AI Engineer

Iowa State University’s Information Technology Services (ITS) is seeking an AI Engineer (Software Developer I) based in Iowa (onsite) to support the development, deployment, and maintenance of AI solutions in a higher education research setting. The role focuses on implementing AI tools using Microsoft technologies and cloud platforms, integrating AI into university systems, and operating solutions with appropriate security, monitoring, and governance.

• Work with end users and stakeholders in higher education, extension, and research environments to collect and document business and technical requirements for AI capabilities.
• Design, develop, test, and maintain AI applications and services using low-code Microsoft tools to address institutional needs.
• Integrate AI functionality into university systems using the Microsoft technical stack.
• Design and implement multi-agent architecture elements within the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Troubleshoot, debug, and resolve issues in both custom and third-party applications.
• Monitor system health, analyze logs and metrics, and implement fixes as needed.
• Maintain secure access patterns, authentication, authorization, and data protection controls for AI applications using Azure.

• High school diploma or equivalent.

The position involves work with Microsoft technologies including Copilot Studio
, Microsoft Azure
, Microsoft Foundry
, Azure Front Door
, Azure API Management (APIM),
Azure Functions
, Power Automate
, and Power Platform
. It also includes Salesforce
, OAuth-based authentication workflows
, Microsoft Entra security
, and Azure AI services such as Azure OpenAI
. Additional tools include Entra ,
Azure Key Vault
, Power Automate workflows, and API gateways.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science, computer engineering, math, or a related field with a Machine Learning or AI concentration.
• Experience developing and maintaining AI-powered applications using Azure AI services
  , Azure OpenAI
  , Microsoft Foundry
  , and Microsoft Copilot technologies.
• Experience integrating Copilot Studio agents with backend services using Power Automate
  , Azure Functions
  , APIs, and custom connectors in a large higher education institution.
• Experience creating and administering Microsoft Foundry endpoints for AI models with Entra security for authentication, and configuring pipelines in Power Platform to manage solution deployments.
• Experience designing and implementing API gateways and authentication mechanisms using Microsoft Entra ,
  Azure Functions
  , and Azure Key Vault to provide secure, unified access to AI models hosted on Azure.

• Medical and dental
• Defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans
• Generous vacation, holiday, and sick time and leave plans
• Onsite childcare (Ames, Iowa)
• Life insurance and long-term disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Various voluntary benefits and discounts
• Employee Assistance Program
• Wellbeing program
• Work Flex options for some positions

• Job group:
  Professional & Scientific
• Appointment type:
  Regular
• Employment period:
  12 Month Work Period
• Time type:
  Full time
• Pay grade:
  PS808
• Location:
  
  Iowa (onsite)
• Job requisition number:
  R19976
• Original posting date:
  September 25, 2026
• Posting close date:
  October 1, 2026

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States on an ongoing basis without sponsorship. Immigration sponsorship is not available for this position.