Lead AI engineer - Houston, TX (Onsite) - Contract

Job Title: - Lead AI engineer Location: - Houston, TX (Onsite) Duration: - 12 Months (Contract to Hire) Description Position Overview We are seeking a hands-on Microsoft Copilot & AI Solutions Developer to design, build, and deploy AI-powered solutions across multiple business functions. This is not an AI strategy or leadership role. We are looking for a builder. Someone who enjoys getting into the technology, experimenting with new capabilities, and creating practical business solutions that improve productivity and automate work. The ideal candidate will have experience within the Oil & Gas industry and understand how business teams operate across functions such as Operations, Supply Chain, Land, Accounting, Engineering, and Corporate Services. This individual will partner directly with stakeholders to identify opportunities, develop custom Copilot solutions and AI agents, and bring ideas from concept to production. This role reports directly to Kevin and will play a key part in driving enterprise adoption of Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, and emerging AI technologies. Key Responsibilities Design, build, and deploy Microsoft Copilot solutions for multiple business units.Develop custom AI agents using Copilot Studio and related Microsoft technologies.Work directly with stakeholders to identify manual processes and automation opportunities.Create proof of concepts, prototypes, and production-ready AI solutions.Integrate Copilot solutions with business systems, databases, and enterprise applications.Build workflows leveraging Power Automate, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, and Azure services.Continuously evaluate new Microsoft AI capabilities and recommend practical use cases.Measure solution adoption, business value, and user experience.Troubleshoot and optimize existing AI agents and Copilot implementations.Serve as the technical subject matter expert for enterprise Copilot initiatives. Required Qualifications 5-10 years of experience in software development, automation, data, AI, or related disciplines.Experience working within the Oil & Gas industry.Hands-on experience with Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, or related Microsoft AI technologies.Strong understanding of Microsoft 365 ecosystem.Experience integrating systems through APIs and data services.Ability to independently drive projects from idea through implementation.Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.Demonstrated curiosity and willingness to continuously learn emerging technologies. Preferred Qualifications Experience building AI agents, chatbots, or workflow automation solutions.Experience with Azure AI Services, Azure OpenAI, Power Automate, and Power Apps.Experience working with structured and unstructured enterprise data.Familiarity with prompt engineering, RAG architectures, and agent-based workflows.Background supporting multiple business functions within a large organization. What We're Looking For We're looking for someone who is naturally curious, highly technical, and enjoys building things outside of work simply because they find it interesting. The ideal candidate is the type of person who experiments with new technologies on nights and weekends, creates side projects, contributes to technical communities, or continuously explores what's next. This is a role for a doer, a problem solver, and a builder. Someone who can hear a business challenge on Monday and have a working prototype by Friday.