Senior AI Engineer

WillowTree is a leading digital consultancy that partners with the world’s most admired brands to orchestrate winning experiences across the customer journey. Experiences that are personalized, on-brand, and consistent across channels and platforms. Experiences that can both drive customer delight and reduce operating costs.

Our services include digital strategy consulting, product development, brand and experience design, digital marketing, and data and AI services. WillowTree’s client roster spans industries and growth stages, including T-Mobile, Marriott, Allianz, Dexcom, PepsiCo, Brightline Trains, Synchrony Financial, Domino’s, and Dairy Queen. Check out how we have impacted our clients’ digital portfolios over the years.

In January 2023, WillowTree was acquired by TELUS International (Symbol: TIXT), a leading provider of next-generation digital customer experience (CX) solutions for global and disruptive brands. The combined firm brings an unparalleled ability to deliver seamless, trusted, digitally-enabled experiences across any channel a customer might choose — including mobile apps, websites, voice UI, chatbots, email, customer service agents, and retail associates.

Location and Flexibility:

Our Sr. AI Engineer is an integral part of our AI team at WillowTree. To ensure the Sr. AI Engineer can maximize their impact, this role will maintain an in-office presence in a hybrid capacity (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays) in one of our offices: Charlottesville, VA (HQ), Durham, NC, Columbus, OH, or Boston, MA

The Opportunity:

We are seeking a proficient AI Engineer passionate about turning AI research into tangible, effective solutions within our long-term client projects. As an AI Engineer, you will be instrumental in applying and integrating generative AI models to enhance digital products, making AI accessible and valuable in a real-world context.

Responsibilities:

• Apply your knowledge of software engineering and AI systems to develop AI solutions that directly address and resolve business problems.
• Partner with Data Science professionals who specialize in machine learning and statistical modeling to address complex technical challenges, ensuring that the latest and most effective AI techniques are utilized.
• Take ownership of implementing and optimizing applied AI components, ensuring they meet project needs with high complexity and scale.
• Navigate and manipulate generative AI models, including large language models, to create prompts and solutions tailored to specific use cases.
• Develop and incorporate AI solutions while adhering to industry best practices, including moderation, security, and compliance standards.
• Lead the charge in designing, measuring, and evaluating AI model outputs, developing standard and custom metrics to ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Translate AI research into production-ready features, delivering robust and scalable AI components that integrate seamlessly with larger systems.
• Drive the selection and application of appropriate evaluation metrics, ensuring that AI solutions are robust, unbiased, and meet all necessary performance standards.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrable experience in applied AI, with a foundation in machine learning, deep learning, NLP, LLMs, and statistical analysis.
• Strong understanding of the trade-offs between various generative AI models and the ability to choose the right model for specific use cases.
• Experience with data embeddings and vector databases, understanding the trade-off between available options, and leveraging it to optimize data ingestion.
• Experience building and testing a major server-side platform (such as TypeScript/Express, Java/Spring, Python/Django, C#/.NET, Ruby/Rails, etc) for API development and orchestration.
• Experience leveraging CI/CD tools such as AWS CodeDeploy, Azure Pipelines, GitHub Actions, or Jenkins.
• Hands-on experience deploying software on leading cloud platforms and utilizing AI tools like AWS Bedrock and Azure AI Services.
• Experience with performance optimization and observability platforms.
• Proficiency in conducting experiment tracking and implementing complex AI integrations with minimal oversight.
• Ability to communicate complex AI solutions and concepts effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Skilled in creating and adjusting prompts for complex AI systems to meet diverse project requirements.
• Familiarity with testing and evaluating AI systems using state-of-the-art methods and best practices.
• Strong collaboration skills and ability to work alongside Data Science specialists, drawing on their expertise in AI model development and fine-tuning to deliver sophisticated AI solutions.

Why WillowTree?

We offer a place to be yourself.

Our differences, both visible and invisible, benefit our teams, our communities, and the products we craft. That’s why WillowTree strives to build a team with diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. You’ll work hard here; however, we’ll balance that with a culture that supports your growth and cares about your well-being. We’re committed to creating an environment of inclusion — a place where every Tree can thrive.

We want you to reach your fullest potential and part of your professional development at WillowTree will include dedicated time to innovate on passion projects and an annual stipend to fund your professional pursuits.

WillowTree celebrates our differences and provides equal employment opportunities to all team members and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

What We’ll Offer:

In addition to a great culture and interesting work with opportunities for growth and development, this position is eligible for the following benefits:

• Healthcare benefits – Medical, Vision, Dental (Including an option for 100% coverage of individual employee medical premiums)
• Life & Disability Insurance
• 401K matching
• Flexible paid time off & paid company holidays
• Parental Leave
• Employee Share Purchase Plan
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• And more!

Equality is a principle here at Willowtree. We are committed to building an inclusive team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, beliefs, and experiences. Therefore we provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or disability.

We will only use the information you provide to process your application and to produce tracking statistics. Since we do not request personal data deemed sensitive, we ask you to abstain from sharing those information with us.

For more information on how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.

Benefits:

In addition to a great culture and interesting work with opportunities for growth and development, this position is eligible for the following benefits:

• Healthcare benefits – Medical, Vision, Dental (Including an option for 100% coverage of individual employee medical premiums)
• Life & Disability Insurance
• 401K matching
• Flexible paid time off & paid company holidays
• Parental Leave
• Employee Share Purchase Plan
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• And more!
• Individual compensation is based on various factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, experience, qualifications, and other job-related reasons determined during the interview process. Role ranges are periodically reviewed and updated based on market changes, internal needs, and industry trends. To drive ongoing pay equity for team members, WillowTree conducts regular compensation audits.

USA Pay Range:

$120,000 — $150,000 USD