Senior Forward Deployed AI Engineer - Vice President

Citigroup Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 142,000 - 213,000; Full time

Job summary

Citigroup Inc. in New York is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer to design and implement production-grade agent reasoning loops and resilient execution pipelines embedded with enterprise systems.

You will own the full engineering lifecycle from architecture to deployment, collaborating with business and technology teams to deliver scalable AI-powered solutions. You will work with LLM APIs, build MCP servers, ensure robust error handling, and contribute to automated tests and deployment

Qualifications

• 6+ years of software engineering experience with Python
• Hands-on with LLM APIs and enterprise integration
• Experience REST/gRPC, Docker, Git, Linux, CI/CD
• Understanding of prompt engineering and JSON output validation
• Experience in agile squads

Responsibilities

• Writes production-quality agent reasoning logic and sub-agent workflows in Python
• Develops MCP servers connecting AI agents to enterprise systems
• Implements resilient error handling, retries, HITL escalation
• Integrates guardrails for prompt-injection defense and PII filtering
• Collaborates with engineers to build regression testbeds and deployment harnesses
• Mentors junior developers and participates in sprint delivery and code reviews
• Adheres to Citi policies and compliance throughout the engineering process

Skills

Python

LLM APIs

REST/gRPC API development

Agile methodologies

Prompt engineering

JSON validation (Pydantic)

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Docker

Git

Linux

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

The Applied AI and Agents Factory brings together ambitious engineers to turn advanced AI capabilities into production-ready solutions. Working directly with business and technology teams, you’ll tackle complex engineering challenges, build intelligent agents and take ideas from initial concept through to live deployment.

This is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of AI engineering, developing systems that go beyond conversational tools to reason, plan and execute multi-step workflows. You’ll take ownership of the full engineering lifecycle, from agent architecture and orchestration to enterprise integration, security and observability.

With a strong focus on hands‑on engineering, collaboration and rapid delivery, the Factory gives you the opportunity to solve challenging technical problems, influence architectural decisions and help shape reusable tools and engineering standards adopted across Citi.

The Senior Forward Deployed Engineer is a hands‑on core engineering position responsible for developing agent reasoning logic, custom tool integrations, and resilient execution pipelines embedded with LOB squads. The overall objective of this role is to build production‑grade agent reasoning loops, custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, and robust error‑handling mechanisms adhering to enterprise safety and quality standards.

Responsibilities

• Writes robust, production-quality agent reasoning logic, memory management, and sub‑agent delegation workflows in Python.
• Develops custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers connecting AI agents to enterprise systems (ServiceNow, JIRA, DBaaS, Kafka, internal REST/gRPC services).
• Implements resilient error handling, automated retry mechanisms, fallback routines, and Human‑in‑the‑Loop (HITL) escalation triggers.
• Integrates Lakera Guardrails for synchronous and asynchronous prompt‑injection defense, jailbreak mitigation, and automated PII filtering/redaction.
• Collaborates with C12 engineers to build automated regression testbeds and integrate Agentflow Studio evaluation harnesses into deployment workflows.
• Advises and coaches junior developers, participating actively in sprint delivery and peer code reviews.
• Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for the firm’s reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients and assets, by driving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, adhering to Policy, applying sound ethical judgment regarding personal behavior, conduct and business practices, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of software engineering experience, with 4+ years of strong, professional Python proficiency.
• Hands‑on experience working with LLM APIs (R2D2 Gateway, OpenAI, Google Vertex AI) and integrating foundation models into backend services.
• Experience with REST/gRPC API development, Docker, Git, Linux environments, and CI/CD automation pipelines.
• Understanding of prompt engineering, structured JSON output validation (e.g., Pydantic), and vector search/retrieval patterns.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively in fast‑paced agile squads solving ambiguous technical problems.

Education

• Bachelor’s/University degree or equivalent experience; Master’s degree preferred.

Job Family Group

Technology

Job Family

Applications Development

Primary Location

New York New York United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range

$142,320.00 - $213,480.00

Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

Automated Processing and AI

We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate’s skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi.

Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision‑making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.

Illinois residents – AI Notice and Right

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi.

View Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.