Lead AI Engineer — TCO Agent Platform

EPAM Systems Inc; Seattle (WA); Remote; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance (

Health Savings Account

Flexible Spending Accounts

401(k) Matching

Job summary

EPAM Systems, Inc. is seeking a Lead AI Engineer to architect and lead a greenfield FinOps AI platform with 8 autonomous agents on GCP/AWS.

You will drive multi-agent orchestration, LLM governance, and strict financial controls, reporting to the Technical Product Manager and guiding senior engineers in delivering scalable enterprise AI services. You will oversee inter-agent dependencies, tool definitions, and secure, compliant API contracts while mentoring teams and enforcing RFC-standard

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering with 3+ years in technical leadership building multi-agent AI systems or FinOps tools.
• Experience with Python 3.11+, FastAPI, and Pydantic; Java experience is a plus for integration.
• Hands-on with Google ADK, Vertex AI, LiteLLM Gateway, and guardrails.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and orchestration of 8 specialized AI agents in a multi-cloud environment.
• Govern LLM usage, prompt engineering lifecycle, and cost controls.
• Architect platform governance, security, and SDLC standards.
• Mentor engineers and drive RFC-compliant APIs and schemas.

Skills

Python

FastAPI

Pydantic

GCP/AWS

Zero Trust security

Leadership

Solution architecture

Education

8+ years software engineering

Tools

Git

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform/OpenTofu

Job description

As the Lead AI Engineer for our next-generation TCO Agent Platform, you will serve as the technical lead and multi-agent system architect for a greenfield, proactive FinOps AI platform. You will oversee the development, orchestration, and governance of an ecosystem comprising 8 specialized AI agents (e.g., Commitment Optimization, Financial Operations, Resource Optimization, Anomaly Detection) running within a multi-cloud GCP/AWS environment.

You will drive core architectural execution, ensure strict adherence to SOX-adjacent financial controls, enforce Zero Trust security models via Model Armor and LiteLLM, and guide the engineering team through building high-scale, autonomous enterprise AI services.

Reporting directly to the Technical Product Manager, you will collaborate closely with Solution, Platform, and Enterprise Architects. You will also have a Senior Software Engineer under your direct subordination to collaborate with on solution implementation.

Responsibilities

• Multi-Agent Architecture & Orchestration: Lead the design and implementation of 8 specialized agents using Python, FastMCP, and GCP Workload Identity. Oversee inter-agent dependencies, prompt engineering lifecycle, tool definitions, and agent-to-service communication

• LLM Governance & Tokenomics: Enforce centralized LLM routing via LiteLLM Gateway and Vertex AI Model Garden (Claude, Gemini). Implement agent self-governance tracking systems (Tokenomics) to monitor and cap LLM operating costs within strict platform operational limits

• Financial & Compliance Guardrails: Architect execution boundaries and strict segregation-of-duties workflows for SOX-adjacent processes (e.g., Journal Entry generation vs. human approval)

• System Integration & Action Routing: Oversee the architecture of the platform’s Action Gateway handling direct API invocations, event-driven workflows, and fallback ticketing (Jira, Slack, Teams)

• Technical Leadership & Standards: Set coding, testing, and formatting standards across application repositories. Mentor Senior and Mid-level AI engineers and drive code reviews enforcing RFC standard error formats, API contracts, and schema compliance

Requirements

• Experience: 8+ years of software engineering experience with 3+ years in a technical leadership capacity building multi-agent AI systems, FinOps tools, or LLM-powered platforms

• Frameworks & Languages: Advanced proficiency in Python 3.11+, FastMCP, FastAPI, and Pydantic. Prior experience with object-oriented enterprise languages (e.g., Java) for seamless integration with core platform services and backend APIs

• AI/LLM Architecture: Hands-on experience with Google ADK, Vertex AI, LiteLLM Gateway, Model Armor guardrails, prompt engineering, structured tool output parsing, and agent execution boundaries

• Data & Cloud Platforms: Deep familiarity with the GCP ecosystem (BigQuery, GKE, Workload Identity), SQL schema design (FOCUS standard preferred), and partitioned/clustered OLAP architectures

• Security & Governance: Experience implementing Zero Trust authentication (OAuth/KSA-to-GSA), RBAC, immutable audit logging, and API/MCP error specifications (RFC 7807/9457)

• DevOps & Infrastructure: Proficiency with Docker builds, GKE deployment patterns, OpenTofu/Terraform, and CI/CD pipelines

• Leadership Skills: Proven ability to coach, mentor, and influence teams beyond just writing and implementing solutions

Nice to have

• Experience with LangGraph / LangChain

• Hands-on experience with Vertex AI

• Working knowledge of modern DevOps and CI/CD practices

• Familiarity with GCP infrastructure resources and their constraints, with the ability to identify optimal resources for designed AI agentic solutions

We offer

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance (Subsidized)

• Health Savings Account

• Flexible Spending Accounts (Healthcare, Dependent Care, Commuter)

• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability (Company Provided)

• Life and AD&D Insurance (Company Provided)

• Employee Assistance Program

• Unlimited access to LinkedIn learning solutions

• Matched 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan

• Paid Time Off – the employee will be eligible to accrue 15-25 paid days, depending on specific level and tenure with EPAM (accrual eligibility may change over time)

• Paid Holidays - nine (9) total per year

• Legal Plan and Identity Theft Protection

• Accident Insurance

• Employee Discounts

• Pet Insurance

• Employee Stock Purchase Program

• If otherwise eligible, participation in the discretionary annual bonus program

• If otherwise eligible and hired into a qualifying level, participation in the discretionary Long-Term Incentive (LTI) Program

This Remote Position Cannot be Performed in New York City.

This posting includes a good faith range of the salary EPAM would reasonably expect to pay the selected candidate. The range provided reflects base salary only. Individual compensation offers within the range are based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: geographic location, experience, credentials, education, training; the demand for the role; and overall business and labor market considerations. Most candidates are hired at a salary within the range disclosed. Salary range: $150,000 - $200,000. In addition, the details highlighted in this job posting above are a general description of all other expected benefits and compensation for the position.

In accordance with the LA County Fair Chance Ordinance, you may find a copy of the Notice containing a summary of the Ordinance’s key provisions here: Concept FCO Posting 8 27 24 (lacounty.gov)

EPAM Systems, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We recognize the value of diversity and inclusion in creating success for our customers, business partners, shareholders, employees and communities. We are committed to recruiting, hiring, developing and promoting employees without discrimination. As a global employer, this commitment includes complying with all laws in the countries in which we operate. Nevertheless, we believe equal employment practices should not be limited to what the law requires. Equal opportunity and inclusion are essential to motivate, empower and recognize the best in everyone.

At EPAM, employment actions are based on individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital or familial status, national origin, ancestry, genetics, age, disability status, veteran status, citizenship status when otherwise legally able to work, or any other characteristic protected by law.