Senior AI Cloud Engineer

Arizona State University; Scottsdale (AZ); On-site; USD 140,000 - 168,000; Full time

Job summary

Arizona State University is seeking a Senior Software Engineer, MCP / Full-Stack AI Platform Engineer to join the AI Acceleration Team. This hands-on role designs and builds MCP servers, full-stack AI-enabled applications, and AWS infrastructure to support secure, scalable AI tools across the university.

You will bridge architecture and implementation, working across backend, frontend, cloud, and security, with a focus on governance and responsible AI in a large, mission-driven environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and seven (7) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field.
• Or any equivalent combination of experience and training.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, deploy, and maintain production-grade MCP servers and clients.
• Develop reusable MCP templates, SDK wrappers, reference services, and starter patterns for ASU engineering teams.
• Integrate MCP-enabled services with CreateAI and other ASU AI applications.
• Track the evolving MCP specification and recommend updates to ASU implementation patterns.
• Evaluate emerging agentic interoperability standards beyond MCP and advise on practical adoption.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Job Profile

Applications Developer 4

Job Family

IT Applications

Time Type

Full time

Apply before 11:59 PM Arizona time the day before the posted End Date.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree and seven (7) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience and/or training from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

Job Description

Arizona State University is seeking a Senior Software Engineer, MCP / Full-Stack AI Platform Engineer to join the AI Acceleration Team within Enterprise Technology. This role will help design, build, and scale the technical infrastructure that enables ASU's next generation of AI-powered learning, research, and operational tools. The engineer will focus on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which connects AI applications to external tools, data sources, workflows, and enterprise systems in a secure, governed way. The successful candidate will serve as a senior technical contributor and architecture partner for ASU's AI platform ecosystem, including CreateAI, ASU's secure, model-agnostic AI platform. This person will build production-grade MCP servers, full-stack AI-enabled applications, APIs, AWS infrastructure, data integrations, and reusable patterns that help ASU safely connect AI systems to university services. This is a hands‑on engineering role for someone who is comfortable moving between architecture, backend development, frontend development, cloud infrastructure, security design, and stakeholder collaboration. The ideal candidate is technically deep, product-minded, mission-driven, and excited to help ASU build tools for the future of learning. The AI Acceleration Team is responsible for helping ASU build, govern, and scale responsible AI capabilities across the institution. This role will help the team in building secure, agentic, tool‑connected AI systems that can support meaningful university workflows.

The team supports ASU's AI strategy by:

• Building and maintaining secure AI infrastructure and platforms, including CreateAI
• Developing AI‑powered tools that support learners, faculty, researchers, and staff
• Creating reusable patterns for responsible AI development
• Supporting enterprise integrations between AI systems and university data/services
• Partnering across ASU to build culture, literacy, trust, and responsible adoption around AI
• Advancing ASU's vision for the future of learning through personalized, ethical, and accessible AI experiences

Salary Range

$140,000- $168,100/ Depends on Experience

Essential Duties

MCP Platform Engineering

• Design, build, deploy, and maintain production‑grade MCP servers and clients.
• Implement MCP capabilities that allow AI applications to securely access approved tools, resources, prompts, and enterprise data.
• Develop reusable MCP templates, SDK wrappers, reference services, and starter patterns for ASU engineering teams.
• Integrate MCP‑enabled services with CreateAI and other ASU AI applications.
• Track the evolving MCP specification and recommend updates to ASU implementation patterns.
• Evaluate emerging agentic interoperability standards beyond MCP and advise on practical adoption.

Full‑Stack AI Application Development

• Build full‑stack applications and platform features that support AI‑enabled workflows.
• Develop backend services, REST APIs, serverless functions, frontend interfaces, and integration layers.
• Work with modern JavaScript/TypeScript frameworks such as React or Next.js.
• Develop backend services in Python, Node.js, or comparable languages.
• Implement secure user experiences that make complex AI capabilities accessible to non‑technical users.
• Rapidly prototype AI‑driven experiences, validate usability, and mature successful prototypes into reliable production systems.

AWS Cloud Architecture and Infrastructure

• Design and implement AWS-native services using technologies such as:
  • Lambda
  • API Gateway
  • S3
  • DynamoDB
  • CloudFront
  • SQS/SNS
  • EventBridge
  • CloudWatch
  • Secrets Manager
  • OpenSearch
  • Bedrock
• Build infrastructure‑as‑code using Terraform or comparable tools.
• Design scalable, resilient, cost‑conscious cloud architectures.
• Implement deployment pipelines, CI/CD workflows, automated testing, and operational monitoring.
• Troubleshoot performance, reliability, security, and cost issues in production systems.

Security, Governance, and Responsible AI

• Partner with security and operations teams to define guardrails for MCP and AI integrations.
• Help assess risks such as:
  • Prompt injection
  • Tool poisoning
  • Data exfiltration
  • Over‑permissioned tools
  • Supply‑chain vulnerabilities
  • Insecure third‑party MCP servers
  • Sensitive data exposure
• Implement authentication and authorization using OAuth, OIDC, JWTs, scopes, service roles, and secrets management.
• Ensure AI integrations follow ASU expectations for privacy, FERPA‑aware design, responsible innovation, and human‑centered impact.
• Build logging, auditing, and usage analytics into MCP and AI services.
• Contribute to integration review processes and technical approval criteria.

Desired Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience designing, building, or operating MCP servers, MCP clients, AI tools, or agentic AI integrations.
• Strong understanding of the Model Context Protocol, including tools, resources, prompts, transports, and security considerations.
• Experience with retrieval‑augmented generation, embeddings, vector search, prompt engineering, evaluation, and agentic workflows.
• Familiarity with AI safety, responsible AI practices, model evaluation, and governance.
• Experience with Node.js and modern frontend frameworks such as React
• Experience designing RESTful APIs, event‑driven services, and microservice‑style architectures.
• Experience with AWS cloud services, especially serverless architectures (AWS Lambda, API Gateway, S3, DynamoDB, IAM, CloudWatch, CloudFront, SQS)
• Strong background in API security, authentication, authorization, and secrets management, including OAuth, OIDC, and JWT.
• Experience supporting security reviews, incident response, threat modeling, or integration approval processes.
• Ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Strong written communication, documentation, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to model empathy, compassion, and emotional intelligence.
• Experience in a values‑driven organization with a strong commitment to inclusion and belonging.
• Ability to cultivate a psychologically safe environment where all team members can thrive.
• Capacity to inspire and drive meaningful change in individual, institutional, and corporate behaviors to support a more sustainable environment.
• Commitment to leading by example through effective communication, active participation, and advocacy for the institution's sustainability programs.

Working Environment

• Activities are primarily performed in an environmentally controlled office or hybrid work setting.
• Work requires regular use of a computer, keyboard, mouse, video conferencing, and collaboration tools.
• Role may require extended periods of sitting and focused technical work.
• Regular communication with team members, stakeholders, and university partners is required.
• Responsibilities may require changing priorities quickly, responding to production issues, and resolving ambiguity across teams.

Department Statement

Enterprise Technology (ET) embraces its role as both an enabler and catalyst for advancing the vision and work of the New American University. We are a values-driven organization. Our commitments are reflected in all of the work we do in pursuit of operational excellence, the experience and delight of our community, and our strategic and innovation initiatives. Applicants must be eligible to work in the United States.

Join the team that sparks human‑centered innovation

ET is a rapidly reconfigurable and entrepreneurial organization at ASU that prioritizes and executes to meet the needs of our community of learners, faculty, researchers and staff. Our work emphasizes autonomy, flexibility and distributed decision‑making to leverage the strengths of individuals. Together, we embrace a culture that nurtures, engages and embraces many voices with a shared lens of positive community impact and expanded opportunities for collaboration.

Why join us?

Mission oriented. Everything we do is to advance ASU's charter -- measuring who we include and how they succeed. We are staunch champions of learner success and put people first.

Flexibility. Our flexible work environment allows employees to explore opportunities with their supervisor beyond the traditional work schedule. Opportunities include hybrid work where staff are in person three days per week.

Culture forward. We embrace a Positive Core culture: Belonging, Relational, Authentic, Visionary and Empowered.

Scale of impact. Our work changes the world. With 200k+ learners, faculty, researchers and staff, working with ET means you have the capacity to improve many lives and entire communities.

World‑class, low cost education. Our professional development is built in! ET encourages staff to seek additional certificates and degrees via ASU's top ranked programs with major tuition breaks.

Exposure to industry giants. ET partners with Amazon, Apple, Arista, Cox, Verizon, Salesforce, Alteryx and a diversity of technology companies to enhance our innovations and deepen their impact.

Driving Requirement

Driving is not required for this position.

Location

Off‑Campus: Scottsdale

Funding

No Federal Funding

Graduate Assistant, Intern and part‑time positions are counted as half time for experience equivalency, meaning one year equals six months of experience.

ASU Statement

Arizona State University is a new model for American higher education, an unprecedented combination of academic excellence, entrepreneurial energy and broad access. This New American University is a single, unified institution comprising four differentiated campuses positively impacting the economic, social, cultural and environmental health of the communities it serves. Its research is inspired by real world application blurring the boundaries that traditionally separate academic disciplines. ASU serves more than 100,000 students in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, the nation's fifth largest city. ASU champions inclusive excellence, and welcomes students from all fifty states and more than one hundred nations across the globe.

ASU is a tobacco‑free university. For details visit https://wellness.asu.edu/explore-wellness/body/alcohol-and-drugs/tobacco

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.

Notice of Availability of the ASU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report

In compliance with federal law, ASU prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and resources. ASU's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://www.asu.edu/police/PDFs/ASU-Clery-Report.pdf. You may request a hard copy of the report by contacting the ASU Police Department at 480-965-3456.

Relocation Assistance

For information about schools, housing child resources, neighborhoods, hospitals, community events, and taxes, visit https://cfo.asu.edu/az-resources.

Employment Verification Statement

ASU conducts pre‑employment screening which may include verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications.

Background Check Statement

ASU conducts pre‑employment screening for all positions which includes a criminal background check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications. Employment is contingent upon successful passing of the background check.

Fingerprint Check Statement

This position is considered safety/security sensitive and will include a fingerprint check. Employment is contingent upon successful passing of the fingerprint check.