Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Location: Remote (U.S.-based candidates only). Preference for candidates based in Dallas, TX. 2-3 days on-site. Employment Type: Contractor Compensation: $65 - $80/hr. Compensation will be determined based on relevant experience, skills, and overall qualifications. Requirements: Must be authorized to work legally in the US without sponsorship, now or in the future. About Us Concord isn't your typical consulting firm; we are an execution company with a passion for making things happen. Our mission is to help clients enhance customer experiences, optimize operations, and revolutionize their product offerings through seamless integration, optimization, and activation of technology and data. We are purpose-built, merging the industry’s top specialty companies to amplify our Innovation Capabilities in analytics & AI, data management & engineering, UX and digital experience, and technical platform integration, automation & security engineering. About the Role We are seeking a skilled AI Engineer to join a client engagement focused on building and deploying intelligent, production-ready AI solutions. This is a hands-on role for someone who thrives at the intersection of large language models, applied ML, and real-world system design. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to architect and implement AI-driven features that deliver measurable business impact. What You’ll Be Doing • Design, develop, and optimize LLM-powered applications using prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures. • Build and maintain agentic workflows and multi-step AI pipelines using frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, or AutoGen. • Evaluate, select, and integrate appropriate LLMs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Llama, Gemini, etc.) based on use case requirements. • Collaborate with data, product, and engineering teams to move AI solutions from prototype to production. • Continuously monitor model performance, identify failure modes, and implement improvements • Document architecture decisions and maintain clean, scalable Python codebases. Experience and Skills Required Experience: • 4–7 years of software engineering experience, with at least 2 years focused on AI/ML or LLM development. • Strong Python proficiency. • Hands-on experience with prompt engineering techniques (chain-of-thought, few-shot, system prompting, etc.). • Experience fine-tuning LLMs (LoRA, PEFT, instruction tuning, or similar approaches). • Solid understanding of RAG architecture — chunking strategies, embedding models, retrieval optimization. • Experience designing and implementing agent workflows (tool use, memory, planning loops). • Familiarity with multiple LLM providers and the ability to evaluate trade-offs across models Preferred Experience: • Experience with vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, pgvector). • Cloud platform experience — AWS, Azure, or GCP. • MLOps exposure: model versioning, deployment pipelines, monitoring (MLflow, Weights & Biases, etc.). • Background in the retail industry — personalization engines, recommendation systems, inventory/demand forecasting, or customer-facing AI features is a strong plus. • Familiarity with LLM evaluation frameworks (Ragas, DeepEval, etc.). • Experience with multimodal models or vision-language applications. Soft Skills & Delivery: • Technically fluent but able to communicate clearly in business terms — comfortable presenting architecture decisions to both engineering teams and executive stakeholders. • Strategic thinker who operates well in high-stakes environments and can drive clarity. • Collaborative leader who thrives in building alignment across cross-functional teams. What We Offer (only for W-2 Employment) • Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance: Comprehensive coverage to support your overall well-being. • Employer Contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSA): For employees enrolled in High Deductible Health Plans, Concord contributes toward your HSA. • Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA): Options for healthcare and dependent care expenses, plus a Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) for wellness and personal development. • Disability Insurance: Short-term (up to 12 weeks) and long-term coverage, fully paid by the employer. • Life and AD&D Insurance: Employer-provided coverage with options for additional voluntary coverage. • Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Support for legal, financial, and personal challenges. • 401(k) Retirement Savings: 1% employer match. • Career Growth Opportunities: Pathways for advancement and skill development. • Team Engagement Activities: Regular team-building events and company-sponsored activities to foster collaboration and connection.