Principal AI Developer

Energy Transfer Partners, L.P.; Town of Texas (WI); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Energy Transfer is seeking a hands-on AI Developer to design, build, deploy, and iterate real production AI solutions. You will work with AI engineers and business analysts to turn ideas into shipped systems, owning work end-to-end from prototyping to deployment.

The role emphasizes rapid prototyping, rigorous testing, and optimization in a fast-paced environment with ownership across the stack. Strong experience with Python or .NET and cloud platforms is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; 5+ years of related experience.
• Professional experience building production systems with Python or .NET.
• Strong knowledge of cloud services and architecture patterns — Azure preferred (or AWS/GCP).
• Hands-on experience with RAG pipelines and AI agents.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain AI solutions using Python and/or .NET.
• Build AI agents using Copilot Studio or Semantic Kernel.
• Build and optimize cloud-native applications on Azure.
• Work with Databricks for large-scale data.
• Collaborate with AI engineers and business analysts to productionize ideas.
• Evaluate model performance and optimize systems.
• Communicate clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Prototype quickly and iterate.

Skills

Python

C# / .NET

Cloud platforms

Azure

Databricks

SQL

AI/ML

LangGraph

AutoGen

CrewAI

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Microsoft Copilot Studio

Semantic Kernel

Databricks

Azure

Job description

We value all of our employees who make our growth and success possible. We are proud to offer industry leading compensation, comprehensive benefits,401(k) match with additional profit sharing,PTO and abundant career opportunities.

Come join our award winning over 12,000 strong organization as we fuel the world and each other!

Summary:

Energy Transfer is looking for a hands‑on AI Developer with strong expertise in Python or .NET, cloud platforms, and modern data tooling to join our multidisciplinary Enterprise AI team. This developer will work alongside AI engineers/developers and business analysts to build, ship, and iterate on real production AI solutions.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast‑paced environment where they own work end‑to‑end: prototyping, building, deploying, and refining. Candidates who have come up through a smaller company or startup environment — wearing multiple hats and shipping real systems — will feel right at home.

Technical Environment

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Design, develop, deploy, and maintain AI solutions using Python and/or .NET.
• Build AI agents using Microsoft Copilot Studio or the Semantic Kernel Agent Framework.
• Build and optimize cloud‑native applications on Azure.
• Work with large‑scale data in Databricks.
• Partner with AI engineers/developers and business analysts to turn ideas and experiments into production systems.
• Apply critical thinking to evaluate model performance, troubleshoot complex issues, and improve system efficiency.
• Communicate clearly with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Prototype quickly, test rigorously, and iterate often.

Requirements: Education and/or Experience, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. The requirements for this position are listed below:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, with relevant job experience commensurate with the selected job level (see below).
• Professional experience building production systems with Python or .NET (proficiency in both is a strong plus).
• Strong working knowledge of cloud services and architecture patterns — Azure preferred (or equivalent experience in AWS or GCP, with willingness to ramp on Azure).
• Hands‑on experience building RAG (Retrieval‑Augmented Generation) pipelines.
• Hands‑on experience building AI agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio, Semantic Kernel Agent Framework, or an equivalent agent framework (e.g., LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI).
• Hands‑on experience with at least two of the following:
  • Azure AI Search (or equivalent vector/semantic search platform — Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector, Elasticsearch with vector, AWS Kendra/OpenSearch)
• Comfort working with SQL and large‑scale data platforms (Databricks experience is a plus, but the syntax is approachable if you know SQL).
• Excellent communication and critical‑thinking skills.
• Background in a smaller company or startup environment with significant ownership of technical work.

Required experience is commensurate with the selected job level:

• The Senior Specialist level requires a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 5‑8 years of relevant job related experience.
• The Lead Specialist level requires a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 8+ years of relevant job related experience.
• The Principal Specialist level requires a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 10+ years of relevant job related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in both Python and .NET.
• Direct hands‑on experience with Microsoft Copilot Studio and/or Semantic Kernel specifically.
• Hands‑on experience with Databricks specifically.
• Practical ML experience (model training, evaluation, deployment).
• Familiarity with Azure AI Foundry (or equivalent — AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI) and Azure OpenAI (or equivalent managed LLM service) in production.
• Experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar agent‑tooling standards.
• Natural Gas Pipeline or Energy Industry work experience is a plus.

Working Conditions

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

• Usually, normal office working conditions.
• This is an on‑site role, worked in person at the office 5 days per week during business hours.
• Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time due to prolonged periods of sitting or standing.
• Occasional overnight travel may be required to other business locations within the company.

An equal opportunity employer/disability/vet

Energy Transfer is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against qualified applicants on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other basis prohibited by law.

The nature and frequency of the above working conditions and requirements may vary depending on individual operational circumstances. Where feasible, the Partnership will make reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of the job.

DISCLAIMER: The statements listed in this job posting, which are subject to change, are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.

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Energy Transfer is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against qualified applicants on the basis of any actual or perceived legally protected characteristics under federal, state, or local law.
To view a notice describing federal equal opportunity laws click here .

If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation forany part of the application process, please contact the EEO Coordinator at 713-989-2247.This number is for reasonable accommodation requests only.