Lead AI Engineer

Lead AI Engineer, Agentic AI Systems

Compensation: Up to $250,000 + Equity + Bonus

Location: Washington DC (on-site)

A mission-driven technology company building AI-powered platforms to modernize complex, high-stakes decision-making environments.

We’re partnering with a cutting-edge organization at the intersection of AI, data, and national-scale infrastructure. Their platform enables teams operating in highly complex environments to make faster, more informed decisions through advanced analytics and AI-driven applications. As they continue to expand their agentic AI capabilities, they’re investing heavily in building autonomous and semi-autonomous systems that can operate across increasingly complex workflows.

The Role

This is a high-impact leadership opportunity to shape the future of agentic AI systems in production. You’ll lead the development of a next-generation AI agent platform, driving architecture, technical strategy, and execution as the team scales intelligent agents capable of planning, reasoning, and acting over long time horizons. You’ll work at the frontier of LLM applications pushing into multi-agent coordination, tool use, memory, and reliability at scale.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the design and development of advanced multi-agent systems with capabilities such as planning, memory, routing, and tool orchestration
• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of agentic systems from ideation and prototyping through to production deployment
• Guide and mentor a team of ML Engineers and Data Scientists, setting technical direction and best practices
• Build robust observability, evaluation, and feedback systems for agent performance (telemetry, prompt evaluation, regression testing)
• Develop modular “agent skills” and tools that integrate with backend systems and data pipelines
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product and implementation teams to solve complex, real-world challenges
• Drive Agile ceremonies, technical planning, and execution for the team

What You’ll Bring

• Proven experience building and deploying LLM-powered or ML systems in production environments
• Experience leading or mentoring engineering teams in a fast-paced setting
• Strong understanding of LLM capabilities, limitations, and practical applications
• Hands-on experience with agent frameworks (e.g., OpenAI Agents SDK, Claude Agent SDK, or similar)
• Expertise in designing agentic systems, including multi-agent coordination and tool usage
• Strong Python development skills and experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred)
• Ability to operate in ambiguous environments with urgency and ownership
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field
• U.S. Citizenship required

Nice to Have

• Experience with security clearance processes or eligibility
• Background in startup or high-growth environments
• Familiarity with GenAI coding best practices and emerging tooling

Tech Stack

• Python
• LLMs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
• Agent frameworks (OpenAI Agents SDK, Claude Agent SDK)
• AWS / Cloud Infrastructure

Why Join?

• Work on mission-critical AI systems solving real-world, high-impact problems
• Operate at the cutting edge of agentic AI and autonomous systems
• High ownership and influence over technical direction and architecture
• Collaborative, fast-moving environment with strong engineering culture
• Opportunity to build systems that operate at scale in complex domains

About People In AI

People In AI is a specialist recruitment partner connecting top AI and machine learning talent with innovative companies solving meaningful problems. We focus on high-impact roles across AI, ML, and data helping both candidates and clients navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape.