Engineering Manager - AI ML

Position Summary:

New American Funding (NAF) is a mortgage lender offering an array of loan options. Established in 2003 and headquartered in Tustin, CA, United States.

By having a clear understanding of product requests, collaborating with our product teams and designers, and providing solutions to our business problems, this role will provide insights in our development efforts.

We're expecting this candidate to play pivotal in driving the development, deployment, and optimization of NAF’s internal AI platforms, with a focus on Google AI suite (Vertex AI, Agent Space, Document Ingestion), Databricks, and Snowflake. The ideal candidate will spend at least 75% of their time actively coding, architecting, and troubleshooting, while also mentoring engineers and collaborating with product, data, and business stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

- Architect, build, and optimize AI agents and workflows using Google Vertex AI, Agent Space, and Document Ingestion tools.
- Integrate and operationalize data pipelines and AI models on Databricks and/or Snowflake, leveraging their respective AI suites for scalable, secure, and compliant solutions.
- Lead by example, contributing high-quality code and technical solutions (Python, SQL, REST APIs, C#, etc.).
- Serve as the team’s subject matter expert on Google AI suite, including Vertex Search, Agent Space, Document Ingestion, and related GCP tools.
- Drive adoption of best practices for agentic AI, document intelligence, and event-driven automation across NAF’s proprietary platforms.
- Design and maintain robust data connectors and ingestion pipelines between Google AI, Databricks, Snowflake, and NAF’s internal systems.
- Mentor and coach offshore engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.
- Collaborate with US-based product managers, architects, and business leads to align on priorities, roadmaps, and delivery timelines.
- Provide production support, troubleshooting, and performance optimization for AI-powered applications and agents.
- Lead code reviews, technical documentation, and knowledge sharing sessions.
- Work in Agile Kanban methodology and use Azure Dev Ops (ADO) for tracking work items and managing delivery.
- Ensure seamless integration between Google AI platform and Microsoft ecosystem, including Snowflake and Databricks.
- Create and maintain connectors for cross-platform interoperability.
- Champion no-code/low-code solutions for rapid prototyping and business enablement.
- Promote AI explainability and responsible AI practices in all solutions.

Core Competencies:

- 8+ years in software/data engineering, with at least 2 years leading AI/ML teams.
- 2+ years hands-on with Google AI suite or Microsoft AI Studio (Vertex AI, Agent Space, Azure AI Studio, Document Ingestion, GCP) in enterprise environments.
- Strong experience with Databricks and/or Snowflake for AI/data workflows (pipelines, agents, document intelligence, RAG, etc.).
- Advanced Python, SQL, and API development skills.

- Experience with cloud infrastructure, containerization (Kubernetes, serverless), and CI/CD pipelines.
- Familiarity with agentic AI architecture, document intelligence, and event-driven automation.
- Understanding of data governance, privacy, and compliance in financial services.
- Proven ability to mentor, coach, and lead distributed engineering teams.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and business stakeholders.

- Experience with Agile Kanban and ADO/Dev Ops workflows.
- Knowledge of AI explain ability, machine learning, and data science principles.

Nice to Have:

- Experience with NAF’s proprietary AI platforms (NAF AI Search, Doc AI, Omniflow).
- Prior work in mortgage, lending, or financial services.
- Exposure to Azure, One Drive, SharePoint, and Outlook integrations.

- Experience with agent development kits (ADK) and standardized AI frameworks.
- Ability to design and implement no-code/low-code solutions for business workflows.