Lead AI Research Engineer

Jobtailor; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in Washington, DC is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to lead end-to-end AI systems—from infrastructure to frontier models—and guide projects across business units.

You will translate research into scalable, revenue-generating solutions, own technical roadmaps, and provide day-to-day leadership to engineers and researchers in a highly innovative environment.

The role demands hands-on assessment, collaboration with partners, and a passion for pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in deep technical engineering.
• Experience designing and building advanced AI systems, including managing them.
• Experience developing AI prototypes, products, or high-visibility technical demonstrations.
• Experience leading technical exchanges and evaluations with commercial partners and executive stakeholders.
• Experience translating research into scalable, revenue-generating solutions.
• Ability to create and drive technical roadmaps aligned with organizational goals.
• Ability to display high creativity, intellectual curiosity, and enthusiasm for showcasing innovative AI capabilities.
• Bachelor’s degree.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate emerging advancements across hyperscalers, leading AI labs, academia, and venture-backed companies.
• Conduct hands-on technical assessments, benchmarks, and proof-of-concepts to validate applicability and performance.
• Own the technical delivery of end-to-end AI systems spanning infrastructure, frontier LLMs, agentic and multi-agent applications and physical AI pipelines.
• Work with business units to support hands-on integration of emerging AI technologies in complex customer environments such as cloud, hybrid, edge, or disconnected.
• Provide day-to-day technical leadership to engineers and researchers.
• Conduct design reviews, guide architectural decisions, and raise the overall technical bar of the Applied Research team.
• Convert prototype learnings into reusable frameworks, reference architectures, accelerators, and technical artifacts that scale across programs and business units.

Skills

Deep technical engineering

AI system design

AI prototyping

Technical leadership

Roadmap development

Research translation

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Responsibilities

• Evaluate emerging advancements across hyperscalers, leading AI labs, academia, and venture-backed companies.
• Conduct hands‑on technical assessments, benchmarks, and proof‑of‑concepts to validate applicability and performance.
• Own the technical delivery of end‑to‑end AI systems spanning infrastructure, frontier LLMs, agentic and multi‑agent applications and physical AI pipelines.
• Work with business units to support hands‑on integration of emerging AI technologies in complex customer environments such as cloud, hybrid, edge, or disconnected.
• Provide day‑to‑day technical leadership to engineers and researchers.
• Conduct design reviews, guide architectural decisions, and raise the overall technical bar of the Applied Research team.
• Convert prototype learnings into reusable frameworks, reference architectures, accelerators, and technical artifacts that scale across programs and business units.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in deep technical engineering
• Experience designing and building advanced AI systems, including managing them
• Experience developing AI prototypes, products, or high‑visibility technical demonstrations
• Experience leading technical exchanges and evaluations with commercial partners and executive stakeholders
• Experience with translating research into scalable, revenue‑generating solutions
• Ability to create and drive technical roadmaps aligned with organizational goals
• Ability to display high creativity, intellectual curiosity, and enthusiasm for showcasing innovative AI capabilities
• Bachelor’s degree

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in designing and building advanced AI systems, leading technical assessments, and integrating emerging AI technologies in complex environments. Proven ability to translate research into scalable solutions and drive technical roadmaps aligned with organizational goals.