Senior AI Systems Engineer

Archer; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Archer, an aerospace company based in San Jose, California, is hiring a Senior AI Systems Engineer to design, deploy, and manage the infrastructure for large-scale AI model training and inference.

You will collaborate with AI researchers and software engineers to productionize models, optimize compute across multi-cloud environments, and implement MLflow, vLLM, and other tools to ensure robust, low-latency AI systems.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field.
• 3+ years of professional software engineering focusing on AI/ML systems, HPC, or ML infrastructure.
• Experience with AWS and specialized AI clouds; multi-cloud compute management.
• Hands-on containerization with Docker and Kubernetes; SkyPilot for multi-region GPU.
• Deep understanding of LLMs and serving at scale (vLLM, SGLang).
• Data pipelines for ML: SQL, NoSQL, Parquet.

Responsibilities

• Infrastructure & Orchestration: Deploy, scale, and manage resilient infrastructure services tailored for distributed AI model training and low-latency inference.
• Maturity & MLOps: Utilize and maintain end-to-end tooling - including MLflow for experiment tracking and model registry.
• Compute & Inference Optimization: Leverage specialized frameworks to maximize hardware utilization, managing multi-cloud compute scheduling alongside advanced LLM serving engines.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with AI researchers and Software Engineers to productionize cutting-edge models, establish monitoring systems, and debug complex performance bottlenecks at the hardware-software interface.

Skills

AI/ML systems

HPC

Multi-Cloud Compute Management

Containerization

LLM Serving

Data Engineering

SQL/NoSQL/Parquet

Education

BS/MS/PhD in CS/SE/related

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

SkyPilot

vLLM

SGLang

MLflow

Nebius AI Cloud

AWS

Job description

Archer is an aerospace company based in San Jose, California building an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with a mission to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility. We are designing, manufacturing, and operating an all-electric aircraft that can carry four passengers while producing minimal noise.

Our sights are set high and our problems are hard, and we believe that diversity in the workplace is what makes us smarter, drives better insights, and will ultimately lift us all to success. We are dedicated to cultivating an equitable and inclusive environment that embraces our differences, and supports and celebrates all of our team members.

What You’ll Do

As a Senior AI Systems Engineer, you will architect, deploy, and manage the critical infrastructure services required for large-scale AI model training and inference. You will ensure our machine learning platforms are robust and efficient, bridging the gap between raw data and high-performance AI models.

• Infrastructure & Orchestration: Deploy, scale, and manage resilient infrastructure services tailored for distributed AI model training and low-latency inference.
• Maturity & MLOps: Utilize and maintain end-to-end tooling - including MLflow for experiment tracking and model registry to streamline and optimize the AI development lifecycle.
• Compute & Inference Optimization: Leverage specialized frameworks to maximize hardware utilization, managing multi-cloud compute scheduling alongside advanced LLM serving engines.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with AI researchers and Software Engineers to productionize cutting-edge models, establish monitoring systems, and debug complex performance bottlenecks at the hardware-software interface.

What You Need

• Education: BS/MS/PhD degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience: 3+ years of professional software engineering experience with a dedicated focus on AI/ML systems, high-performance computing (HPC), or ML infrastructure.
• Multi-Cloud & Compute Management: Familiarity with hyper-scaler infrastructure (AWS) alongside specialized AI-centric bare-metal and GPU clouds (Nebius AI Cloud).
• Cloud-Native Orchestration & Abstraction: Hands-on experience with containerization (Docker) and production-grade orchestration (Kubernetes), paired with cloud-agnostic cluster abstractors like SkyPilot to manage multi-region GPU availability.
• LLM Serving Optimization: Deep architectural understanding of large language models and the system infrastructure required to serve them at scale using frameworks like vLLM and SGLang.
• Data Engineering for AI: Experience building high-throughput data pipelines to support large-scale training, including proficiency in SQL, NoSQL, and columnar storage formats optimized for ML (e.g., Parquet).

Bonus Qualifications

• Familiarity with audio processing, speech-to-text frameworks, or Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) pipelines.
• Prior experience or a deep technical interest in aerospace, aviation, or autonomous systems (e.g., safety-critical software, edge-AI deployments).

Please note that this job description is intended to provide a general overview of the position and does not include an exhaustive list of responsibilities and qualifications.

At Archer we aim to attract, retain, and motivate talent that possess the skills and leadership necessary to grow our business. We drive a pay-for-performance culture and reward performance that supports the Company’s business strategy.

For this position we are targeting a base pay between $160,000.00 - $180,000.00 Actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Archer is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. All aspects of employment are decided on the basis of merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Archer is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. All aspects of employment are decided on the basis of merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Archer is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to job applicants with physical or mental disabilities, and those with sincerely held religious beliefs. Applicants who may require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should provide their name and contact information to Archer’s People Team at .

Information collected and processed as part of any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Archer's Candidate Privacy Policy.

Archer is unable to provide work visa sponsorship for this position at the present time.

Archer Aviation does not engage with external recruiting agencies/individual recruiters with whom it does not have a prior written agreement. Archer reserves the right to make use of any unsolicited resumes that it receives and bears no responsibility for payment of any fees asserted from the use of unsolicited resumes. If you are a recruiting agency or individual recruiter wishing to do business with Archer, please reach out to . All employment processes are managed by the Archer People Team.