Senior Manager, AI Engineering

Kraft Heinz; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 121,000 - 151,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

7% 401(k) matching

BRGs for diversity and inclusion

Total rewards package with performance

Discretionary bonus

Job summary

Kraft Heinz is seeking a Senior Manager of AI Engineering to lead a team delivering GenAI solutions from strategy to deployment in enterprise environments. You will drive architecture, model selection, and governance while partnering with business and technology leaders to maximize value across the organization.

The role emphasizes responsible AI, scalable patterns, and cross-functional collaboration with Product, Data, and Architecture teams in a Chicago-based setting.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in computer science, engineering, IT or equivalent experience.
• Experience leading AI/ML, software architecture, or technical teams.
• Hands-on with GenAI solutions (chatbots/agents) on major cloud platforms like Azure.
• Ability to translate business requirements into technical designs and configurations.
• Strong knowledge of LLMs, RAG, prompt/context engineering, and agentic workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of AI engineers delivering GenAI solutions and set standards.
• Own AI engineering strategy and roadmap across multiple business units.
• Partner with Business, Product, AI Architects, Data Architects, Data Engineers and Enterprise Architecture for end-to-end alignment.
• Translate business requirements into system architecture and configuration specs.
• Evaluate architecture patterns and model-selection strategies across GenAI; balance cost, latency, accuracy, security and privacy.
• Drive responsible AI practices to keep non-deterministic systems reliable and trustworthy.
• Identify architecture gaps, risks and dependencies early and mitigate them.
• Represent AI engineering to senior leaders and own critical decisions on architecture and delivery.

Skills

GenAI

LLMs

RAG

Prompt engineering

Agentic workflows

Stakeholder mgmt

Azure

Education

Master’s degree in CS/Engineering/IT

Tools

Microsoft Azure

Job description

Senior Manager, AI Engineering

Chicago/Aon Center, Illinois, United States of America

Chicago, IL, US

Job Description

Here at Kraft Heinz, we grow our people to grow our business, because we believe that great people make great companies. When you join our table, you can expect access to an array of holistic wellness benefits* and perks, including medical, dental and vision coverage, 7% 401(k) matching, Business Resource Groups (BRGs) to help foster diversity, inclusion, and belonging for all employees, an industry-leading total rewards package that emphasizes a high discretionary bonus.

*Benefits begin immediately upon hire for salaried employees.

Get a peek into life here at Kraft Heinz through our Instagram and TikTok channels!

Senior Manager, AI Engineering at a glance...

You will guide a team that builds and deploys enterprise Generative AI (GenAI) and Agentic solutions and own the stakeholder relationships behind their delivery. You will solve ambiguous, enterprise-scale AI problems — selecting models and patterns across GenAI, resolving integration challenges, and closing architecture gaps, risks and dependencies — while partnering closely with business and technology leaders to build tools and capabilities that generate value across the enterprise.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a team of AI engineers delivering GenAI solutions; set engineering standards, priorities and delivery expectations, and manage performance and career growth.
• Own the AI engineering strategy and roadmap across more than one business unit and function, aligning delivery with enterprise objectives.
• Partner with Business and Product owners, AI Architects, Data Architects, Data Stewards, Data Engineers, ML Engineering, Full-Stack Developers and Enterprise Architecture to ensure end-to-end alignment.
• Translate business requirements into system architecture, solution flows and configuration specifications.
• Recommend architecture patterns, reusable components and model-selection strategies across GenAI (LLMs, RAG, agentic workflows, context engineering), balancing cost, latency, accuracy, reliability, security and privacy.
• Drive disciplined evaluation and error-analysis loops and Responsible AI practices to keep non-deterministic systems predictable and trustworthy.
• Identify architecture gaps, risks and dependencies early and propose mitigation strategies for ambiguous, enterprise-scale problems.
• Represent AI engineering to senior and executive leaders (Directors, VPs); communicate progress, trade-offs and risks, and act as the decision maker on architecture, model selection and delivery within enterprise standards and guardrails.

Candidate Profile

• I have a Master’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Information Technology or a related field (or a Bachelor's degree with equivalent professional experience).
• I have years of relevant experience in AI/ML, software or solution architecture, or technical leadership, including experience leading and/or mentoring engineers.
• I have hands-on experience building and deploying GenAI solutions such as chatbots and agents on a major cloud platform (preferably Microsoft Azure).
• I have proven ability to translate business requirements into technical design documents and system configurations.
• I have working expertise with LLMs, RAG, prompt and context engineering, and agentic workflows, LangGraph, grounded in evals and error analysis.
• I have strong software-engineering fundamentals and the judgment to make sound trade-offs across cost, scalability, reliability, security and privacy.
• I have excellent stakeholder-management and communication skills, with the ability to influence and bridge technical and business audiences.

Benefits and Wellbeing Programs

• Benefits: Coverage for employees (and their eligible dependents) through affordable access to healthcare, protection, and saving for the future, we offer plans tailored to meet you and your family’s needs. Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.
• Wellbeing: We offer events, resources, and learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being lifestyle for our employees and their families.
• You’ll be able to participate in a variety of benefits and wellbeing programs that may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors, for example:
• Physical - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments
• Social - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition, Training
• Emotional – Employee Assistance Program , Wellbeing Programs, Family Support Programs
• Financial – 401k, Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability

Location

• Chicago/Aon Center

Salary and Bonus

New Hire Base Salary Range: $120,800.00 - $151,000.00

Bonus: This position is eligible for a performance-based bonus as provided by the plan terms and governing documents.

The compensation offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for protected individuals, applicants that require accommodation in the job application process may contact [e-mail] for assistance.