Principal Applied AI Engineer

Scion Technology has been engaged to conduct a search for an experienced Principal Applied AI Engineer for our client, a rapidly growing & innovative AI startup shaping the future of generative AI technology! This is a full-time, direct hire position open to remote candidates throughout the United States.

Position Overview

You will own the architecture, deployment and operational excellence of our cutting-edge AI/ML platform. Your expertise will drive the development of scalable, reliable, and safe AI systems, moving beyond research prototypes to enterprise-grade production solutions. This role is strategic and influential, providing technical leadership in AI system design, governance, evaluation methodologies, and automation. You will shape the standards and best practices that enable efficient, safe, and cost-effective AI deployments at scale.

PERKS

• Competitive salary up to $300k annually (depending on experience) + ESOP
• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance
• Work remotely from anywhere in the US with flexible hours that fit your lifestyle
• Earn meaningful equity in a company projected to scale rapidly
• Influence how enterprise-scale AI systems are observed, evaluated, and maintained, setting industry standards

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead scalable AI/ML and LLM systems, including inference, evaluation, and model lifecycle pipelines.
• Deploy and maintain production-quality LLM capabilities with integrated telemetry and SLOs.
• Establish standards for model readiness, evaluation gates, safety, and drift detection.
• Develop observability and monitoring solutions to ensure system reliability, performance, and safety.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring engineers, and influencing platform strategy.
• Drive strategic decisions on model integration, governance, and automation practices.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering, with recent hands-on experience in AI/ML production systems.
• Proven success in scaling large AI/ML or LLM models (not prototypes).
• Expertise in LLM deployment, RAG, fine-tuning, and model monitoring.
• Strong Python skills; experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX.
• Hands-on with MLOps tools, cloud platforms, Kubernetes, and distributed systems.
• Demonstrated leadership in multi-team architecture and technical strategy.
• Bonus: experience with ML orchestration, AI governance, NLP, open-source contributions, or advanced degrees.

Compensation & Benefits

This full-time position offers an annual base salary up to $300k, commensurate with experience. The organization provides a robust benefits package that includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage in addition to unlimited PTO & ESOP.

About Our Firm

Scion Staffing is a national award-winning staffing firm! Since 2006, we have had the pleasure of successfully placing thousands of talented professionals with amazing career opportunities. Through our innovative team building and recruiting solutions, we bridge the gap in executive leadership searches, direct hire recruiting, interim leadership placement, and temporary professional staffing. We are proud to be part of the Forbes lists of the Best Recruitment Firms and the Best Executive Search Firms in America. Additionally, Scion has been recognized as a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing firm as well as a top recruitment firm by The Business Times. Additional information about our firm can also be found online.

Scion Staffing, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and service provider and does not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, sexual orientation, disability, political affiliation or belief, or any other protected class. We are committed to the principles of Equal Opportunity Employment and are dedicated to making employment decisions based on merit and value, for ourselves, our client companies, and the candidates we represent. For opportunities located in a region that have enacted fair chance, arrest or conviction-based employment ordinances, Scion Staffing proactively follows the enacted guidance and considers for employment all qualified applications with arrest and conviction records. We engage in socially conscious business practices and believe that diverse, inclusive, and non-biased talent and recruitment processes are foundational to the success of Scion as well as every client organization with whom we partner.