AI Engineering Manager
Role and responsibilities
This is a player-coach role. You will still architect and build the hard parts of the stack, while leading and growing the team around you.
Lead a team of AI/ML and software engineers: hiring, mentoring, code review, and career growth.
Set the technical direction for the company's AI initiatives, including LLM applications, RAG systems, automation, and ML-backed features.
Stay hands-on: architect and build the difficult components yourself, not just delegate them.
Own delivery: scope, prioritize, and ship AI features to production on a predictable cadence.
Partner with product, data, and executive stakeholders to turn ambiguous goals into a concrete roadmap.
Establish the standards for evaluation, testing, model quality, latency, cost, and reliability in production.
Build and scale the team as the AI function grows, with real input into headcount and who joins.
Job Requirements
- 6+ years in software or ML engineering, with 2+ years leading or mentoring an engineering team (formal management or tech-lead).
- A track record of shipping AI/ML systems to production, not just notebooks or POCs.
- Hands-on depth in Python and modern AI tooling (LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenAI or Anthropic APIs, or similar).
- Experience building LLM applications and RAG pipelines, including vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, Milvus, or pgvector).
- Solid software-engineering fundamentals: REST APIs, CI/CD, Git, and cloud deployment on AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Experience hiring, growing, and retaining strong engineers.
Strong plus
- MLOps or LLMOps, Kubernetes, Hugging Face, agentic or autonomous-workflow architectures;
- Standing up an AI function from early stage;
- Domain experience in SaaS, HealthTech, FinTech, Logistics, Manufacturing, Robotics, Defense Tech, or Cybersecurity.
Benefits
(CONFIRM specific benefits with the client before posting)
Competitive base salary plus performance bonus
Medical, dental, and vision coverage
401(k) with employer match
Paid time off and paid holidays
Onsite role with a team you build and work alongside in Central Florida
Genuine ownership of a growing AI function and its roadmap