Lead AI Software Engineer

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At UKG, we are at the forefront of AI and generative AI innovation, transforming the HR/HCM industry with advanced AI-driven solutions that deliver exceptional user experiences. We are looking for a highly skilled and experienced Lead AI Engineer to join our team and contribute to the development of next-generation AI/GenAI solutions. This role offers an opportunity to work on impactful, high-scale SaaS products that serve enterprises and users globally.

About the Role:

UKG is a leader in the HCM space, and is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, dedicated to developing cutting-edge generative AI solutions that transform the HR / HCM industry and enhance user experiences. We are seeking a talented and motivated AI Engineers to join our dynamic team and contribute to the development of next-generation AI/GenAI based products and solutions. This role will provide you with the opportunity to work on cutting-edge SaaS technologies and impactful projects that are used by enterprises and users worldwide. As a Lead Software Engineer, you will be involved in the design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance of software solutions. You will work in a collaborative environment, contributing to the technical foundation behind our flagship products and services.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and delivery of cloud micro-services in Python with LangChain, LangGraph, ADK, MCP, A2A and web-first frameworks such as FastAPI, Streamlit, Gradio, FastHTML.

• Own GenAI initiatives end-to-end-data strategy, model selection or fine-tuning, evaluation, deployment, and continuous optimization for structured reasoning, autonomous planning, image/video generation, and real-time live-mode interactions.

• Set engineering standards for reliability, security, performance, CI/CD, and observability; enforce them through rigorous code reviews and mentoring.

• Drive cross-functional execution-scope epics with product, align roadmaps, and deliver high-value features on time while proactively mitigating risk.

• Champion production excellence-define SLOs, monitor telemetry, lead incident response, and run blameless root-cause analyses in a true DevOps model.

• Mentor and multiply talent-coach engineers, run lightning talks, and foster a culture of candid feedback and continuous learning.

• Document and broadcast decisions through clear design docs and architecture reviews that scale knowledge across the organization.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience (Master's preferred).

• 6+ years of professional Python development, including large-scale, production AI/ML systems.

• Demonstrated experience in building applications on foundation-model APIs and to use AI daily in your workflow (GitHub Copilot, Windsurf/Cursor, Claude Code, etc.).

• Hands-on cloud experience (GCP, AWS, or Azure) plus containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes) and modern CI/CD pipelines.

• Demonstrated leadership in setting technical direction and mentoring engineers.

Preferred qualifications:

• Deep expertise with LangChain, LangGraph, ADK, MCP, A2A and multimodal model orchestration.

• Experience in Next-gen AI coding agents/IDEs such as Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code.

• Knowledge of GCP services (Vertex AI, BigQuery, GKE, Kubeflow), Terraform, GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes.

• Knowledge of Vector, SQL, and NoSQL data stores; streaming frameworks; distributed-systems concepts; advanced observability and SRE practices.

• A self-starter who devours research papers and turns them into production-ready prototypes.

• Energized by ambiguity and full ownership in an AI-first culture; you instinctively raise the bar for those around you.

• Inclusive, candid, and relentlessly customer-obsessed.

***** Please add a link in your résumé (GitHub repo, blog post, Kaggle entry, etc.) that shows something you taught yourself in the last six months and why it excited you.*****

Where we're going

UKG is on the cusp of something truly special. Worldwide, we already hold the #1 market share position for workforce management and the #2 position for human capital management. Tens of millions of frontline workers start and end their days with our software, with billions of shifts managed annually through UKG solutions today. Yet it's our AI-powered product portfolio designed

to support customers of all sizes, industries, and geographies that will propel us into an even brighter tomorrow!

Equal Opportunity Employer

UKG is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, disability, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories. View The EEO Know Your Rights poster UKG participates in E-Verify. View the E-Verify posters here.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email [email protected].

The pay range for this position is $126,300.00 to $181,550.00, however, base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and location. This position is also eligible for a short-term incentive and a long-term incentive as part of total compensation. Information about UKG's comprehensive benefits can be reviewed on our careers site at https://https://www.ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits