Senior AI Engineer

Akaasa Technologies; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Akaasa Technologies in Chicago seeks a senior engineer with AI experience to solve business problems using AI and to lead cross-functional efforts. You will help design prototypes, engage with business partners, and drive solutions that scale.

The role emphasizes prompt engineering, RAG pipelines, and collaboration with underwriters to gather requirements, with an emphasis on producing production-ready tools in a team setting.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering, systems design, or technical prototyping.
• 2+ years hands-on experience building AI-augmented tools, RAG pipelines, or prompt-based systems.
• Fluent with Claude Code (preferred) or Cursor or Copilot to accelerate delivery cycles.
• Background in Insurance or Financial Services is highly preferred; underwriting exposure is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement AI prototypes with prompt engineering, embeddings, and RAG architectures.
• Engage daily with business partners and underwriters to elicit requirements and translate into technical solutions.
• Build functional prototypes with velocity, aiming to production readiness within a cross-functional pod.
• Collaborate with Tech Leads, Architects, and stakeholders in an Agile setting.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to pod members to ensure quality and delivery standards.

Skills

AI prompt engineering

Soft skills

Customer engagement

Cross-functional collaboration

Prototype development

Leadership & mentorship

Business stakeholder communication

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

CoPilot

Python

Job description

MUST- Sr level Engineer with AI exp

How do use AI to solve a business problem?

• Familiar with Claude code or Cursor
• MUSt have Java development experience
• Engaging daily with business partners
• MUST- People person- Soft skills, communication and ability to gel well, ability to connect with people, bring enthusiasm

They will be lots of questions in the interview about how approach, how engage the customer? Customer engagement is critical, and soft skills are key.

• MUST- Prompt Engineering
• Work with underwriters to get reqs and use Claude code to build solutions
• MUST be very personable, polished and speak well, ability to build relationships and work with others in a small group setting
• They are very cross functional and need to adapt to the business
• They are building prototypes now and goal is to go to production within another team
• Help build prototypes, understand the model Gemini gives them
• Using embeddings, Prompt engineering within the PODS

Experience & Qualifications

Overall Career: 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering, systems design, or technical prototyping.

AI Prototyping & Frameworks: 2+ years of hands‑on experience building AI‑augmented tools, Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines, or prompt‑based systems.

AI‑Assisted Tooling Literacy: Demonstrated fluency using advanced LLM‑based engineering ecosystems (such as Claude Code (preferred) or Cursor or CoPilot) to drastically accelerate software delivery cycles.

Domain Expertise: Prior background in the Insurance or Financial Services sector is highly preferred; direct exposure to underwriting processes is a massive advantage.

Required Skills

AI‑Native Engineering: Expert capability in prompt engineering, context window management, and designing robust RAG (Retrieval‑Augmented Generation) architectures.

Consultative Communication: Exceptional soft skills with a proven track record of collaborating directly with non‑technical business stakeholders daily to uncover technical needs.

Agile Prototyping Mindset: A strong bias for action and velocity. Ability to build functional, adaptable prototypes and portals within a 3 6 month lifecycle without getting bogged down by tech-stack rigidity.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration: A true team player comfortable operating within active Agile pods alongside Tech Leads, Architects, and business partners.

Team Leadership & Mentorship: Proven ability to provide technical guidance, mentorship, and oversight to fellow pod members. Must possess the leadership capacity to foster collaboration, elevate the team's technical execution, and ensure all deliverables meet the highest standards of quality and efficiency.

Technical Versatility: While Python is highly valued for modular AI development, we prioritize a tech‑agnostic ability to choose and utilize the right tool or framework to bring an AI concept to life quickly.