Lead AI Engineer
Eliassen GroupAbout the role
Description
Hybrid 4/1 in Charlotte, NC
Our client seeks a Lead AI Engineer to guide IVR and conversational AI initiatives and to design scalable LLM and NLP solutions for high-volume customer interactions. The role will drive architecture, best practices, and innovation across voice AI systems while contributing as an individual contributor and mentoring a distributed team.
This is a contract to hire opportunity. Applicants must be willing and able to work on a w2 basis and convert to FTE following contract duration. For our w2 consultants, we offer a great benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits, 401k with company matching, and life insurance.
Rate: $70.00 to $80.00/hr. w2
Responsibilities
Architect and develop AI-driven IVR and conversational systems using Python.
Build NLP models for text classification and clustering to support intent detection and call routing.
Perform data analysis using SQL on large-scale IVR and interaction datasets.
Design and deploy LLM workflows, including prompt engineering, RAG, and evaluation for voice and chat use cases.
Lead development of agentic AI workflows for multi-step customer interactions.
Establish LLMOps best practices for monitoring, evaluation, and lifecycle management.
Partner with IVR platform, speech engineering, and product teams.
Mentor offshore and junior AI engineers.
Experience Requirements
10+ years of experience in AI and ML with pre-LLM era exposure.
Strong proficiency in Python.
Proven expertise in NLP, including text classification and clustering.
Strong experience in data analysis using SQL.
Hands-on experience with LLMs, including prompt engineering, evaluation frameworks, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation.
Good to have: experience with agentic AI and multi-agent orchestration.
Good to have: experience with LLMOps or MLOps in production environments.
Good to have: familiarity with IVR platforms and speech technologies such as ASR, NLU, and TTS.
Tools and libraries: NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-learn, XGBoost, spaCy, Hugging Face Transformers, NLTK, Sentence-Transformers, LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenAI SDK, LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, Oracle, MySQL, SQLAlchemy, FAISS, Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant, MLflow, Weights & Biases, BentoML, Airflow.
Education Requirements
Responsibilities
- Architect and develop AI-driven IVR and conversational systems using Python
- Build NLP models for text classification and clustering to support intent detection and call routing
- Perform data analysis using SQL on large-scale IVR and interaction datasets
- Design and deploy LLM workflows, including prompt engineering, RAG, and evaluation for voice and chat use cases
- Lead development of agentic AI workflows for multi-step customer interactions
- Establish LLMOps best practices for monitoring, evaluation, and lifecycle management
- Partner with IVR platform, speech engineering, and product teams
- Mentor offshore and junior AI engineers
Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience in AI and ML with pre-LLM era exposure
- Strong proficiency in Python
- Proven expertise in NLP, including text classification and clustering
- Strong experience in data analysis using SQL
- Hands-on experience with LLMs, including prompt engineering, evaluation frameworks, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Benefits
- Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
- 401k with company matching
- Life insurance
Skills mentioned
About Eliassen Group
Eliassen Group is a strategic consulting firm that helps organizations achieve more through technology, business advisory, and life sciences solutions. For nearly 40 years, we have combined exceptional people, deep domain expertise, and intelligent capabilities — including AI — to expand our clients' capacity and accelerate meaningful outcomes. We are driven by a purpose to positively impact our employees, clients, consultants, and the communities we serve. Eliassen is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We are an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, and all employment decisions are based on merit, performance, and business needs. Eliassen does not discriminate based on race, color, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, sex (including pregnancy and childbirth), disability, veteran status, age, national origin, citizenship status, or any other status protected by law. If you are contacted about an open position with Eliassen Group, please confirm you are working directly with us. All email communication will come from an @eliassen.com address (never Gmail, Yahoo, etc.), and Eliassen Group will never request personal information until you have worked directly with someone clearly affiliated with Eliassen Group. If you suspect fraudulent activity, contact fraud[at]eliassen.com Eliassen Group values transparency in our recruitment practices and uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools during application screening and hiring. You may receive email or SMS notifications from the Eliassen Virtual Recruiting Team (noreply@eliassen.com, 781 808 2924). All AI‑assisted evaluations are reviewed by human recruiters, and measures are taken to support fairness, consistency, and prevent bias or discrimination. By proceeding, you consent to the use of these tools. Skills, experience, and other compensable factors are considered when determining pay. Posted pay ranges reflect a W2 hourly rate; other employment options may be available.