Lead AI/ML Developer

Cognizant; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 133,000 - 157,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays and PTO

Disability coverage

Parental Leave

Job summary

Cognizant in Houston seeks a Lead AI/ML Developer to design, develop, deploy, and manage enterprise-scale AI/ML and analytics solutions. You will work with GCP Vertex AI, Gemini, Claude, Python, PySpark, and MLOps to deliver production-grade AI products and business-facing analytics.

The role requires hands-on AI/ML engineering plus technical leadership, cloud-native development, Azure DevOps, and BI integration, with onsite collaboration in the Houston client office.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in data/analytics/AI or advanced analytics roles with hands-on AI/ML development.
• 2+ years leading a developer pod or delivery team with code quality and mentoring responsibilities.
• Strong experience with GCP Vertex AI and production model deployment.
• Experience with Gemini, Claude, prompt engineering, RAG architectures, and Gen AI.
• Proficiency in Python, PySpark, SQL, Pandas, Scikit-learn, XGBoost, TensorFlow, PyTorch.
• Experience with forecasting models (ARIMA/SARIMA) and time-series analytics.
• CI/CD automation, GitHub, Docker, and MLOps practices.
• Knowledge of Snowflake, data quality, analytics consumption, and BI integration.
• Experience with Power BI/Looker/Tableau is a plus.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management; onsite collaboration in Houston.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design, development, deployment, and support of AI/ML and predictive analytics.
• Build and operationalize models using Vertex AI, Pipelines, and Endpoints; manage model registry.
• Develop forecasting, classification, Regression, and Generative AI solutions with Python/PySpark.
• Design RAG-based solutions and prompt engineering patterns for LLM-powered analytics.
• Guide the AI/ML squad; perform code reviews and mentoring; enforce engineering best practices.
• Own solution design for AI/ML use cases from prototype to production deployment.
• Build CI/CD pipelines with Azure DevOps; manage Docker and artifact registries.
• Integrate ML outputs into BI platforms like Power BI, Looker, or Tableau for dashboards.
• Collaborate with engagement leads, data engineers, and BI teams on use-case discovery and roadmaps.
• Ensure model monitoring, governance, responsible AI, data quality, and reliability.

Skills

AI/ML Dev

GCP Vertex AI

Python

PySpark

SQL

Pandas

Scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Time series

Forecasting

Leadership

Tools

Docker

Azure DevOps

GitHub

Artifact Registry

MLOps

Job description

About AI & Analytics: Artificial intelligence (AI) and the data it collects and analyzes will soon sit at the core of all intelligent, human-centric businesses. By decoding customer needs, preferences, and behaviors, our clients can understand exactly what services, products, and experiences their consumers need. Within AI & Analytics, we work to design the future—a future in which trial-and-error business decisions have been replaced by informed choices and data-supported strategies.

By applying AI and data science, we help leading companies to prototype, refine, validate, and scale their AI and analytics products and delivery models. Cognizant’s AIA practice takes insights that are buried in data and provides businesses a clear way to transform how they source, interpret and consume their information. Our clients need flexible data structures and a streamlined data architecture that quickly turns data resources into informative, meaningful intelligence.

Job Summary

We are seeking a Lead AI/ML Developer to design, develop, deploy, and manage enterprise-scale AI/ML, forecasting, predictive analytics, and Generative AI solutions. This role will leverage GCP Vertex AI, Gemini, Claude, Python, PySpark, and modern MLOps frameworks to build scalable, production-ready AI solutions and business-facing analytics products. The ideal candidate will combine hands-on AI/ML engineering expertise with technical leadership experience, cloud-native development, Azure DevOps, and BI integration capabilities. This onsite role in Houston will serve as the lead developer counterpart to the AI/ML engagement lead and support AI/ML delivery within the BI Track Leads group.

*Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future*

In this role, you will:

• Lead the end-to-end design, development, deployment, and production support of AI/ML, predictive analytics, forecasting, and Generative AI solutions.
• Build and operationalize models using GCP Vertex AI, Vertex AI Pipelines, Model Registry, Endpoints, Gemini, Claude, and modern MLOps frameworks.
• Develop forecasting, classification, regression, recommendation, and Generative AI solutions using Python, PySpark, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and related frameworks.
• Design and implement RAG-based solutions, prompt engineering patterns, and LLM-powered analytics use cases.
• Lead the AI/ML development squad, including solution design, code reviews, delivery quality, technical mentoring, and engineering best practices.
• Own solution design for AI/ML use cases and drive initiatives from prototype through production deployment.
• Build and manage CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, Artifact Registry, Docker, and automated deployment practices.
• Integrate ML outputs into BI platforms such as Power BI, Looker, or Tableau to deliver decision-ready dashboards, KPIs, and business insights.
• Partner with engagement leads, business stakeholders, data engineers, and BI teams on use-case discovery, estimation, roadmap planning, and implementation.
• Ensure model monitoring, governance, responsible AI compliance, security, data quality, and production reliability across all delivered solutions.

What you need to have to be considered

• 10+ years of experience in data, analytics, AI/ML, or advanced analytics roles, including 5+ years of hands-on AI/ML development experience.
• 2+ years of experience leading a developer pod or technical delivery team with responsibility for code quality, mentoring, and solution delivery.
• Strong hands-on expertise with GCP Vertex AI, Vertex AI Pipelines, Model Registry, model endpoints, and production model deployment.
• Experience with Gemini, Claude, prompt engineering, RAG architectures, and Generative AI solution development.
• Strong proficiency in Python, PySpark, SQL, Pandas, Scikit-learn, XGBoost, LightGBM, TensorFlow, and/or PyTorch.
• Experience building forecasting models such as ARIMA, SARIMA, time series models, predictive analytics models, classification models, and regression models.
• Hands-on experience with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipeline automation, GitHub, Docker, Artifact Registry, and MLOps practices.
• Strong understanding of Snowflake, semantic modeling, data quality, reconciliation, and analytics consumption patterns.
• Experience with Streamlit development, AngularJS integration, and building business-facing AI/analytics applications is preferred.
• Experience integrating AI/ML outputs into BI tools such as Power BI, Looker, or Tableau.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, technical leadership, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work onsite at the Houston client office and collaborate closely with client and delivery teams.

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Applications will be accepted until 28 Aug 2026.

Salary and Other Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is between $[133,000 - 156,500] depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave