Senior AI Agent Engineer - Forward-Deployed

Citi; New York (NY); On-site; USD 142,000 - 213,000; Full time

Job summary

The Citi Applied AI and Agents Factory is hiring a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer in New York, NY. You will own agent reasoning logic, MCP servers, and robust execution pipelines integrated with enterprise systems.

You will work with LLM APIs, build production-grade backends, mentor juniors, and help deliver secure, compliant AI solutions at scale across Citi’s technology stack. This hands-on role emphasizes architecture, testing, and collaboration in fast-paced squads, with a focus on

Qualifications

• 6+ years of software engineering experience, with 4+ years of strong, professional Python proficiency.
• Hands-on experience working with LLM APIs (R2D2 Gateway, OpenAI, Google Vertex AI) and integrating foundation models into backend services.
• Experience with REST/gRPC API development, Docker, Git, Linux environments, and CI/CD automation pipelines.
• Understanding of prompt engineering, structured JSON output validation (e.g., Pydantic), and vector search/retrieval patterns.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively in fast-paced agile squads solving ambiguous technical problems.

Responsibilities

• Writes robust, production-quality agent reasoning logic, memory management, and sub-agent delegation workflows in Python.
• Develops custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers connecting AI agents to enterprise systems (ServiceNow, JIRA, DBaaS, Kafka, internal REST/gRPC services).
• Implements resilient error handling, automated retry mechanisms, fallback routines, and Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) escalation triggers.
• Integrates Lakera Guardrails for synchronous and asynchronous prompt-injection defense, jailbreak mitigation, and automated PII filtering/redaction.
• Collaborates with C12 engineers to build automated regression testbeds and integrate Agentflow Studio evaluation harnesses into deployment workflows.
• Advises and coaches junior developers, participating actively in sprint delivery and peer code reviews.
• Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for Citi’s reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients and assets, by driving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency.

Skills

Python

LLM APIs

REST/gRPC API

Docker

Git

CI/CD Automation

Linux

Prompt engineering

JSON output validation

Vector search

Education

Bachelor’s/University degree or equivalent experience; Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Docker

Git

Linux

CI/CD

REST API

gRPC

Kafka

ServiceNow

JIRA

Job description

The Citi Applied AI and Agents Factory is hiring a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer in New York, NY. You will own agent reasoning logic, MCP servers, and robust execution pipelines integrated with enterprise systems.

You will work with LLM APIs, build production-grade backends, mentor juniors, and help deliver secure, compliant AI solutions at scale across Citi’s technology stack. This hands-on role emphasizes architecture, testing, and collaboration in fast-paced squads, with a focus on