Senior AI/ML Engineer

Katalyst Data Management; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Katalyst Data Management (KDM) seeks a Senior AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and operate production AI/ML infrastructure for AI-enabled data solutions. You will lead architecture, deliver production-ready AI capabilities, and work with a small, fast-moving team across Houston, Calgary, or Rio de Janeiro.

The role emphasizes practical deployment, scalability, and security to serve global energy clients. Hybrid schedule and full-time employment are offered with cross-border collaboration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years software engineering, 3+ years on ML/AI-enabled production systems.
• Experience designing and supporting end-to-end services (APIs, data pipelines, model integration).
• Experience delivering search or information retrieval features, including full-text search and performance optimization.
• Cloud experience with containerized services and CI/CD practices.
• Strong English communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Operate, scale, and optimize production GPU environments for AI workloads.
• Lead design and implementation of production AI/ML services for intelligent search, retrieval, and NLP interfaces.
• Own architecture for core platform components, balancing reliability, cost, security, and speed.
• Build and optimize retrieval systems using relational DBs and search platforms like Elasticsearch/OpenSearch.
• Develop RAG-style pipelines including embeddings and vector search.
• Integrate LLM APIs and agentic tooling into end-to-end applications with guardrails.
• Support deployment, observability, incident response, and CI/CD across on-prem and cloud.
• Collaborate with product, data, and domain experts to translate problems into technical plans.

Skills

Python

Node.js

SQL

Elasticsearch/OpenSearch

LLM APIs

Cloud environments

CI/CD

English communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Data Science, or related field

Tools

AWS/GCP/Azure

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Houston, TX, US

2 days ago Requisition ID: 1090

Join the dynamic and collaborative team at Katalyst Data Management (KDM)! KDM is seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer to help design, build, and operate the infrastructure that powers our next generation of AI-enabled data solutions. This is an exciting opportunity for a hands‑on technical leader who can scale production AI/ML systems, optimize GPU and cloud environments, and deliver reliable, secure platforms that support innovation for global energy clients. Qualified candidates will bring strong engineering judgment, practical AI/ML deployment experience, and the ability to turn complex technical requirements into production‑ready solutions.

• Position Located in Houston, TX USA; Calgary, AB Canada; or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday
• Full-Time position
• Hybrid Schedule Availability

The Company

Katalyst Data Management (KDM) is a global leader in subsurface data management solutions for the energy industry. For over 30 years, we have helped oil and gas companies, national governments, and energy organizations maximize the value of their data through secure storage, quality management, digital delivery, and online data marketing services. Our industry‑leading iGlass™ platform provides customers with reliable, secure, 24/7 access to critical subsurface information, supported by robust system redundancy and data protection controls. Through innovation, technical expertise, and exceptional customer service, KDM continues to deliver trusted solutions to clients around the world.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Katalyst Data Management is seeking a Senior AI/ML Engineer to serve as a technical lead for segments of our AI innovation platform. This is a hands‑on, high‑impact role where you will own architecture and day‑to‑day development for AI projects that move from prototype to production.

You will work directly with the Director of Innovation and a small, high‑velocity team to build, ship, and iterate AI capabilities that deliver real value to leading oil and gas clients worldwide. This is not a research‑only role; it requires sound architectural judgment, practical execution, and the ability to deliver production‑ready solutions in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.

The position may be based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Houston, Texas; or Calgary, Alberta. We value adaptability and intellectual curiosity over mastery of any single technology stack, and we are especially interested in candidates who have repeatedly learned new tools quickly, made thoughtful technical decisions under uncertainty, and shipped AI/ML solutions that work in production.

Key Responsibilities:

• Operate, scale, and optimize production GPU environments supporting AI workloads, including inference/model serving, OCR and vision models, embeddings, and large‑scale document ingestion.
• Lead the design and implementation of production AI/ML services that support intelligent search, classification, retrieval, and natural language interfaces for subsurface and E&P data.
• Own technical architecture for core platform components, including retrieval systems, orchestration, model serving, and data pipelines, while balancing reliability, cost, security, and delivery speed.
• Build, maintain, and optimize retrieval systems using relational databases, full‑text search, and search or analytics platforms such as Elasticsearch/OpenSearch.
• Develop and maintain RAG‑style pipelines, including embeddings, vector search, hybrid retrieval, reranking, grounding, and evaluation against real customer workflows.
• Integrate LLM APIs and agentic tooling into end‑to‑end applications, including prompt design, tool/function calling, evaluation, and production guardrails.
• Support deployment, observability, alerting, incident response, and CI/CD practices across on‑premises and cloud environments.
• Partner with product leaders, business stakeholders, data experts, and domain specialists to translate ambiguous problems into clear technical plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
• Establish and uphold engineering standards for code review, testing, documentation, design reviews, and operational excellence.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to engineers as the platform evolves.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 3+ years building and operating ML/AI‑enabled applications in production.
• Demonstrated experience designing and supporting end‑to‑end services, including APIs, data pipelines, model integration, observability, deployment, and operations.
• Hands‑on experience delivering search or information retrieval features, including full‑text search, ranking/relevance, indexing strategy, and performance optimization.
• Experience working in cloud environments and shipping containerized services using CI/CD practices.
• Strong English communication skills, both oral and written, are required.

Skills Required:

• Strong programming skills in Python preferred and/or Node.js, including writing clean, testable code and reviewing others’ code.
• Strong SQL and relational database experience, including advanced querying, schema design awareness, full‑text search, and performance tuning.
• Experience with search and analytics platforms such as Elasticsearch/OpenSearch or equivalent.
• Practical experience integrating LLM APIs into applications, including prompting patterns, tool/function calling, basic evaluation, and production guardrails.
• Comfort working with modern AI development workflows, including agentic coding tools such as Claude Code or Codex to accelerate delivery while maintaining quality.
• Working knowledge of cloud services and security fundamentals, including IAM concepts, secrets management, and network boundaries.
• Strong English communication skills, both oral and written, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Ability to translate ambiguous business needs into clear technical plans, trade‑offs, and deliverables.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills

• Oil and gas industry experience or domain knowledge, including well data, seismic data, or regulatory documents.
• Experience with GPU‑accelerated workloads and the NVIDIA ecosystem.
• Background in OCR pipelines and large‑scale document processing.
• Familiarity with vision‑language models for document understanding.
• Experience with agent‑to‑agent or multi‑agent AI system patterns.
• Patent, publication, or conference presentation experience in ML/AI.

This role is based in a professional office setting with routine use of computers and collaboration tools. Work is highly technical and team‑oriented, involving close coordination with Cloud, Infrastructure, and Software Engineering teams. The environment emphasizes automation, scalability, and security, with frequent virtual meetings and occasional cross‑functional project work.

Physical Demands:

This is primarily a sedentary role, involving extended periods of computer work. Occasional tasks may include setting up equipment, organizing supplies, or preparing meeting spaces, which could require light lifting, bending, or standing as needed.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work:

This is a full‑time position. As a full‑time position, the Senior AI/ML Engineer is eligible to participate in benefits coverage offered to Katalyst employees based on geographical location.

Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with occasional extended hours to support deployments or maintain service continuity

Travel:

Minimal travel may be required for on‑premises infrastructure support, implementation, or occasional team collaboration. If participation in an offsite meeting is requested, all related travel expenses will be covered or reimbursed, in accordance with the company’s policies and local regulations.