Senior AI Architect/Lead Engineer

Advanced Technology International; Summerville, Northern (SC, KY); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision options

Flexible Spending Accounts

403B Retirement Savings

Paid time off & holidays

Parental Leave

Disability Coverage

Tuition Reimbursement

Flexible work schedules

Job summary

Advanced Technology International seeks a Senior AI Architect/Lead Engineer to define the AI capability stack, set standards, and deliver phased AI solutions. The role blends hands‑on development with architectural leadership, working closely with the AI Transformation Lead across Azure OpenAI services and compliant architectures.

You will mentor engineers, prototype prioritized capabilities, and communicate complex technical decisions to leadership while ensuring collaboration and timely

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering or related tech experience, with at least 3 years in AI/ML systems.
• Proven track record delivering AI solutions in production.
• Experience leading small engineering teams and setting technical direction.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, software engineering, or related field.
• U.S. citizenship or eligible green card; ability to obtain required clearance.

Responsibilities

• Define and guide AI capability stack architecture and standards.
• Prototype and build AI solutions; evaluate tooling.
• Collaborate with leadership and engineers; translate decisions to non-technical audiences.
• Oversee Azure AI services usage and data architectures.
• Ensure FedRAMP/compliance considerations are integrated.
• Mentor and coordinate with AI Transformation Lead.

Skills

LLM development

Python for AI

API design

Azure AI services

Compliance & FedRAMP

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS, data science, software eng, or related field

Tools

Azure OpenAI

Azure AI Services

Azure Blob Storage

Azure Data Lake

Terraform

Bicep

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

Job Details: Senior AI Architect/Lead Engineer

Full details of the job.

Vacancy Name

Vacancy No

Vacancy No VN710

Employee Type

Employee Type Full-time

Location City

Education Level Bachelor's Degree

Experience Level

Experience Level 7 years

ATI builds and manages collaborations that conducts research and development of new technologies to solve our nation’s most pressing challenges. Our collaborations are custom-built teams of organizations from industry and academia that develop novel technologies for the federal government. Traditionally, these processes are complicated and burdensome. That’s where ATI comes in. We simplify and streamline processes to make it all work. When you work at ATI, you become a part of something larger than yourself. Our collective work – no matter what department or division you work in – ultimately enables the warfighter, saves lives, and diversifies the industrial base. At our core, ATI is a service organization. We are in service to others; it’s what we do, and it’s who we are.

Position Description:

The Senior AI Architect/Lead Engineer will serve as the organization's senior technical leader for AI, responsible for the AI capability stack, setting the standards that govern how AI solutions are built, and translating strategic priorities into a credible, phased delivery plan. This is a hands‑on role, as the AI Engineering lead, they will prototype and build solutions, evaluate tooling, and directly shape how AI is built and delivered. This person must be as comfortable presenting architecture decisions to non‑technical leadership as they are working alongside engineers. This role works in close partnership with the AI Transformation Lead to facilitate a clear handoff, and an agreed collaboration cadence between the technical and adoption tracks.

This position offers a hybrid schedule (in-office & remote/work from home) or an onsite schedule and flexible hours. Candidates will need to reside near Summerville, SC to ensure work site flexibility.

Essential Functions:

AI Architecture

• Provide guidance on architectural direction for the AI capability stack on Microsoft Azure, including data flow patterns, integration approach, and selection of appropriate AI services in partnership with technical leadership
• Work with Technical Leadership to make and document build vs. buy decisions, including evaluation of existing vendor relationships and third‑party AI capabilities
• Ensure compliance requirements, including FedRAMP, are identified early and designed in, engaging internal and vendor resources where deeper expertise is needed
• Provide guidance on AI standards covering solution design, testing, documentation, and handoff practices
• Evaluate the AskSage and Copilot deployments and advise on the role within the broader AI stack
• Advise on data architecture patterns appropriate for AI workloads, including retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), document ingestion pipelines, and knowledge retrieval

Delivery & Mentorship

• Build working prototypes of prioritized AI capabilities to validate feasibility and demonstrate technical direction
• Evaluate the current AI capabilities and recommend a plan to grow capabilities through training or augmentation
• Work with internal and external team members to determine the best delivery strategy
• Establish a working relationship with the AI Transformation Lead, including clear handoffs and an agreed collaboration rhythm

Core Technical Requirements

LLM Application Development

• Hands‑on experience building production LLM‑based applications, including prompt engineering, retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), and document processing pipelines
• Experience with knowledge retrieval systems using vector search and semantic indexing
• Experience with intelligent document processing, including OCR, document classification, and structured data extraction from unstructured sources
• Practical understanding of when LLM‑based approaches are the right solution and when simpler methods are more appropriate and the ability to make that case clearly

Microsoft Azure

• Hands‑on experience with Azure AI Services: Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, Azure Document Intelligence, and Azure Cognitive Services
• Working knowledge of Azure data and compute infrastructure relevant to AI workloads: Azure Blob Storage, Azure Data Lake, Azure Functions, and Azure Container Apps
• Experience with Azure DevOps for solution delivery and Azure AI Studio for model management and deployment

Compliance & Regulated Environments

• Demonstrated experience designing AI solutions for FedRAMP‑compliant or similarly regulated environments
• Ability to translate compliance requirements into concrete architecture decisions and communicate them clearly to non‑technical stakeholders

Software Engineering Fundamentals

• Proficiency in Python for AI application development
• Experience designing APIs that expose AI capabilities to downstream applications
• Familiarity with C# or TypeScript in Azure/.NET environments is a plus

Additional Responsibilities:

• Agentic workflow design, including multi‑step orchestration using frameworks such as LangChain, Semantic Kernel, or AutoGen
• LLMOps practices including prompt versioning, output observability, and evaluation frameworks
• Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure‑as‑code (Terraform, Bicep)
• Microsoft Power Platform (Power Automate, Copilot Studio) as a delivery layer for workflow automation
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) or equivalent standards for connecting AI models to organizational data and tools

Qualifications:

Required

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, solutions architecture, or a related technical field, with at least 3 years focused on AI or machine learning systems
• Demonstrated track record of designing and delivering AI solutions in production — not just prototypes or proofs of concept
• Experience setting technical direction for small engineering teams, including standards, patterns, and review practices
• Hands‑on experience with Microsoft Azure, particularly Azure AI Services and Azure OpenAI
• Strong communication skills, able to translate complex technical decisions for non‑technical audiences and build confidence with leadership teams that are new to AI
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, software engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred but not required where equivalent experience is demonstrated
• Employee must be a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization, or a green card lawful U.S. permanent resident, or a political asylum in the U.S. Individual must meet the definition of “a U.S. person” upon hire due to the risk assessment of this position.
• This position is subject to a background check that includes a review of criminal records. In reviewing an applicant’s criminal history, the company will consider prior criminal convictions that have a relationship to the job duties and responsibilities of the position. The company considers the nature of the crime, the time that has elapsed since the crime and the job duties for the position at issue in making an individualized determination. Individuals may be excluded when the company determines, based on the above factors, that hiring, transferring or promoting the applicant would pose an unreasonable risk to the business, its employees or its customers and vendors.

Preferred

• Experience in a government contracting, regulated services, or similarly compliance-driven environment
• Familiarity with FedRAMP requirements and their architectural implications
• Prior experience evaluating and onboarding AI vendors or managing outsourced delivery relationships
• Microsoft Azure certifications (e.g., Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure AI Engineer Associate)

Physical Requirements:

• Regular physical activity to include walking, bending, stooping, reaching, standing and prolonged sitting.
• Ability to speak, read, hear, and write, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Ability to use phone and computer systems, copier, fax, and other office equipment.
• Must be able to occasionally move/lift up to 25 pounds with or without reasonable accommodation.

Work Environment:

This position is located in an air‑conditioned, environmentally controlled atmosphere. Noise level in the work environment is usually moderate and the distraction level in the work environment is often heavy.

ATI is an Equal Opportunity Employer of Minorities, Females, Protected Veterans, and Individual with Disabilities.

ATI complies with the Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination provision mandated by Executive Order 13665.

Anticipated starting salary is in range commensurate with education and experience:

$145,000 - $200,000

Benefits

Benefits ATI has been named "Best Places to Work in SC" from 2017 - 2026.

• ATI provides Medical, Dental and Vision Plan options
• Flexible Spending Accounts, including health and dependent care accounts
• 403B Retirement Savings plan with a very competitive company contribution
• Personal time‑off (pre‑loaded & accrued) plus 12 paid holiday‑days
• Life Insurance paid by ATI
• Paid Parental Leave
• Short‑Term & Long‑Term Disability Coverage paid by ATI
• Employee Assistance Program
• Tuition Reimbursement Program
• Flexible work schedules

ATI's standard business hours are Monday-Friday, between 8 AM - 5 PM.