Lead Engineer - AI Developer Platform

Raymond James & Associates; Saint Petersburg (FL); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Raymond James & Associates seeks a hands‑on Lead Engineer to drive technical vision for an internal AI platform. You will architect, implement, and raise engineering standards across Windows, macOS, and Linux, coordinating with multiple teams and stakeholders.

You will code, review designs, and shape long‑term platform strategy while mentoring engineers and delivering high‑impact solutions in a hybrid St. Petersburg, FL environment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of senior engineering experience building enterprise‑grade software.
• Hands-on with large language models (LLMs) or AI agent frameworks.
• Experience integrating AI coding tools with external systems and IDEs.
• Cross‑platform experience across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Proficient in Python; working knowledge of Node.js and TypeScript.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the platform architecture for scalability, extensibility, and maintainability.
• Lead and contribute to key platform initiatives, including onboarding and telemetry.
• Lead code reviews and architectural reviews for core platform components.
• Maintain secure, sandboxed environments for AI development and testing.
• Partner with product leadership to plan roadmaps and prioritize platform investments.
• Mentor engineers and influence across a distributed team.

Skills

Python

Node.js

TypeScript

LLMs

AI agent frameworks

VS Code / IDEs

Cross-platform engineering

Architectural leadership

Code reviews

Tools

Claude Code

OpenAI Codex

LangChain / LangGraph

Copilot extensions

JetBrains AI plugins

Cursor / Continue / Aider integrations

Job description

Job Description Summary

Note: This position follows our hybrid-friendly schedule, so you get the best of both worlds - flexibility and collaboration. In office days are 3 days per week (including a Monday or Friday), in our St Petersburg, FL Corporate Office.

This role is not eligible for Work Visa sponsorship, either currently or in the future.

Job Description

About the Role:

We are seeking a hands‑on Lead Engineer to drive the technical vision and function as a process engineer utilizing our internal AI systems, platforms, and frameworks.

Already adopted by multiple engineering teams, our internal platform is expanding across the firm. We are focused on improving scalability, reliability, ease of adoption, and flexibility as AI technologies rapidly evolve. This role will lead the platform architecture, establish engineering standards, and deliver high‑impact technical solutions.

You will spend your time coding, reviewing designs and pull requests, solving complex technical challenges, supporting production environments, and shaping long‑term platform strategy. This is an ideal opportunity for a technical leader passionate about building tools that enable engineers to work smarter and faster.

What You'll Do:

Set the Technical Direction

Define and evolve the platform architecture, ensuring scalability, extensibility, and maintainability.

Design solutions that remain compatible across multiple AI providers, coding tools, and operating systems.

Establish engineering patterns and best practices for the broader team.

Deliver High-Impact Solutions

Lead and contribute directly to key platform initiatives, including:

• Streamlining platform installation and onboarding across Windows and macOS.
• Building telemetry and reporting capabilities to provide visibility into AI usage, costs, and adoption.
• Developing secure, sandboxed environments for AI-assisted development and testing.
• Expanding AI agent capabilities, enterprise integrations, and business-domain knowledge resources.

Maintain AI Platform Agility

Continuously assess emerging AI models, developer tools, and orchestration technologies.

Recommend and implement new capabilities while avoiding unnecessary vendor dependency.

Partner with product leadership to evaluate capabilities and define future roadmap priorities.

Raise the Engineering Bar

Ensure high standards for code quality, testing, reliability, and operational excellence.

Lead code reviews and architectural reviews for core platform components.

Support incident response and continuous platform improvements.

Lead Through Influence

Provide technical leadership across a distributed contributor model.

Facilitate design reviews, solve complex technical challenges, and mentor engineers.

Foster collaboration across engineering teams contributing to the platform.

Partner with Platform Users

Engage regularly with engineering teams using the platform.

Gather feedback, identify pain points, and translate insights into platform enhancements.

Collaborate with stakeholders to prioritize investments and improve developer experience.

What You Bring:

• 8+ years of senior engineering experience building enterprise‑grade software that other engineers or business teams depend on - internal platforms, large‑scale services, developer tooling, SDKs, or similar systems.
• At least 2 years of hands‑on experience building solutions powered by large language models (LLMs) or AI agent frameworks.
• Prior experience building or extending agentic coding tools like Claude Code or OpenAI Codex, and IDEs like VS Code - or comparable tools.
• Strong proficiency in Python and working knowledge of Node.js and TypeScript.
• Direct experience designing or substantially extending integrations between AI coding tools and external systems (any of: Model Context Protocol servers, custom LangChain/LangGraph tools, Copilot extensions, JetBrains AI plugins, Cursor / Continue / Aider integrations).
• A working point of view on at least one production AI coding tool - enough to reason intelligently about prompt design, tool‑use loops, context window economics, and where these systems tend to fail.
• Experience with more than one LLM provider and a clear position on building provider‑agnostic abstractions so the platform isn't trapped on a single vendor's roadmap.
• Cross‑platform engineering experience across Windows, macOS, and Linux, including the realities of installers, path handling, shells, and credential storage on each.
• Background in one or more of the technology stacks our application teams use (Python, Java/Spring, Angular, React, .NET, Oracle, Redshift, SQL Server) - enough to be credible reviewing stack‑specific contributions.
• A track record of shipping infrastructure that other engineers depend on every day, and being accountable when it breaks.
• Comfort working in a regulated environment - financial services - with the discipline that implies around secrets, data classification, change management, and auditability, and practical exper