Principal Prompt Engineer

MCI; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

MCI seeks an experienced Principal Prompt Engineer to lead the design, governance, and optimization of prompt engineering frameworks for our AI products, blending deep technical expertise with strategic leadership to scale reliable conversational experiences.

You will define standards, develop libraries and templates, evaluate prompts, and collaborate with product managers, AI engineers, and business stakeholders to translate requirements into effective prompting strategies while mentoring teams

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in CS, AI, Linguistics, Communications, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in technology, AI, software development, research, or related disciplines.
• Minimum 5 years of experience working with Generative AI and Large Language Models.
• Deep expertise in prompt engineering methodologies and optimization techniques.
• Strong understanding of LLM behavior, limitations, and evaluation frameworks.
• Experience designing enterprise‑scale AI solutions.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Experience leading technical initiatives and influencing strategy.
• Ability to communicate complex concepts to diverse audiences.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills.
• Experience developing standards, frameworks, and governance practices.
• Demonstrated leadership and mentoring experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic direction for prompt engineering practices across the organization.
• Define prompt engineering standards, frameworks, and best practices.
• Establish methodologies for prompt design, testing, and optimization.
• Lead prompt engineering initiatives across multiple AI products.
• Support organizational AI strategy and innovation efforts.
• Develop sophisticated prompting solutions that improve AI performance.
• Design advanced prompts for enterprise AI applications.
• Optimize prompts for accuracy, consistency, and efficiency.
• Develop reusable prompt libraries and templates.
• Improve response quality across multiple business use cases.
• Ensure AI systems meet organizational performance expectations.
• Define prompt evaluation methodologies and benchmarks.
• Analyze model outputs and recommend improvements.
• Establish quality assurance processes for prompt engineering.
• Drive continuous performance optimization initiatives.
• Partner with business and technical leaders to deliver impactful AI solutions.
• Collaborate with product managers, AI engineers, and business stakeholders.
• Translate business requirements into effective prompting strategies.
• Support executive‑level AI initiatives and innovation programs.
• Provide subject matter expertise on AI capabilities and limitations.
• Build organizational capability in prompt engineering and AI adoption.
• Mentor prompt engineers and AI specialists.
• Lead research into emerging AI and prompting techniques.
• Evaluate new AI platforms and technologies.
• Promote knowledge sharing and continuous learning.

Skills

Prompt engineering

Generative AI & LLMs

LLM evaluation frameworks

Enterprise AI solutions

Stakeholder engagement

Leadership & mentoring

Communication to diverse audiences

Governance practices

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in CS/AI/linguistics/IS

Master’s Degree in AI/CS/linguistics

Job description

Principal Prompt Engineer

MCI seeks an experienced Principal Prompt Engineer to lead the design, governance, and optimization of prompt engineering frameworks for our AI products. The role blends deep technical expertise in Large Language Models with strategic leadership to create reliable, business‑aligned conversational experiences at scale.

Prompt Engineering Strategy & Leadership

• Provide strategic direction for prompt engineering practices across the organization.
• Define prompt engineering standards, frameworks, and best practices.
• Establish methodologies for prompt design, testing, and optimization.
• Lead prompt engineering initiatives across multiple AI products.
• Support organizational AI strategy and innovation efforts.

Prompt Design & Optimization

• Develop sophisticated prompting solutions that improve AI performance.
• Design advanced prompts for enterprise AI applications.
• Optimize prompts for accuracy, consistency, and efficiency.
• Develop reusable prompt libraries and templates.
• Improve response quality across multiple business use cases.

AI Evaluation & Quality Management

• Ensure AI systems meet organizational performance expectations.
• Define prompt evaluation methodologies and benchmarks.
• Analyze model outputs and recommend improvements.
• Establish quality assurance processes for prompt engineering.
• Drive continuous performance optimization initiatives.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner with business and technical leaders to deliver impactful AI solutions.
• Collaborate with product managers, AI engineers, and business stakeholders.
• Translate business requirements into effective prompting strategies.
• Support executive‑level AI initiatives and innovation programs.
• Provide subject matter expertise on AI capabilities and limitations.

Mentorship & Innovation

• Build organizational capability in prompt engineering and AI adoption.
• Mentor prompt engineers and AI specialists.
• Lead research into emerging AI and prompting techniques.
• Evaluate new AI platforms and technologies.
• Promote knowledge sharing and continuous learning.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Communications, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in technology, AI, software development, research, or related disciplines.
• Minimum 5 years of experience working with Generative AI and Large Language Models.
• Deep expertise in prompt engineering methodologies and optimization techniques.
• Strong understanding of LLM behavior, limitations, and evaluation frameworks.
• Experience designing enterprise‑scale AI solutions.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Experience leading technical initiatives and influencing strategy.
• Ability to communicate complex concepts to diverse audiences.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills.
• Experience developing standards, frameworks, and governance practices.
• Demonstrated leadership and mentoring experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Linguistics, or related discipline.
• Experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Claude, or equivalent platforms.
• Knowledge of Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures.
• Experience building AI agents and autonomous workflows.
• Experience with AI governance and compliance frameworks.
• Cloud platform certifications.
• Experience leading enterprise AI transformation initiatives.
• Published research, thought leadership, or speaking engagements related to AI.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is the policy of MCI and its affiliates to provide reasonable accommodations when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless such accommodations would cause undue hardship. The policy regarding requests for reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of employment. If reasonable accommodations are needed, please contact Human Resources.
At MCI and its subsidiaries, we embrace differences and believe diversity is a benefit to our employees, our company, our customers, and our community. All aspects of employment at MCI are based solely on a person's merit and qualifications. MCI maintains a work environment free from discrimination, one where employees are treated with dignity and respect. All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling MCI's commitment to a diverse and equal opportunity work environment.
MCI does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. MCI will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with local and federal requirements.
MCI will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. We adhere to these principles in all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, training, compensation, promotion, benefits, social and recreational programs, and discipline. In addition, it is the policy of MCI to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees who have protected disabilities to the extent required by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances where an employee works.