Lead AI/ML Engineer

nical expertise across the full AI/ML development lifecycle combined with exceptional leadership capabilities to drive innovation and engineering excellence. A key focus for this role will be developing robust agentic AI solutions scalable across Finastra's organization.

In this role, you will work with cross-functional engineering teams in designing and implementing cutting-edge AI/ML solutions that transform our business capabilities and deliver significant competitive advantages. You will establish technical direction, architectural standards, and engineering best practices while mentoring and developing the technical capabilities of our organization.

Who We Are

Finastra's Global Innovation Lab was founded on a simple idea: to push technology boundaries and build the future of finance. From ideation to proof of concepts to fully productized models, the Innovation Lab team is responsible for cutting edge research and development in artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, and is always pushing development for creating the next great frontier of finance. In a fast-paced environment, we venture into the unknown, develop with the latest algorithms and technology, and collaborate to innovate. We treat data science as a team sport and leverage the diverse skillset of the team to constantly prototype and bring new solutions to market.

What You Will Be Doing

• Provide technical leadership and strategic direction for enterprise-wide AI/ML initiatives, establishing architecture patterns and technical standards

• Architect and implement highly scalable, resilient AI/ML systems that meet rigorous production requirements for performance, reliability, and security

• Develop standards and templates for scalable and production grade AI agent systems

• Architect and deploy production grade AI agents for specialized business use cases

• Lead the design and development of sophisticated ML platforms, pipelines, and infrastructure to support model development, deployment, and monitoring at scale

• Optimize AI/ML systems for production environments with advanced performance engineering techniques

• Establish comprehensive MLOps practices that enable continuous integration, delivery, and monitoring of production AI systems

• Lead technical innovation by exploring emerging AI/ML technologies and determining their strategic application

• Drive technical excellence through code reviews, architecture reviews, and implementation of engineering best practices

• Develop architectural roadmaps across the business that align AI capabilities with business objectives and technology strategy

• Collaborate with executive stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions

• Mentor and develop technical leaders and engineers, building organizational AI/ML engineering capabilities

• Establish guidelines and practices for responsible AI development and deployment

• Lead the evaluation and integration of new AI/ML tools, frameworks, and platforms into the technology ecosystem

Our Ideal Candidate

• Works from an innovation mindset and brining fresh ideas to the table to research and develop

• Exhibits leadership by mentoring and developing the skills of junior data scientists

• Absorbs and learns new languages, frameworks, and complex topics quickly

• Is excited to push technology boundaries and seeks the latest and greatest domains to venture into

• Contributes to the technical vision of the data science organization

• Applies the latest machine learning research using a business lens

• Works well in a team of colleagues with diverse skillsets

What You'll Need

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with 7+ years focused on ML/AI engineering

• Proven experience leading the architecture and implementation of production-grade AI/ML systems at enterprise scale

• Expert-level programming abilities in Python and other relevant languages with exceptional software engineering practices

• Deep expertise with building and deploying advanced LLM-based applications (e.g. multi-agent systems, agents with tools, etc.)

• Extensive experience with MLOps, including design and implementation of ML pipelines, model serving infrastructure, and monitoring systems

• Demonstrated success leading architectural decisions for large-scale, business-critical AI initiatives

• Expert knowledge of modern software engineering practices including distributed systems design, API development, and microservices architecture

• Extensive experience with cloud-native development and deploying AI systems on major cloud platforms

• Deep understanding of distributed computing frameworks and large-scale data processing technologies

• Strong track record of driving technical innovation and establishing engineering best practices

• Experience providing technical leadership across multiple teams and influencing organization-wide technical direction

• Exceptional communication skills with ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences including executive stakeholders

• Demonstrated history of mentoring and developing AI/ML engineers and technical leaders.

Technical Skills

• Programming Languages: Expert Python, proficient in Go, Rust, or C++

• ML/LLM Frameworks: LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, Hugging Face Transformers, PyTorch, TensorFlow, SciKitLearn, etc.

• Software Engineering: Distributed systems design, API development, microservices architecture

• ML Infrastructure: ML platforms, feature stores, model registries, experiment tracking

• MLOps: Advanced CI/CD for ML, ML monitoring, observability, and automated testing frameworks

• Vector Databases: Pinecone, Milvus, FAISS, or similar

• Cloud & Infrastructure: Cloud expertise (Azure, AWS, GCP, etc.) and familiarity with data and analytics environments (Databricks, etc.)

• Development Tools: Advanced Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines

• Data Processing: PySpark, Kafka, streaming architectures

• Containerization & Orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Istio

• Security & Compliance: AI security best practices, privacy-preserving ML techniques

• Monitoring & Observability: Langsmith, Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, distributed tracing

For Bonus Points

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related technical field

• Experience leading the development of proprietary ML platforms or frameworks

• Deep expertise in ML system performance optimization and scalability engineering

• Experience with low-level ML model optimization, quantization, and hardware acceleration

• Track record of open-source contributions to significant AI/ML projects or frameworks

• Technical publications or patents in AI/ML or software engineering

• Expertise in responsible AI governance frameworks and regulatory compliance

• Experience leading AI engineering in regulated industries

• Background in research and development of novel ML algorithms or techniques

Applicants for this position need to be located in the following cities or their immediate surrounding areas: Atlanta (GA) OR Lake Mary (FL) Due to the requirements of this position, this job posting is not available for, and Finastra will not be considering any, applicants from New York City.

We are proud to offer a range of incentives to our employees worldwide. These benefits are available to everyone, regardless of grade, and reflect the values we uphold:

• Flexibility: Enjoy unlimited vacation, based on your location and business priorities. Hybrid working arrangements, and inclusive policies such as paid time off for voting, bereavement, and sick leave.

• Well-being: Access confidential one-on-one therapy through our Employee Assistance Program, unlimited personalized coaching via our coaching app, and access to our Gather Groups for emotional and mental support.

• Medical, life & disability insurance, retirement plan, lifestyle and other benefits*

• ESG: Benefit from paid time off for volunteering and donation matching.

• DEI: Participate in multiple DE&I groups for open involvement (e.g., Count Me In, Culture@Finastra, Proud@Finastra, Disabilities@Finastra, Women@Finastra).

• Career Development: Access online learning and accredited courses through our Skills & Career Navigator tool.

• Recognition: Be part of our global recognition program, Finastra Celebrates, and contribute to regular employee surveys to help shape Finastra and foster a culture where everyone is engaged and empowered to perform at their best.

*Specific benefits may vary by location.

At Finastra, each individual is unique, bringing their own ideas, thoughts, cultural beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences together. We learn from one another, embrace and celebrate our differences, and create an environment where everyone feels safe to be themselves.

Be unique, be exceptional, and help us make a difference at Finastra!

Applicants for this position need to be located in the following cities or their immediate surrounding areas: Austin/Lake Mary (Orlando). Due to the requirements of this position, this job posting is not available for, and Finastra will not be considering any applicants who currently reside in New York City or California