Director AI Engineer/ Forward Deployed Engineer

Who We AreAt Kyndryl, we design, build, manage and modernize the mission-critical technology systems that the world depends on every day. So why work at Kyndryl? We are always moving forward – always pushing ourselves to go further in our efforts to build a more equitable, inclusive world for our employees, our customers and our communities.The RoleAre you passionate about the mechanics of modern Intelligence? Do you look beyond the hype of Generative AI and see the engineering challenges involved in latency, token optimization, and context management? Then there’s a good chance you will love being a part of our AI Engineering team at Kyndryl, where you will build the engines that power our next-generation services. As an experienced AI Engineer at Kyndryl, you will be at the forefront of designing, developing, and operationalizing complex AI architectures. While others write prompts, you will build the systems that manage them. Your work will serve as the backbone for our AI offerings, ensuring that our solutions are not only intelligent but also secure, observable, and capable of handling enterprise-scale workloads. You will be responsible for designing and implementing advanced RAG pipelines, orchestrating Large Language Model (LLM) interactions, and optimizing vector search strategies. Using Python and advanced AI frameworks, you will develop microservices that integrate various models (Open Source and Proprietary), managing the trade-offs between performance and cost. You will play a key role in establishing MLOps standards, building evaluation harnesses to test model accuracy, and implementing guardrails to ensure safe and reliable AI responses. As a valued member of our team, you will provide deep technical expertise to other engineers, guiding architectural decisions regarding model selection, fine-tuning strategies, and infrastructure design. You will have the freedom to drive innovation, experimenting with the latest developments in the field—from agentic workflows to quantization techniques—while maintaining a relentless focus on production stability.Your Future at KyndrylThe career path ahead is full of exciting opportunities to grow and advance within the job family. With dedication and hard work, you can climb the ladder to higher bands, achieving coveted positions such as Principal Engineer or Vice President of AI Software. These roles not only offer the chance to inspire and innovate, but also bring with them a sense of pride and accomplishment for having reached the pinnacle of your career in the software industry.Who You AreYou’re good at what you do and possess the required experience to prove it. However, equally as important – you have a growth mindset; keen to drive your own personal and professional development. You are customer-focused – someone who prioritizes customer success in their work. And finally, you’re open and borderless – naturally inclusive in how you work with others. Required Technical and Professional Experience10+ years of experience working as a Software Engineer or ML Engineer, with a strong focus on backend systems.Deep proficiency in Python and the modern AI stack (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face).Proven experience architecting and deploying RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines and working with Vector Databases (e.g., Milvus, Pinecone, Weaviate).Strong understanding of LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex) and state-of-the-art agentic design patterns.Experience with MLOps and LLMOps practices: model evaluation, versioning, monitoring (e.g., MLflow, Arize), and deployment.Solid background in API development (FastAPI/Flask) and microservices architecture.Familiarity with containerization (Docker/Kubernetes) and cloud infrastructure for ML workloads. Preferred Technical and Professional ExperienceMaster’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or related technical field.Experience with fine-tuning open-source models (Llama, Mistral) and techniques like LoRA/QLoRA.Knowledge of optimized inference engines (e.g., vLLM, TGI) and quantization.Certification in one or more of the hyperscalers (Azure, AWS, and Google GCP) - otherwise, you can obtain certifications with Kyndryl.Experience contributing to open-source AI projects or research papers.Being YouDiversity is a whole lot more than what we look like or where we come from, it’s how we think and who we are. We welcome people of all cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. But we’re not doing it single-handily: Our Kyndryl Inclusion Networks are only one of many ways we create a workplace where all Kyndryls can find and provide support and advice. This dedication to welcoming everyone into our company means that Kyndryl gives you – and everyone next to you – the ability to bring your whole self to work, individually and collectively, and support the activation of our equitable culture. That’s the Kyndryl Way.What You Can ExpectWith state-of-the-art resources and Fortune 100 clients, every day is an opportunity to innovate, build new capabilities, new relationships, new processes, and new value. Kyndryl cares about your well-being and prides itself on offering benefits that give you choice, reflect the diversity of our employees and support you and your family through the moments that matter – wherever you are in your life journey. Our employee learning programs give you access to the best learning in the industry to receive certifications, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Skillsoft, and many more. Through our company-wide volunteering and giving platform, you can donate, start fundraisers, volunteer, and search over 2 million non-profit organizations. At Kyndryl, we invest heavily in you, we want you to succeed so that together, we will all succeed.