Ai Engineer

Position: AI Engineer RAG Optimization (Azure)

Start: ASAP Seeking a hands-on AI Engineer to optimize an existing RAG application built in Azure AI Foundry. The environment and architecture are already in place and approximately 80% functional. This person will focus on rapidly improving retrieval accuracy, response quality, and overall performance.

Top Skills

• Strong hands-on RAG optimization experience

• Azure AI Foundry experience

• Strong vibe coding / AI-assisted development skills

• Good communication and ability to execute independently

Responsibilities

• Optimize existing Azure AI Foundry RAG pipelines

• Improve retrieval accuracy, ranking/reranking, and context selection

• Tune document ingestion, chunking, metadata, indexing, and search strategies

• Improve vector/semantic search performance

• Optimize prompts and context strategies to increase first-response accuracy

• Test results against real-world customer support use cases

• Work through an established backlog and deliver enhancements quickly

Ideal Background

Experience directly building or tuning production RAG solutions, particularly involving large sets of technical documentation, manuals, specifications, or

knowledge-base content. Azure AI Search/Cognitive Search experience is a plus.

Important: This is not an AI Architect or strategy role. We need a hands-on engineer who can get into the existing environment, vibe code, troubleshoot, iterate quickly, and measurably improve RAG performance and answer accuracy.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Chicago, IL.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $65.00 - $85.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) Short and long-term disability Health Spending Account (HSA) Transportation benefits Employee Assistance Program Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully remote position.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Oct 5, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email View email address on click.appcast.io for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: 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.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.