Principal Artificial Intelligence LLM Engineer

***This role is 3 days onsite each week in Chicago, hybrid remote******We are unable to provide sponsorship for this permanent full-time role in Chicago******Position is bonus eligible***Prestigious Financial Institution is currently seeking a Principal Artificial Intelligence Engineer with strong LLM experience Candidate will be a technical leader who will lead through expertise and ensure the technical success of the team's work. The position requires a seasoned engineer with strong software engineering experience, technical leadership skills, and foundational knowledge of AI/LLMs with a keen interest in applying these technologies to financial infrastructure. You will play a key role in executing the AI roadmap while mentoring a team of talented junior engineers in driving organizational transformation. As a team leaning into emerging technology, we also support continuous growth and learning by providing time for experimentation with AI tools and technologies.Responsibilities:Partner with the Executive Director, AI Engineering to help define and execute on the AI technical roadmapLead and partner on the architecture of scalable systems incorporating LLMs and AI into organizational processes and infrastructureDesign and build production applications in support of organizational use casesProvide technical mentorship to junior engineers on engineering best practices and system design (no direct reports)Conduct code/architectural reviews ensuring production readiness, safety, and adherence to high security and compliance standardsImplement testing, evaluation, and monitoring frameworks for AI systems including hallucination detection and bias assessmentEstablish safety guardrails and responsible AI practices for LLM applications in a regulated environmentConnect AI agents to organizational systems and workflowsEvaluate emerging technologies and recommend adoption strategiesFoster continuous learning culture in a rapidly evolving AI landscapeQualifications:Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science or related technical field10+ years software engineering/systems architecture experience with strong technical leadership5+ years as senior technical contributor on complex production systemsExpert in Python and proficient in SQLSystem design expertise: monolithic and microservice architectures, distributed systems, event-driven architectures, APIsHands-on experience in data (e.g., data engineering, data pipelines, data transformation)Foundational experience with LLMs and familiarity with multiple frontier lab models (e.g., Gemini, Claude, GPT)Familiarity of risk vectors in AI applications including hallucinations, bias, prompt injection, data privacyExperience mentoring and reviewing the work of junior engineersExceptional communication skills explaining complex technical conceptsStrong interest in AI/LLM space with demonstrated commitment to continuous learningPreferred Experience:Production experience with AI applications or LLM-powered systemsExperience with RAG architectures and context engineeringFamiliarity with diverse LLM provider APIs and experience connecting agents to systemsExperience tinkering with frontier lab tools and productsCloud platforms/technologies: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CDInfrastructure as code: TerraformExperience in financial market infrastructure or derivatives industryBackground in regulated environments