AI Engineering Manager, Digital Transformation & Innovation

This role serves as the development lead for AI capabilities embedded across the DT&I product portfolio, with primary emphasis on the design, build, and production operation of agent architectures, orchestration, and LLM-powered application features. The AI Engineering Manager owns the hands-on engineering of intelligent capabilities—from model selection and prompt and tooling design through evaluation, deployment, and observability—ensuring AI features are accurate, reliable, secure, and cost-effective within BDO’s Azure ecosystem. The role ensures all AI capabilities are designed, deployed, and operated in alignment with BDO’s AI Governance Policies and responsible-AI standards.

The AI Engineering Manager works in close coordination with the Context Engineering Manager, who owns the knowledge and context layer these systems consume, and the Automation & Infrastructure Lead and Data & Analytics Lead to deliver well-integrated, properly provisioned AI solutions. The role partners closely with the AI & Digital Innovation Delivery Lead and cross-functional teams to align AI engineering practices and product delivery with BDO’s AI Governance Policies, responsible-AI standards, assurance service delivery objectives, firm policies, and security standards.

Responsibilities

• Agent & Orchestration Engineering
  • Designs and builds agent architectures and multi-agent orchestrations using Semantic Kernel and Azure AI Foundry across the DT&I portfolio.
  • Serves as the principal technical authority on agent design, planners, tool and function calling, memory, and workflow patterns.
  • Architects and implements production-grade AI features, turning prototypes into reliable capabilities within the product stack.
  • Evaluates and integrates emerging models, frameworks, and orchestration tools to continuously improve capability and efficiency.
  • Designs agent observability, error handling, retry, and fallback strategies to ensure resilient, fault-tolerant AI workflows.
• LLM Application Engineering
  • Implements retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, structured outputs, function calling, and application-layer prompt strategies.
  • Integrates AI capabilities into the .NET 10 / React product stack across the Advantage portfolio (PEM, RevRec, GCM 2.0, Centralized Billing, and others).
  • Partners with the Context Engineering Manager to consume governed context and grounding within agent and application runtimes.
  • Builds reusable AI service components, SDKs, and patterns for use across DT&I product teams.
• Model Strategy, Evaluation & Responsible AI
  • Owns model selection, routing, fallback, and cost and latency optimization across AI features.
  • Builds evaluation harnesses, regression tests, and guardrails to measure and defend accuracy, cost, and latency targets.
  • Implements responsible-AI controls including safety, bias mitigation, accuracy, and human-in-the-loop appropriate to a regulated assurance context.
  • Works within and maintains alignment with BDO’s AI Governance Policies—including approved-model, acceptable-use, data-handling, and responsible-AI requirements—across all AI features.
  • Owns LLMOps including deployment, monitoring, observability, and drift detection for AI systems within the Advantage SDLC and CI/CD pipeline.
• Risk Management
  • Ensures AI systems comply with BDO’s AI Governance Policies, firm security policies, regulatory requirements, and responsible-AI standards (SOC 2, PCAOB AS 2201, QC 1000, ISO 27001).
  • Coordinates AI governance reviews and approvals and maintains the documentation and evidence required to demonstrate alignment with BDO’s AI Governance Policies.
  • Manages data handling, auditability, and the controls required for AI-assisted assurance work.
  • Partners with risk and compliance stakeholders to maintain alignment between AI systems and firm governance requirements.
• Supervisory Responsibilities
  • Acts as a direct supervisor to engineering and development team members, as assigned.
  • Acts as a career advisor and mentor to engineering and development team members as assigned.
• Performs other duties as assigned, including willingly accepting a share of less desirable assignments.

Requirements

• High School Diploma/GED, required.
• Bachelor’s degree with a focus in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Information Technology, preferred.
• Seven (7) or more years of experience in software engineering or related technology fields, required.
• Three (3) or more years of hands-on experience building and deploying production AI/ML or LLM applications, required.
• Three (3) or more years of experience with AI orchestration frameworks (Semantic Kernel, LangChain, or equivalent) and Azure AI services, required.
• Demonstrated delivery of agent, RAG, or function-calling features to production, required.
• Experience delivering enterprise-scale AI solutions in professional services, assurance, or accounting industries, preferred.
• Experience establishing AI evaluation, responsible-AI, or model governance frameworks, preferred.

Skills

• Technology
  • Expert-level knowledge of Microsoft Azure AI services including Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, and Azure AI Search, required.
  • Strong understanding of the AI application lifecycle including prompt design, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and observability, required.
  • Experience with AI orchestration and agent frameworks (Semantic Kernel, LangChain, Durable Functions), required.
  • Strong development experience with .NET 10 / C# and React, required.
  • Experience with RAG, structured outputs, function calling, and vector technologies (Azure AI Search, embeddings), required.
  • Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps), source control (Git), and containerization (Docker, Azure Container Apps), preferred.
  • Experience with AI evaluation and observability tooling and agentic development tooling (Claude Code or equivalent), preferred.
• Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities
  • Expert-level knowledge of applied LLM and agent engineering for production systems.
  • Proven ability to serve as a hands-on AI engineer while providing team leadership and engineering governance.
  • Deep knowledge of agent architectures, orchestration, RAG, and responsible-AI practices.
  • Working knowledge of AI governance frameworks and the ability to design, build, and operate AI systems in alignment with BDO’s AI Governance Policies.
  • Familiarity with data architecture and the ability to collaborate with context, infrastructure, and data engineering teams on dependencies.
  • Excellent problem-solving skills with a focus on accuracy, reliability, cost optimization, and operational efficiency.
  • Strong communication skills with the ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and leadership.
  • Experience presenting AI architecture and governance recommendations to governance bodies (e.g., Architecture Review Boards).
  • Strong knowledge of AI security, data privacy, and compliance considerations in regulated environments.
  • Ability to work across technical teams and business stakeholders in complex, fast-paced enterprise environments.
  • Self-directed with the ability to manage multiple priorities and competing deadlines.
  • Collaborative mindset with the ability to build relationships across all levels of the organization.
  • Ability to travel up to 10%.
• License/Certifications
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate, or equivalent, preferred.

Pay

• National Range: $130,000 - $160,000
• Maryland Range: $130,000 - $160,000
• NYC/Long Island/Westchester Range: $130,000 - $160,000

Benefits

BDO provides assurance, tax, and advisory services to clients across the U.S. and around the world. As an ESOP company, BDO offers participants a stake in the firm’s success through beneficial ownership and a unique opportunity to enhance their financial well-being. The ESOP is a qualified retirement plan and a meaningful addition to our comprehensive compensation and Total Rewards benefits.

Learn more about BDO Total Rewards.

Benefits may be subject to eligibility requirements.