Sr AI Engineer

Kiewit; Lenexa (KS); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Kiewit seeks an AI Engineer 3 to design, develop, and operate an enterprise AI platform powering intelligent applications across the organization. You will build scalable backend services, reusable AI capabilities, and platform APIs for integration by application teams.

The role requires experience with MCP, RAG, and AI workflows, plus cloud-native production systems. You'll mentor engineers and collaborate with architects and product managers to ensure secure, compliant delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science or Engineering.
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• 2+ years building production AI services, AI platforms, or reusable AI infrastructure.
• Experience building scalable backend APIs and distributed services.
• Experience with LLM integrations, MCP, AI workflows, and RAG.
• Experience with Docker and cloud-native container platforms.
• Experience building and deploying cloud-native applications.
• Strong SQL and relational database design skills.
• Experience mentoring engineers and delivering complex production software.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy reusable AI platform services and backend APIs.
• Build scalable backend services that orchestrate enterprise AI capabilities.
• Develop integrations with Azure AI Foundry, Anthropic Claude SDK, Azure OpenAI, and other approved providers.
• Design and optimize RAG services and agent-based workflows.
• Integrate AI platform services with enterprise data platforms and cloud infrastructure.
• Implement observability, monitoring, logging, and troubleshooting for AI services.
• Optimize platform performance, scalability, reliability, and cost.
• Mentor junior engineers through code reviews and technical guidance.
• Collaborate with architects and application teams on solution implementation.
• Ensure solutions meet security, compliance, and governance standards.

Skills

Software engineering 5+ yrs

Production AI services

Backend APIs

LLM integrations

Docker & cloud

SQL & relational DB

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

Azure AI Foundry

Anthropic Claude SDK

Azure OpenAI

LangFuse

Prisma

Drizzle

Express

Fastify

React

Docker

Job description

Position Overview

Kiewit is seeking an AI Engineer 3 to design, develop, and operate the enterprise AI platform that powers intelligent applications across the organization. This role focuses on building scalable, secure backend AI services, reusable AI capabilities, and platform APIs that application development teams integrate into their solutions. The ideal candidate has experience building cloud-native backend services and production AI systems using technologies such as Model Context Protocol (MCP), agent-based workflows, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and enterprise LLM platforms. This engineer independently delivers complex platform capabilities, mentors junior engineers, and collaborates with architects, product managers, and application development teams.

Location

This is a full-time in-office role located in La Vista, NE or Lenexa, KS.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy reusable AI platform services and backend APIs.
• Build scalable backend services that orchestrate enterprise AI capabilities.
• Develop integrations with Azure AI Foundry, Anthropic Claude SDK, Azure OpenAI, and other approved AI providers.
• Design and optimize Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) services and agent-based workflows.
• Integrate AI platform services with enterprise data platforms and cloud infrastructure.
• Implement observability, monitoring, logging, and troubleshooting for AI services.
• Optimize platform performance, scalability, reliability, and cost.
• Mentor junior engineers through code reviews and technical guidance.
• Collaborate with architects and application teams on solution implementation.
• Ensure solutions meet security, compliance, and governance standards.

Technologies & Platforms

• Languages: C#, Python, Node.js (JavaScript/TypeScript), RESTful APIs
• AI: Azure AI Foundry, Anthropic Claude SDK, Azure OpenAI, MCP, agent workflows, RAG
• Cloud: Azure Container Apps, Azure Functions, Docker
• Data: SQL, PostgreSQL, Azure SQL
• Tooling: LangFuse, Cursor IDE, Git

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
• 2+ years building production AI services, AI platforms, or reusable AI infrastructure
• Experience building scalable backend APIs and distributed services
• Experience with LLM integrations, MCP, AI workflows, and RAG
• Experience with Docker and cloud-native container platforms
• Experience building and deploying cloud-native applications
• Strong SQL and relational database design skills
• Experience mentoring engineers and delivering complex production software

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Azure AI Foundry, Anthropic Claude SDK, or Azure OpenAI
• Experience building shared AI platforms, SDKs, or platform APIs
• Experience with LangFuse, Prisma or Drizzle, Express or Fastify, familiarity with React and Shadcn UI
• Knowledge of DevOps, CI/CD, and Infrastructure as Code

Other Requirements

• Regular, reliable attendance
• Work productively and meet deadlines timely
• Communicate and interact effectively and professionally with supervisors, employees, and others individually or in a team environment
• Perform work safely and effectively. Understand and follow oral and written instructions, including warning signs, equipment use, and other policies
• Work during normal operating hours to organize and complete work within given deadlines. Work overtime and weekends as required
• May work at various different locations and conditions may vary

Benefits

We offer our full-time staff employees a comprehensive benefits package that’s among the best in our industry, including top-tier medical, dental and vision plans covering eligible employees and dependents, voluntary wellness and employee assistance programs, life insurance, disability, retirement plans with matching, and generous paid time off.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status.