Lead AI Engineer

Lead Data Engineer (with AI. ML, Python, Java, Kafka)

Location:

Leawood, KS

Role Overview

• Ascend Learning is seeking a Lead AI Engineer (Contract) who is a driver, not an order taker — someone who leads from the front, manages delivery across the AI team, and ensures successful execution of complex, high-impact AI initiatives.
• You will architect and deliver applied AI solutions powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) and Small Language Models (SMLs) within a distributed, production-grade ecosystem.
• This is a hands-on technical leadership and delivery management role that combines engineering excellence, team guidance, and cross-functional collaboration. You will work closely with Technical Product Owners (TPOs), Technical Program Managers (TPMs), Platform Engineering, and Senior Managers to deliver scalable, reliable, and innovative AI applications that transform digital learning experiences.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Delivery Management & Leadership:
  Manage delivery of AI engineering initiatives, ensuring projects are executed on time, within scope, and to high quality standards. Coordinate engineers and work streams, resolve dependencies, and drive accountability.
• Technical Leadership & Team Guidance:
  Lead and mentor AI engineers in architecture, design, and implementation of best practices. Set engineering standards for quality, reliability, and maintainability.
• AI Solution Design & Development:
  Architect and develop Agentic AI applications using LLMs and SMLs for automation, reasoning, and content generation. Build distributed backend systems with Python, Fast API, Azure, Kafka, and Kubernetes.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  
  Partner with Technical Product Owners, Technical Program Managers, and Platform Engineering to define scope, success metrics, and optimize infrastructure and performance.
• Innovation & Strategic Thinking:
  Stay current on advancements in LLMs, SMLs, RAG, and Agentic AI frameworks. Experiment with OpenAI and Azure AI tools and promote technical innovation balanced with predictable delivery.
• Productionization & Lifecycle Management:
  Lead productionization of AI application, ensuring reliability, observability, and lifecycle management of deployed solutions.

Qualifications

• Education & Experience:
  
  Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a closely related field—or equivalent practical experience. Minimum of 7 years in software or AI engineering, with at least 2 years in technical leadership or architectural roles, demonstrating a proven track record of delivering complex solutions.
• Delivery Management Expertise:
  Demonstrated success managing end-to-end delivery for engineering teams or overseeing multi-stream technical projects, ensuring timely execution, high standards, and effective coordination across stakeholders.
• Technical Proficiency:
  Deep expertise in designing and implementing distributed systems, microservices architectures, and event-driven solutions. Hands-on experience with production-grade AI systems leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) and Small Language Models (SMLs).
• Technology Stack Mastery:
  Advanced proficiency in Python, FastAPI, and Azure Cloud. Skilled in deploying and orchestrating solutions with Docker and Kubernetes. Familiarity with Lang Chain, Lang Graph, vector databases, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines.
• Dev Ops & Observability:
  Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, logging, and tracing using tools like Datadog. Experienced with modern Dev Ops best practices to ensure system reliability and maintainability.
• Additional
  
  Competencies:
  
  Working knowledge of OpenAI APIs and the Azure ecosystem, including Cosmos DB, AI Search, and Cognitive Services. Familiarity with front-end frameworks (Angular, React) and principles of UI/UX design, enabling seamless integration of intelligent backends with web applications. Exceptional communication, collaboration, and leadership abilities, with a passion for mentoring teams and driving impactful results.