AVP, Principal AI Engineer

LPL Financial LLC; Fort Mill, Charlotte (SC, NC); On-site; USD 134,000 - 223,000; Full time

Job summary

LPL Financial is seeking a highly technical AI engineering leader to design, build, and deploy production-grade AI and machine learning capabilities for advisors and business partners. This role blends hands-on development with architectural leadership, mentoring, and cross-team collaboration to scale an enterprise AI platform.

The ideal candidate has deep expertise in AI/ML, Generative AI, LLM-based applications, and cloud-native solutions, with experience guiding architecture, governance, and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or ML development experience in enterprise environments.
• Hands-on Python and experience with AI/ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn.
• Experience designing Generative AI, LLM-based applications, NLP, RAG architectures, AI agents, or model serving.
• Cloud engineering experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP for scalable AI workloads.
• Experience in regulated industries with governance, security and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy production-grade AI/ML solutions.
• Architect and build AI-powered applications using LLMs and generative AI.
• Lead end-to-end software lifecycle for AI solutions including deployment and monitoring.
• Partner with multiple teams to translate business needs into scalable AI solutions.
• Develop and deliver AI-enabled products and tools to improve advisor productivity.
• Build and maintain cloud-native AI solutions on AWS, including Bedrock.
• Design APIs, microservices, and platform services for reusable AI capabilities.
• Establish engineering best practices for AI development, observability, and security.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers.

Skills

Python

AI/ML engineering

LangChain

LLMs

RAG architectures

TensorFlow

PyTorch

APIs

Distributed systems

Cloud-native

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD preferred

Tools

Bedrock

SageMaker

Textract

Comprehend

Job description

Job Summary

Where Ambition Meets Innovation Build a career that matches all your initiative with an impressive dose of innovation. From cutting-edge resources and a collaborative environment to the freedom to make an impact and more, you'll find the ingredients you need at LPL Financial to shape your success while helping clients pursue their financial goals. LPL Financial is seeking a highly technical and hands-on AI engineering leader to help design, build, and deploy next-generation AI solutions for our advisors and business partners. This role is primarily an individual contributor position responsible for developing production-grade AI and machine learning capabilities while partnering closely with product, engineering, data, and business teams. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in AI/ML and Generative AI with the ability to influence architecture, mentor engineers, and drive adoption of AI solutions across the enterprise. This position offers the opportunity to shape LPL's AI platform strategy, build advisor-facing AI capabilities, and help establish engineering best practices for scalable, secure, and responsible AI. Over time, this role may provide leadership opportunities for a small team of AI engineers.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy production-grade AI/ML solutions that support LPL Financial's business objectives and advisor experience.
• Architect and build AI-powered applications using modern technologies such as LLMs, generative AI, agentic workflows, RAG architectures, and machine learning models.
• Lead the end-to-end software engineering lifecycle for AI solutions, including design, development, testing, deployment, monitoring, and optimization.
• Partner with Wealth Management, Operations, Risk, Marketing, Product, and Engineering teams to identify high-value AI use cases and translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions.
• Develop and deliver AI-enabled products, platforms, and tools that improve advisor productivity, operational efficiency, and client experience.
• Build and maintain cloud-native AI solutions utilizing AWS services, including Bedrock and related AI/ML technologies.
• Design and implement APIs, microservices, and platform services that enable reusable and scalable AI capabilities across the enterprise.
• Establish engineering best practices for AI development, model evaluation, deployment, observability, security, and responsible AI.
• Collaborate with data, engineering, and architecture teams to ensure AI solutions are secure, compliant, performant, and aligned with enterprise standards.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, frameworks, and tooling and recommend opportunities for adoption within LPL.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and architectural guidance to engineers and contribute to the growth of a future AI engineering team.
• Present technical solutions, architecture decisions, and AI innovation opportunities to business and technology stakeholders.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for strong collaborators who deliver exceptional client experiences and thrive in fast-paced, team-oriented environments. Our ideal candidates pursue greatness, act with integrity, and are driven to help our clients succeed. We value those who embrace creativity, continuous improvement, and contribute to a culture where we win together and create and share joy in our work.

Requirements

• Minimum of 8 years of software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or machine learning development experience, with a proven track record of building and deploying production AI solutions in complex enterprise environments.
• Strong hands-on programming expertise in Python and experience with modern AI/ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, LangChain, or similar technologies.
• Experience designing, developing, and deploying Generative AI and machine learning solutions, including LLM-based applications, NLP, RAG architectures, AI agents, model serving, or related AI technologies.
• Strong cloud engineering experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP, including experience deploying scalable AI/ML workloads and cloud-native applications.
• Experience working in highly regulated industries such as Wealth Management, Financial Services, Banking, FinTech, Insurance, Healthcare, or similar environments with strong governance, security, risk, and compliance requirements.

Core Competencies

• Deep understanding of machine learning concepts including supervised learning, unsupervised learning, deep learning, NLP, recommendation systems, and predictive analytics.
• Experience delivering AI solutions from concept through production deployment, monitoring, and optimization.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, including APIs, microservices, scalable architectures, testing, and CI/CD practices.
• Experience partnering with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Knowledge of responsible AI principles, model governance, security, privacy, and risk management.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated technical leadership, mentoring, and influence across cross-functional teams.
• Strong problem-solving, architectural design, and decision-making skills.

Preferences

• Experience building advisor-facing, customer-facing, or employee-facing AI products.
• Financial Services, Wealth Management, Brokerage, Asset Management, or FinTech experience.
• Experience with AWS AI services such as Bedrock, SageMaker, Textract, Comprehend, or related AI platforms.
• Experience with vector databases, embeddings, RAG, knowledge graphs, agentic AI, and LLM orchestration frameworks.
• Experience with MLOps, model lifecycle management, observability, and monitoring.
• Experience with big data technologies such as Spark, Hadoop, Databricks, or large-scale data platforms.
• Experience with AI governance, model validation, and regulatory compliance programs.
• Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.
• Ph.D. preferred.

Pay Range

$133,600.00 - $222,600.00 Actual base salary varies based on factors, including but not limited to, relevant skill, prior experience, education, base salary of internal peers, demonstrated performance, and geographic location. Additionally, LPL Total Rewards package is highly competitive, designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play – such as 401K matching, health benefits, employee stock options, paid time off, volunteer time off, and more.

Company Overview

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) is among the fastest growing wealth management firms in the U.S. As a leader in the financial advisor-mediated marketplace(6) , LPL supports over 32,000 financial advisors and the wealth management practices of approximately 1,100 financial institutions, servicing and custodying approximately $2.3 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets on behalf of approximately 8 million Americans. The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses. For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com. At LPL, independence means that advisors and institution leaders have the freedom they deserve to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run a thriving business. They have the flexibility to do business their way. And they have the freedom to manage their client relationships, because they know their clients best. Simply put, we take care of our advisors and institutions, so they can take care of their clients. For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com.

The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses. The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses.

EAC 5.19.26 LPL Financial is the nation's largest independent broker-dealer.*

Join the LPL team and help us make a difference by turning life's aspirations into financial realities.

EOE.