Principal AI/ML Engineer

Thornton Tomasetti; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 131,000 - 261,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free medical coverage in HIP PPO plan

High employer contribution retirement

Tuition reimbursement and education

Job summary

Abbott is seeking a Principal AI/ML Engineer to lead the AI layer for personalized glucose insights, owning architecture and guardrails. You will mentor the AI team, partner with data science, regulatory, and product teams, and productionize time-series models for scalable inference.

The role is based in Alameda, CA, with hands-on responsibilities and strategic impact on regulatory-aligned AI features.

Qualifications

• PhD or master's in computer science, ML, or a related field.
• 10+ years in software or ML engineering; 3+ years building LLM-based/agentic systems.
• Deep experience with agent frameworks, tool calling, retrieval-augmented generation, and prompt evaluation.
• Proven track record designing guardrails, safety controls, and evaluation pipelines for user-facing AI.
• Strong Python skills and cloud platform experience (Azure, AWS, or GCP).
• Demonstrated technical leadership and ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Excellent written and verbal communication for clinical, regulatory, and executive audiences.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision and architecture for agentic and LLM-based features.
• Design and build agents combining glucose history, model predictions, meals, activity, and context.
• Own agent orchestration, tool use, memory, and retrieval patterns; evaluate hosted vs. self-managed models.
• Stay current on LLM advances and translate them into a practical roadmap.
• Establish guardrails to keep agent responses within approved product and regulatory claims.
• Build evaluation frameworks with clinically grounded test sets for safety and accuracy.
• Ensure all agent responses are traceable and auditable per design controls.
• Collaborate with regulatory and quality teams on risk analysis and documentation.

Skills

PhD/MS in CS/ML

LLM/agentic experience

Agent frameworks

Guardrails & evaluation pipelines

Python & cloud platforms

Technical leadership

Independent work

Clear communication

Education

PhD or MS

Tools

Python

Azure

AWS

GCP

Job description

About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 122,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

JOB DESCRIPTION: At Lingo, we’re building a groundbreaking health platform that combines continuous biosensor data, real-time analytics, and personalized insights to help people live fuller, longer, and healthier lives. Our systems ingest millions of sensor readings daily, powering experiences for consumers and partners worldwide, with the reliability and scalability of cloud-native, enterprise-grade platforms.

The Opportunity

This Principal AI/ML Engineer position can work out of Alameda, CA location. As Principal AI/ML Engineer, you will define and build the AI layer that turns glucose data and model outputs into personalized, conversational insights for users. You will set the architecture, evaluation standards, and guardrail policy for all agentic and LLM-based features, and act as the technical lead for the AI engineering team. This is a hands‑on, principal‑level individual contributor role and a founding position on the team, with direct influence on its architecture, standards, and future hires. You will work closely with data science, clinical, regulatory, product, and mobile engineering, so a high level of technical judgement and professionalism is required.

What You’ll Work On

• Define the technical vision and architecture for agentic and LLM-based features across cloud and device.
• Design and build agents that combine glucose history, model predictions, meals, activity, and user context to deliver actionable insights.
• Own agent orchestration, tool use, memory, and retrieval patterns, choosing between hosted and self‑managed models based on safety, cost, and latency.
• Stay current on advances in LLMs and agentic systems and translate them into a practical roadmap.
• Establish guardrails so agent responses stay within approved product and regulatory claims, including no unapproved dosing or treatment advice.
• Build evaluation frameworks with clinically grounded test sets, co‑owned with data science and clinical teams, covering accuracy, safety, and user impact.
• Ensure every agent response is traceable and auditable in line with design controls and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with regulatory and quality teams on risk analysis, documentation, and evidence for AI‑enabled features.
• Use sound judgement and discretion when handling confidential and personal health data.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship across the AI engineering team and lead architecture and design reviews.
• Productionize time‑series and personalization models for glucose insights, from prototype to scalable, monitored services.
• Build batch and real‑time inference services with defined latency, cost, and availability targets.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. or master’s degree in computer science, Machine Learning or a related field.
• Minimum of 10+ years of software or ML engineering experience, including 3+ years building LLM‑based or agentic systems in production.
• Deep experience with agent frameworks, tool calling, retrieval‑augmented generation, and prompt and model evaluation.
• Proven track record designing guardrails, safety controls, and evaluation pipelines for user‑facing AI.
• Strong proficiency in Python and cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP).
• Demonstrated technical leadership, setting architecture and standards across teams without direct authority.
• Ability to operate with little instruction and minimal supervision.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to explain AI risk and trade‑offs to clinical, regulatory, and executive audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a regulated industry, ideally medical devices, digital health, or SaMD.
• Experience with physiological or wearable sensor data, such as continuous glucose monitoring.
• Experience with on‑device or small language models.
• Publications, patents, or open‑source contributions in applied AI.
• Experience with personalization, recommendation, or anomaly detection systems.
• Familiarity with HIPAA and data privacy requirements.

Benefits

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year.
• An excellent retirement savings plan with a high employer contribution.
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program, and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries worldwide and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as the best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

Employment Details

Job Family: Product Development

DIVISION: LNGO Lingo

LOCATION: United States > Alameda : 2901 Harbor Bay Parkway

ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS:

WORK SHIFT: Standard

TRAVEL: Not specified

MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE: Not Applicable

SIGNIFICANT WORK ACTIVITIES: Continuous sitting for prolonged periods (more than 2 consecutive hours in an 8 hour day), Keyboard use (greater or equal to 50% of the workday)

EEO Statements

Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to employee diversity.

Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer of Minorities/Women/Individuals with Disabilities/Protected Veterans.

E E O is the Law link - English: http://webstorage.abbott.com/common/External/EEO_English.pdf

E E O is the Law link - Espanol: http://webstorage.abbott.com/common/External/EEO_Spanish.pdf

The people of Abbott come to work each day with relentless energy, enthusiasm and a promise to enhance the health and well‑being of millions of people. They push the boundaries to help manage and treat some of life’s greatest health challenges. We invite you to explore opportunities at Abbott, to see if your talents and career aspirations may fit with our openings. An equal opportunity employer, Abbott welcomes and encourages diversity in our workforce.

Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal #software

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The base pay for this position is $130,700.00 – $261,300.00 In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.