Senior AI Engineer (f/m/x)

Lever, Inc.; Germany (OH); Remote; USD 136,000 - 181,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote-first environment

Vienna office option

Flexible hours

Learning budget

Mental wellbeing sessions

Office weeks three times per year

High-impact AI projects

Ownership culture

Job summary

Lever, Inc. is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to build and operate backend systems for internal AI tools. You will deploy secure, scalable AI services and drive governance and standard tooling across the organisation.

You will own AI capabilities, with autonomy in a remote-first environment across Europe, including the UK, focusing on production-grade AI/LLM solutions and pragmatic architecture decisions.

Qualifications

• Significant senior-level experience building and operating production backend systems using Go, Python, or a similar language.
• Hands-on experience building AI- or LLM-powered applications for production use.
• Security-conscious engineering mindset with identity, access control, secrets, and data handling.
• Familiarity with AI development tools and ecosystems like Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, deploy, and operate reliable backend services, APIs, and integrations for internal AI applications.
• Develop secure deployment pathways that allow non-engineering teams to launch internal AI tools with guardrails.
• Build shared AI capabilities including reusable skills, plugins, and agent workflows.
• Define technical direction and governance for the internal AI platform.
• Establish and improve technical standards, runtimes, and deployment practices for internal AI development.
• Partner with leadership to translate AI strategy into scalable technical solutions.

Skills

Go

Python

AI/LLM apps

Security mindset

Observability

Tools

Claude Code

Codex

Cursor

GCP

Job description

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior AI Engineer (f/m/x) based in Germany.

This is a senior backend engineering role focused on building the internal AI infrastructure that enables an organisation to become truly AI-native.
You’ll take AI-powered tools from early prototypes through secure, reliable, and scalable production deployment.
The role combines backend engineering, AI/LLM applications, platform development, security, and internal product enablement.
You’ll work closely with senior technology leadership and engineering teams to assess opportunities, shape priorities, and deliver high-impact solutions.
A major part of the role involves creating reusable AI capabilities, governance frameworks, deployment pathways, and tools that can be adopted across the organisation.
You’ll have substantial autonomy and ownership in a remote-first, high-performance environment where decisions are driven by impact, experimentation, and strong technical judgment.
The position is open to candidates across Europe, including the UK, who have the right to work.

Accountabilities:

• Design, build, deploy, and operate reliable backend services, APIs, and integrations supporting internal AI applications and workflows.

• Develop secure and supported deployment pathways that allow non-engineering teams to launch internal AI tools with appropriate guardrails.

• Build shared AI capabilities, including reusable skills, plugins, MCP connectors, agent workflows, and a central registry covering internal tools, ownership, and costs.

• Develop company-wide AI services and standard tooling that help employees adopt AI effectively in their day-to-day work.

• Evaluate architecture, AI models, platforms, integrations, and build-versus-buy options using pragmatic technical and product judgment.

• Help define the technical direction, architecture, and scope of the internal AI platform.

• Establish risk-based review processes for internally developed AI applications and translate governance requirements into practical technical controls.

• Implement security safeguards covering identity, access control, sandboxing, model usage, secrets, and data handling.

• Move business-critical AI automations from individual machines and unsupported environments into reliable, maintainable infrastructure.

• Establish and continuously improve technical standards, runtimes, deployment practices, and engineering best practices for internal AI development.

• Partner with technology leadership and core engineering teams to turn AI strategy into scalable technical solutions.

• Drive adoption through demonstrations, documentation, integration support, and collaboration with departmental AI champions.

• Help teams overcome technical blockers and turn AI ideas into safe, maintainable, production-ready solutions.

• Maintain clear documentation so systems can be operated, maintained, and extended by other team members.

• Monitor developments in AI models, tools, coding assistants, and engineering practices, translating relevant advances into practical business opportunities.

Requirements:

• Significant senior-level experience building and operating production backend systems using Go, Python, or a similar programming language.

• Demonstrated experience owning services end to end, including architecture, deployment, secrets management, monitoring, reliability, and ongoing operations.

• Hands-on experience building AI- or LLM-powered applications for production use, with an understanding of model integration, evaluation, observability, and production failure handling.

• Familiarity with modern AI development tools and ecosystems, including AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor.

• Understanding of emerging AI engineering concepts such as reusable skills, plugins, MCP integrations, agent workflows, and agent orchestration.

• Strong ability to evaluate technical options pragmatically and make sound decisions around architecture, model selection, integrations, and build-versus-buy.

• Excellent technical and product judgment, including the ability to simplify initiatives, challenge assumptions, or recommend against building when appropriate.

• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with non-technical stakeholders and treat internal users as customers.

• A security-conscious engineering mindset, with an understanding of identity, access control, secrets, data exposure, and secure system design.

• Strong ownership, autonomy, curiosity, and willingness to experiment, learn from failure, and continuously improve.

• Google Cloud Platform experience is a plus.

• Strong Go experience, or strong Python experience combined with an interest in working with Go, is advantageous.

• Experience with product discovery, corporate IT, identity and access management, or application security is a plus.

• Experience supporting an organisation through an AI transformation is advantageous.

• Candidates must be based in Europe, including the UK, and have a valid right to work.

Benefits:

• Fully remote-first working environment with the flexibility to work from your preferred location.

• Option to work from a well-equipped office in Vienna, including a dog-friendly environment.

• Flexible working hours and autonomy to organise your schedule around your work and personal commitments.

• Dedicated learning budget to support courses, conferences, and other professional development opportunities.

• Access to private sessions with experts supporting personal growth and mental wellbeing.

• Regular internal workshops focused on skills development, knowledge sharing, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Company-wide office weeks held three times per year, combining in-person collaboration, workshops, and team-building activities.

• Opportunity to work on high-impact AI initiatives and help shape the organisation’s transition toward becoming AI-native.

• Culture focused on ownership, open feedback, experimentation, knowledge sharing, and fact-based decision-making.

• Inclusive and collaborative international working environment.

• Opportunity to take on significant technical ownership while working closely with senior technology leadership and engineering teams.