Lead AI Software Engineer- (Hybrid Baltimore, MD

Role Summary

Lead Software Engineer – AI Engineering team at T. Rowe Price Labs. Drive the design, delivery, and scaling of production‑grade AI systems across the firm.

• Lead the design, development, deployment, and evolution of production‑grade AI agents and intelligent systems within modern cloud‑native architectures.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers across squads, raising the bar on architecture, engineering quality, and execution.
• Drive the Build‑Operate‑Transfer model by incubating new AI products, hardening them for production, and partnering with business‑aligned technology teams to transition proven solutions for long‑term ownership and scale.
• Work closely with engineers, product owners, and senior partners to shape ambiguous problems into scalable AI solutions that deliver measurable business value.
• Guide the development of reusable AI capabilities and shared platform components across areas such as agent orchestration, tool use, retrieval‑based systems, evaluation frameworks, observability, and guardrails.
• Champion engineering excellence through strong software design, code quality, automated testing, continuous integration, and continuous delivery practices.
• Ensure AI systems are built with measurable quality, production readiness, operational observability, and appropriate safety controls.
• Oversee technical debt and drive continuous improvement across AI platforms, services, and development standards.
• Identify and pursue opportunities to apply AI in ways that accelerate workflows, improve decision‑making, and create scalable business impact across the firm.
• Engage directly with business stakeholders, product owners, and senior partners to understand priorities, shape solution direction, and align technical decisions to business outcomes.
• Apply strong product and engineering judgment to balance innovation, scalability, risk, and long‑term maintainability.
• Translate complex business needs into robust, scalable technical solutions that support both immediate value delivery and broader enterprise adoption.

• BS or MS in Computer Science or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of progressive software engineering experience developing applications in object‑oriented languages such as Java, Python, or JavaScript.
• Extensive hands‑on experience architecting and delivering cloud‑native solutions using AWS or equivalent, containerized microservices, and modern software delivery practices.
• Experience building or leading development of AI‑enabled systems, intelligent workflows, or agentic applications in production or near‑production environments.
• Strong familiarity with modern AI engineering patterns such as agent orchestration, tool integration, retrieval‑based systems, evaluation approaches, monitoring, or guardrails.
• Exceptional analytical, problem‑sizing, and system design skills, with a proven ability to lead teams through complex technical challenges.
• Strong communication and influence skills, with the ability to work effectively across engineering, product, and business stakeholders.
• Demonstrated commitment to engineering excellence through setting and upholding standards for automated testing, code reviews, observability, and continuous delivery.
• Results‑oriented leader with a passion for mentoring others, fostering innovation, and operating effectively in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.
• Preferred:
  Experience contributing to shared platform capabilities, workflow systems, retrieval‑based services, or other reusable engineering components.
• Preferred:
  Understanding of financial markets, asset management, or financial instruments.

Competitive base salary ranges vary by location: $145,000–$247,000 (Maryland, Colorado, Washington, remote); $159,000–$272,000 (Washington, D.C.); $181,000–$309,000 (New York, California). Placement within the range is based on relevant experience and skills. Base salary is only one component of total compensation; discretionary bonuses may be awarded based on company and individual performance.

Hybrid work schedule – up to three days per week from home. Health and…