Sr Tech Lead – Software Engineering & AI

ECI Group; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 124,000 - 207,000; Full time

Job summary

ECI Group in Houston seeks a Sr Tech Lead for Software Engineering & AI to drive architecture, delivery and production operations of AI-enabled products. The role blends software engineering leadership with practical GenAI applications across multiple lines of business.

You will mentor engineers, define engineering practices, and collaborate with platform, data and DevSecOps teams to scale secure, reliable solutions in production. US citizenship or permanent residency is required.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of industry experience with software engineering and AI/ML-enabled product development.
• Hands-on delivery across both software engineering and AI/ML-enabled product development.
• Experience leading teams and driving engineering practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, deployment and operation of production-grade software with AI/GenAI capabilities.
• Shape engineering practices across architecture, APIs, platforms, cloud delivery, reliability and security.
• Mentor engineers; set coding standards and testing practices; ensure responsible AI usage.
• Partner with Product Management and stakeholders to translate requirements into solutions.
• Stay current with software engineering and AI trends and contribute to communities.

Skills

Python

Java

JavaScript/TypeScript

Kubernetes

APIs

Cloud-native

Microservices

AI/GenAI

Software architecture

ML/GenAI

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Science / Software Engineering

Master's or PhD in a related field

Tools

Docker

JVM-based technologies

Cloud platforms

Job description

Join the ECI Group's Professional Technical Services Network as a contract Sr Tech Lead – Software Engineering & AI. This is a Houston based contract role with an anticipated 4-month duration with an estimated start date of Sept 21, 2026.

Note: You must be a US Citizen or Permanent US Resident to qualify for this position.

About The Role

The Sr Tech Lead – Software Engineering & AI will join a vibrant team within the Trading & Supply Capability Center (CC) in the IT Digital Engineering VPship. This role is accountable for leading the design, development, deployment, and ongoing operation of production-grade digital products that combine strong software engineering foundations with applied AI and GenAI capabilities. The role carries a balanced 50:50 focus: driving modern software engineering practices across architecture, APIs, platforms, cloud-native delivery, reliability, and security, while also shaping the practical use of machine learning, GenAI, RAG, and intelligent automation to solve business problems across multiple lines of business. The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering scalable, maintainable, and governed solutions that meet Shell quality standards and can be operated confidently in production.

Key Characteristics

• Design, build, and deploy production-grade applications and services that embed AI and GenAI capabilities in a secure, scalable, and maintainable way
• Build and evolve core engineering foundations including APIs, reusable services, cloud-native deployment patterns, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and operational support for AI-enabled products
• Work closely with platform, infrastructure, data engineering, and DevSecOps teams to improve deployment velocity, runtime resilience, security controls, and engineering efficiency
• Lead the technical direction of software engineering and AI initiatives, ensuring a balanced focus on product architecture, engineering quality, and applied AI delivery
• Mentor software engineers and AI engineers, raising the bar on coding standards, system design, testing delivery practices, and responsible use of AI technologies
• Define engineering and evaluation practices that ensure software quality, model quality, reliability, performance, observability, and compliance for AI tooling and services
• Guide the strategic adoption of AI and GenAI by identifying high-value opportunities and turning them into robust engineering outcomes that can scale across the enterprise
• Partner with Product Management and business stakeholders to translate requirements into well-architected software solutions, AI-enabled workflows, and delivery roadmaps
• Stay current with emerging software engineering and AI practices, continuously improving delivery approaches, technical standards, and relationships across Shell, industry, and academia
• Contribute to technical communities of practice and centres of excellence, helping to strengthen engineering capability, reusable patterns, and responsible AI adoption

Professional Qualifications & Skills

Educational Qualification

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Engineering, Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related technical discipline
• Minimum 8+ years of industry experience, including significant hands-on delivery across both software engineering and AI/ML-enabled product development

Required Skills

• Strong experience delivering production-grade digital products with a balanced focus on modern software engineering and applied AI/GenAI
• 8+ years of development experience across relevant languages, frameworks, and tooling such as Python, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, JVM-based technologies, APIs, event-driven systems, and cloud-native platforms
• Strong software engineering fundamentals including system design, clean code practices, testing strategies, code reviews, version control, and maintainable architecture
• Hands-on experience building, deploying, and monitoring applications on Kubernetes and related cloud-native infrastructure
• Experience designing and operating scalable services, APIs, microservices, or platform components with strong attention to reliability, performance, and security
• Practical experience designing, developing, deploying, and monitoring machine learning and GenAI | Software Design, Software Engineering Management, Software Engineering Process

Please Note: The ECI Group uses AI-assisted tools in the early stages of application review, with all decisions guided by human oversight and fully compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ECI Group's applicable data protection policies and Privacy Notice.