AI Lead Engineer

Family Dollar; Chesapeake (VA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Family Dollar is seeking an AI Solutions Architect and Governance Lead in Chesapeake, Virginia. This role involves designing and building AI applications while running the governance process for AI delivery. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of IT experience and expertise in software development, Generative AI, and working with complex retail systems.

The position requires strong collaboration with various IT teams and the ability to communicate technical concepts effectively. Family Dollar is committed to diversity and inclusion in its recruitment efforts.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive IT experience in large, cross-functional teams or projects.
• Experience in retail, supply chain, or large-scale operational environments.
• Advanced knowledge of recent GenAI platform advancements.

Responsibilities

• Translate business requirements into AI solutions on Google Cloud Platform.
• Define AI application integration patterns and manage dependencies.
• Run the AI governance process, triage requests, and manage risks.

Skills

AI Governance

Software Development

Google Cloud Platform

Cross-functional collaboration

Generative AI

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

POS systems

ERP systems

CRM systems

Inventory systems

Job description

"Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future visa sponsorship."

The AI Solutions Architect and Governance Lead is a hands‑on “builder” role, and a senior technical staff engineer who designs and builds the AI applications that Family Dollar needs. They take business requirements and turn them into solutions including both architectural choices around tools, components, etc. that can be delivered fast and iteratively. They define how each solution integrates into Family Dollar's existing IT estate and partner with the platform, infrastructure, data, application, and security teams that own those systems. This role carries a dual responsibility around AI Governance. They also run the governance forum for AI delivery at Family Dollar by leading our governance process, overseeing intake of new requests, maintaining the intake UI/UX, and mapping the business requirements we receive into their respective risk‑tiers and dependencies.

They are involved in the end‑to‑end AI application development lifecycle, starting with intake all the way to building and operating solutions hands‑on at first, and then transitioning support to IT through documented SOPs, runbooks, and structured handover.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years in IT, with depth in software development, solution architecture and software engineering.

• Translate business requirements into target AI solutions that can be delivered fast and iteratively on Google Cloud Platform.
• Define how AI applications integrate into Family Dollar's existing IT estate. Set integration patterns, APIs, and data contracts across identity, networking, data, and retail systems (POS, ERP, CRM, inventory, supply chain). Partner with the platform, infrastructure, data, application, and security teams that own those systems.
• Build, test, and deploy AI applications hands‑on on Google Cloud Platform. Write production code, run experiments, and drive solutions from prototype through deployment.
• Run the AI governance process, triage and prioritize intake based on business impact, criticality, value, risk, and dependencies, communicate release windows, and lead post‑implementation reviews. Track and manage cross‑team risks and dependencies across the AI portfolio.
• Optimize state management and tracing across agentic workflows to maximize business outcomes and minimize compute waste at scale.
• Own the AI platforms Family Dollar adopts, access policies, governance, change control, model and prompt versioning, environment promotion, cost controls, and rollback policy.
• Validate architectural choices through rapid prototyping, often working alongside the development team, to de‑risk integrations before scaling.
• Define the operating model for each solution. Partner with IT support to transition support gradually and correctly through SOPs, runbooks, dashboards, and alerting. Remain the architectural owner and escalation point after handover.
• Collaborate with IT support, infrastructure, security, data, and application teams, ensuring Family Dollar continues its path towards safe, secure, robust AI practices and architectural standards.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Position Requirement

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• 10+ years of progressive IT experience in large, cross functional teams or projects, preferably in a retail environment.
• Write clean, well‑tested, well‑documented code; conduct code reviews; and contribute to internal libraries, templates, and engineering best practices.
• Sense of urgency and the ability to drive a delivery team toward results in a dynamic environment.
• Ability in developing, presenting and communicating technical concepts to varying audiences.
• Experience in retail, supply chain, or large‑scale operational environments within retail systems (POS, ERP, CRM, inventory, supply chain, etc).
• Demonstrated experience leading change management, intake/prioritization, or governance processes for a technical portfolio.
• Advanced knowledge of recent GenAI platform advancements.
• Experience running a governance forum, intake process, or technical review board for a portfolio of applications or platforms
• Experience in Google Cloud Platform, generative AI, LLMs, and agentic frameworks.

Family Dollar is an equal opportunity employer and committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds, and make all employment decisions without regard to any protected status. We are committed to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.