Lead AI Engineer

Piper Companies is seeking a Senior AI Engineer Lead to join a prominent technology organization to launch and scale new AI solutions for business operations and customer experiences.
The Senior AI Engineering Lead will sit hybrid in Durham, NC.

• Partnering with the CTO to stand up the Emerging Intelligence Group and deliver early strategic wins.
• Building and deploying LLM‑powered applications, RAG pipelines, and scalable APIs.
• Integrating AI capabilities across web, mobile, and enterprise systems in collaboration with Product Engineering.
• Establishing AI governance and serving as the technical bridge between data, engineering, and product teams.

• 8+ years of experience across software engineering and AI product development, with proven delivery of production AI systems.
• Hands‑on experience with LLMs, RAG architectures, vector databases, and frameworks like Lang Chain or Hugging Face.
• Strong proficiency in AWS (Bedrock, Lambda, S3), full‑stack development, and SQL/No
  
  SQL platforms.
• Skilled communicator with familiarity in MLOps, responsible AI principles, and conversational UX.

• $140,000 – $170,000 annually.
• Comprehensive benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), and PTO.
• Paid holidays and sick leave as required by law.
• Hybrid in Durham, NC.

This job opens for applications on 1/20/2026. Applications for this role will be accepted for at least 30 days from the posting date.