Lead Distributed Systems Engineer (AI/ML Platform) - Watertown, MA

Lead Distributed Systems Engineer (AI/ML Platform) - Watertown, MAHybridFull Time$200k - $265kLead Distributed Systems Engineer (AI/ML Platform)A fast-growing AI and data platform company is seeking a Lead Distributed Systems Engineer (AI/ML Platform) to architect and scale the infrastructure that powers enterprise AI and machine learning solutions. This is a highly visible technical leadership role focused on building distributed systems, production AI platforms, and cloud-native services used by large-scale customers operating in complex, regulated environments. You will serve as a key technical authority across platform engineering, machine learning operations, and AI infrastructure. Working closely with software engineers, data engineers, and AI teams, you'll design and build the foundational systems that support model deployment, LLM applications, agent frameworks, observability, governance, and large-scale distributed workloads. This opportunity is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving difficult scalability challenges, driving platform strategy, and building production-grade AI systems that operate at enterprise scale.Required Skills & Experience10+ years of experience building and operating distributed, cloud-native systems in production environmentsProven experience serving as a technical lead, principal engineer, or architect for large-scale platform initiativesDeep expertise in distributed systems architecture, scalability, reliability, and performance optimizationExtensive experience building and supporting production AI/ML infrastructureHands-on experience deploying and operating LLM-based applications in productionStrong understanding of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), embeddings, prompt management, and AI application architectureExpert-level software development experience with Python and TypeScriptExperience with model registries, model serving platforms, and ML lifecycle managementStrong AWS experience and knowledge of containerized environmentsExperience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as CloudFormation, CDK, or TerraformExperience designing secure multi-tenant platforms and handling sensitive dataStrong background in observability, monitoring, alerting, logging, and distributed tracingExcellent communication skills with the ability to mentor engineers and influence technical directionDesired Skills & ExperienceExperience with AI agent frameworks and advanced LLM orchestrationFamiliarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) implementationsExperience optimizing AI workloads for latency, throughput, and cost efficiencyKnowledge of multimodal AI systems and image-based machine learning workloadsExperience with model fine-tuning, quantization, distillation, or inference optimizationUnderstanding of compliance-focused environments, including regulated industriesExperience within life sciences, scientific software, healthcare, or laboratory data platformsWhat You Will Be DoingDaily Responsibilities: 100% Hands OnOwn the architecture and technical direction of the AI/ML platformDesign and build highly scalable distributed services supporting production AI workloadsDevelop infrastructure supporting model deployment, lifecycle management, and servingCreate platform capabilities for LLM applications, AI agents, and retrieval-based systemsBuild reliable real-time and batch inference systemsDefine observability standards across monitoring, alerting, tracing, and performance analyticsImplement evaluation frameworks and automated quality controls for AI applicationsDesign and enforce security controls, tenant isolation, and data protection strategiesContribute to cloud infrastructure automation and deployment processesLead architectural reviews and serve as a technical mentor for engineering teamsEvaluate emerging technologies and drive strategic platform decisionsPartner with cross-functional teams to improve reliability, scalability, and operational excellenceThe OfferCompetitive base salaryPerformance-based bonus opportunityHybrid opportunity in Watertown, MASignificant architectural ownership and influenceOpportunity to build cutting-edge AI and machine learning infrastructureCollaborative, engineering-focused environment with strong technical leadershipYou will receive the following benefitsMedical InsuranceDental BenefitsVision BenefitsPaid Time Off (PTO)401(k)Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US on a full-time basis now and in the future. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.Specialization: Machine Learning/Data Science