Platform Engineer - AI Tooling

SMBC; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

SMBC Group is seeking a Staff AI/GenAI Engineer to design, develop, and deploy AI platforms and GenAI solutions that drive business value. You will partner with architecture, technology, data and business teams to build robust, scalable systems.

This role requires strong Python and GenAI framework experience, DevOps practices, and collaboration with stakeholders across the organization to ensure secure, compliant AI deployments in a financial environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, ML, Data Science, or related field.
• 3+ years of hands-on GenAI or advanced ML models in production.
• 3+ years of Python and GenAI frameworks/tools such as Databricks Vector Search, Azure AI Search, LangGraph, haystack, Llama Index etc.
• Advanced knowledge of prompt engineering, embedding models, RAG, and related techniques.
• Familiarity with MLOps/LLMOps tools (e.g. MLflow), Databricks, and cloud platforms.
• Experience deploying RESTful services, containerization, and CI/CD automation.
• Proficiency with ML libraries like PyTorch, TensorFlow, and Hugging Face Transformers.
• Strong communication and collaboration with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI platforms and GenAI solutions.
• Collaborate with architecture, technology, data, and business teams.
• Own the GenAI technology stack for industrial-grade performance and compliance.
• Develop platform infrastructure and REST/Websocket-based services.
• Apply MLOps/LLMOps practices for model lifecycle, observability, and security.
• Build scalable data pipelines to support AI/ML data needs.
• Create GenAI workflows using tools like LangGraph for multi-step tasks.
• Evaluate emerging AI tech and mentor broader engineering teams.

Skills

Python

GenAI frameworks

RESTful services

Containerization

CI/CD

MLOps

Databricks

Azure Cloud

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, or related field

Tools

Databricks

Azure AI Search

LangGraph

haystack

Llama Index

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Transformers

Job description

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG's shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization's extensive global network. The Group's operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC MANUBANK, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

Role Description

As a Staff AI/GenAI Engineer in the Platform Engineering team, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and deploying AI platforms and solutions that drive business value. You will work closely with stakeholders in architecture, technology, data and business organizations. You will partner with Azure, Databricks, and other infrastructure providers to build and operate the AI/GenAI platform, ensuring robust, scalable, and secure architecture. To succeed in this role, you should be a fast learner who can quickly learn upcoming AI/GenAI technologies, and an accomplished coder capable of developing enterprise-scale applications.

This is a unique opportunity to own the GenAI technology stack, ensuring industrial-grade performance, compliance, and efficiency in a high-stakes financial environment.

Role Objectives

• Define AI Platform architecture: Design and architect a scalable, secure, and compliant AI platform utilizing Databricks and Azure Cloud Services as the foundational backbone.
• Develop platform infra and services: Develop infrastructure and REST/Websocket-based AI/LLM platform services for consumption by different downstream applications.
• Own ML/LLM ops: Apply standardized architecture patterns and MLOps/LLMOps practices for model lifecycle management, observability, and security.
• Data Engineering: Develop efficient and scalable data pipelines to support AI/ML data requirements.
• GenAI Solution Development: Build and maintain robust RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and Agentic orchestration layers using tools like LangGraph and others to enable complex, multi-step GenAI workflows.
• Evaluate Emerging Technology: Proactively identify and evaluate emerging Generative AI technologies and integrate those that drive demonstrable business value.
• Technical Mentorship: Mentor and educate broader engineering teams on state-of-the-art Generative AI techniques and platform capabilities.

Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, or related field.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience in developing, deploying, and maintaining GenAI or advanced ML models in production environments.
• 3+ years of experience in Python and GenAI frameworks/tools e.g. Databricks Vector Search, Azure AI Search, Azure AI document intelligence, LangGraph, haystack, Llama Index etc.
• Advanced knowledge of prompt engineering, model fine-tuning, embedding models, and effective RAG implementation methodologies, including vector databases, chunking strategies, GraphRAG etc.
• Deep familiarity with MLOps/LLMOps tools (e.g. MLflow), data platforms (e.g. Databricks) and cloud platforms.
• Demonstrated experience developing and deploying RESTful services, containerization, and automated CI/CD systems.
• Working knowledge of ML libraries e.g. PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face Transformers.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills; proven ability to influence and partner with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

SMBC's employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including, for example, certain FINRA-registered roles for which in-office attendance for the entire workweek is required.

SMBC provides reasonable accommodations during candidacy for applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please let us know at [e-mail].

EOE, including Disability/veterans