Define success metrics and measure improvements in quality, speed, cost, throughput, and hours saved.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, information systems, business operations, or a related field, or equivalent demonstrated practical experience.
• 1+ years of hands-on experience building and implementing AI solutions in an operational environment.
• Working knowledge of generative AI, tool calling, retrieval-augmented generation, multi-agent workflows, data integration, and workflow orchestration.
• Demonstrated ability to use frontier AI models to design, build, test, and deploy agentic systems that automate real business and operational workflows, with a track record of taking AI solutions from problem definition through prototype, pilot, production deployment, and scaled adoption.
• Experience connecting AI agents to enterprise data, internal tools, APIs, databases, and operational systems.
• Experience mapping complex business processes, identifying high-value automation opportunities, and translating operational needs into technical requirements.
• Understanding of data protection, access controls, cybersecurity, responsible AI, and the safe deployment of AI within an enterprise environment.
• Demonstrated experience using and building agents on local models (e.g., Muse, Qwen, Gemma, etc.)

Preferred

• Experience deploying technology in a technically complex environment such as engineering, advanced manufacturing, energy, aerospace, nuclear, or industrial operations.
• Experience evaluating third-party AI tools and frameworks to support build, adopt, pilot, or defer decisions.
• Experience working in a fast-moving startup or rapid-development environment.

BENEFITS

• We offer health, dental, and vision insurance.

LOCATION & WORK POLICY

This role is fully in person in Austin, Texas. Our facility is located next to Austin Airport.