Artificial Intelligence Engineer

12 month contract with strong likelihood for extension and/or hire 3 days/week on-site - either Charlotte, NC or Detroit, MI location The Opportunity Our customer is building a new AI engineering team focused on fundamentally changing how software is designed, developed, and delivered. This team will be responsible for creating a centralized knowledge platform while establishing AI-native development practices that improve engineering velocity and enable scalable innovation across the organization. This is an opportunity to join a highly collaborative team where you'll have significant influence on architecture, engineering standards, and the adoption of emerging AI technologies. We're looking for engineers who are curious, creative, and excited to rethink traditional software development workflows. This initial contract is expected to run through the end of the year with a strong likelihood of multi-year extensions as the initiative expands. What You'll Do Build AI-native platform capabilities leveraging modern cloud technologies and agentic development workflows Design and develop scalable, event-driven services capable of supporting dynamic workloads Partner with engineering teams to review architecture, influence technical decisions, and establish best practices Develop reusable components, frameworks, and patterns that can be adopted across multiple engineering teams Leverage AI-assisted development tools to accelerate software design, implementation, testing, and debugging Translate business problems into scalable technical solutions using AI-augmented development methodologies Contribute to the creation of a centralized engineering knowledge platform that improves collaboration and developer productivity Mentor fellow engineers and champion responsible AI adoption throughout the software development lifecycle Participate in collaborative design sessions, architecture reviews, and live problem-solving exercises Required Qualifications 3+ years of professional software engineering experience Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience Strong experience building modern cloud-based applications Experience developing scalable APIs, services, or distributed systems Excellent communication and collaboration skills with both technical and business stakeholders Preferred Qualifications 4+ years of software development experience utilizing AI-assisted engineering tools Hands-on experience with Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, or similar agentic coding platforms Experience working with MCP servers, prompt engineering, context management, and AI workflow design Proven ability to use AI throughout the software development lifecycle, including architecture, code generation, testing, debugging, and documentation Experience rapidly prototyping and delivering software using AI-first development methodologies Strong understanding of AWS and cloud-native architecture patterns Experience building event-driven systems and highly scalable applications Ability to create technical documentation and software specifications using AI-assisted workflows Passion for mentoring teams and driving adoption of modern engineering practices What We're Looking For This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex problems rather than simply executing tickets. Successful candidates are highly adaptable, intellectually curious, and excited about leveraging AI to fundamentally improve the way software is built. You'll thrive in this role if you enjoy: Building new platforms from the ground up Influencing engineering strategy and best practices Experimenting with emerging AI technologies Collaborating closely with architects and senior engineering leaders Delivering high-impact solutions in a fast-moving environment Location Preference for candidates located in or willing to work in Charlotte, NC, with additional consideration for candidates based in the Detroit, MI area. #J-18808-Ljbffr