AI Engineering Leader

$200,000 - $300,000 Total CompensationAbout The RoleVertafore's AI organization is moving fast — from agentic workflows to intelligent document processing and predictive analytics. These systems are in production, serving thousands of agencies and carriers across North America, and the bar for reliability, scalability, and craft is high.We're looking for an AI Engineering Leader who leads from the front. You'll own delivery for one of our core AI product domains, managing a small team of engineers while staying close enough to the work that you're the person your team turns to when the architecture gets hard. You’ll be a hands on leader with expertise in designing, evaluating, and shipping AI based features.This is not a role for someone who has stepped fully away from the code. You are an active participant in the team, reviewing PR’s, making technical decisions, and writing code. Your value multiplier is the team you build and enable, but your credibility comes from the depth you bring.What You'll DoLead a High-Performing AI Engineering TeamManage, mentor, and grow a team of 4–8 engineers. Running 1:1s, setting technical direction, and creating clear paths for individual developmentFoster a culture of rigor, fast iteration, and creative problem solving. Build a team where engineers are empowered to raise problems early and move from experiment to production without unnecessary frictionPartner with recruiting to hire strong AI engineering talent and retain it through meaningful work and clear growthOwn Technical Delivery for Your DomainDrive the end-to-end delivery of AI features and systems within your team's scope, from design to deployment to post-production observabilityBe the accountable technical voice for your domain: scope estimates, architectural decisions, tradeoff documentation, and post-mortems all run through youWork closely with a product manager to translate customer problems and business priorities into a well-sequenced engineering roadmapStay Hands-On at the Right LevelContribute meaningfully to system design, code reviews, and debugging when it matters with a focus on greenfield work, critical path systems, or when the team is blockedSet and uphold engineering standards for your team: testing strategy, evaluation frameworks, model observability, and responsible deployment practicesKnow when to write the code yourself and when your highest-leverage move is unblocking someone elseBuild and Operate Production AI SystemsOversee the design and operation of LLM-powered features, ETL pipelines, agentic workflows, and/or document extraction systems Maintain a high bar for production quality: latency, cost, reliability, and behavioral consistency across a diverse multi-tenant customer baseBuild feedback loops and monitoring that detect model drift, degraded outputs, and edge case failures before customers doCollaborate Across the OrganizationWork with peer engineering teams, platform engineering, and data engineering to share infrastructure, avoid duplication, and raise the AI platform's overall capabilityCommunicate clearly to surface risks early, quantify tradeoffs, and clear a path to rapid development and iteration for you teamOccasionally engage directly with customers, customer success, or implementation teams to ground your team's work in real-world usage patternsRequired Qualifications5+ years of experience in machine learning, AI engineering, or applied data science1–3+ years of direct people management or formal tech lead experience with responsibility for team deliveryHands-on production experience with one or more of: LLM-powered applications, agentic workflows, document extraction pipelines, or classical ML systemsProficiency in Python and familiarity with the modern AI engineering stack — LangChain/LangGraph (or equivalent), vector databases, prompt engineering, and model evaluation toolingExperience deploying and operating AI systems in a cloud environment (AWS preferred)Strong written and verbal communication skills — able to write a crisp design doc, run a productive design review, and give clear status to non-technical stakeholdersBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related quantitative fieldPreferred QualificationsExperience in B2B SaaS, insurance, financial services, or another regulated verticalFamiliarity with MLOps toolingExposure to intelligent document processing, for example parsing PDFs, structured tables, or semi-structured data at scaleExperience with LLM observability and AI gateway tooling (e.g., LangSmith, Helicone, Portkey, LiteLLM)Background building systems with human-in-the-loop workflows and agentic task orchestrationWhy This RoleYou'll have real ownership — of a team, of a technical domain, and of shipped product used by insurance professionals across North America. You'll have leadership who is fully committed to delivering real AI value to customers and invest in your growth. And you'll be operating in an industry that is genuinely early in its AI transformation, with the data, infrastructure, and customer relationships already in place to make the work matter.Additional Requirements And DetailsTravel required up to 10% of the time. Located and working from an office location. Occasional lifting and/or moving up to 10 pounds. Frequent repetitive hand and arm movements required to operate a computer. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision (working on a computer, etc.). Frequent sitting and/or standing. THE VERTAFORE STORYOver the past 50 years, Vertafore has advanced the entire insurance distribution channel with the best software solutions in the industry. Today, we’re proud to say hundreds of thousands of Vertafore users rely on our solutions to write business faster, reduce costs, and fuel growth by increasing collaboration and streamlining processes. Vertafore leads the industry with secure, cloud-based mobile products that provide superior reporting and analytics, delivering actionable insight— right when customers need it most. We partner with other leading technology companies to deliver comprehensive solutions to improve the way our customers do business and serve their customers.The Vertafore WayInsurance is about relationships, and technology should make those relationships stronger. That’s why, at Vertafore, it’s our mission to transform the way the industry operates by putting people at the heart of insurance technology. By focusing on our customers, becoming better every day, and delivering results you can see, we provide the level of trust and security that insurance is all about. Bias to Action: We're united by an innate drive to take action and make a difference in the technology and insurance spaces. Win Together: We work together as one team, showing empathy and respect along the way. Show Up Curious: We work to challenge one another to push boundaries and think beyond the box. Say It, Do It: We honor every one of our commitments because integrity is important to us. Customer Success is Our Success: We cultivate authentic relationships and follow up by actively listening to their needs. We Love Insurance: We appreciate the impact insurance has on the world.Is this role not an exact fit for you? Keep an eye on our Careers Page for other positions!Vertafore is a drug free workplace and conducts preemployment drug and background screenings .The selected candidate must be legally authorized to work in the United States.The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the job responsibilities, duties, skill, or working conditions. In addition, this document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" relationship.Vertafore strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.We do not accept resumes from agencies, headhunters, or other suppliers who have not signed a formal agreement with us.Vertafore is a Flexible First working environment which allows team members to work from home as often as you’d like, while using our offices as a place for collaboration, community, and teambuilding. There are times you may be asked to come into an office and/or travel for specific meetings for a specific business purpose and this varies by job responsibilities.