Lead AI Engineer

📋 Description

• • Architect the future of professional services: As Lead AI Engineer at Aprio you will own the end-to-end design and delivery of AI/ML solutions that directly influence how 2,100+ team members serve thousands of fast-growing clients across 30 U.S. offices and the Philippines. Your blueprints will scale from proof-of-concept to production-grade systems that power tax, audit, and advisory workflows.
• • Translate complex business problems into elegant AI architectures: You will partner daily with tax, audit, and advisory leaders to surface high-impact use cases—think intelligent document extraction for 10-K reviews, predictive cash-flow models for venture-backed clients, or generative-AI assistants that surface regulatory guidance in real time. You will convert these domain requirements into technical specifications, select the optimal Azure stack (Azure ML, Cognitive Services, Synapse, AKS), and define data pipelines that respect strict security and privacy mandates.
• • Build, ship, and continuously improve production models: Hands-on development is core to the role. You will code in Python, C#, or JavaScript; leverage PyTorch, TensorFlow, and scikit-learn; containerize services with Docker and Kubernetes; and automate CI/CD workflows that push new model versions to production multiple times per week. Expect to monitor latency, drift, and cost in real time and to roll back or hot-patch without client disruption.
• • Establish MLOps and governance guardrails: You will institute enterprise-grade MLOps—feature stores, model registries, automated retraining, and A/B testing—while embedding explainability, fairness, and ethical-AI checks into every release. Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform/Bicep) and policy-as-code will ensure repeatability across regions and compliance with SOX, SOC 2, and emerging AI regulations.
• • Integrate AI seamlessly into the Microsoft ecosystem: Deep experience with Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Dynamics 365 is essential. You will expose models via secure APIs, embed intelligence into Power BI dashboards, and enable citizen-developers to consume AI through low-code canvases—all while maintaining single-sign-on and role-based access.
• • Mentor and elevate a growing AI practice: You will provide technical leadership to a distributed team of junior engineers and data scientists, run weekly architecture reviews, and curate an internal knowledge base of patterns, prompts, and playbooks. Your coaching will shorten ramp-up time for new hires and raise the bar for code quality across the firm.
• • Pioneer generative-AI capabilities: Experiment with LangChain, Semantic Kernel, vector databases (Pinecone, Azure Cognitive Search), and retrieval-augmented generation to create secure, hallucination-resistant copilots for auditors and consultants. You will fine-tune open-source LLMs on Aprio’s proprietary datasets and establish prompt-engineering standards that safeguard client confidentiality.
• • Drive continuous research and innovation: Allocate 20 % of your time to horizon scanning—evaluating new foundation models, benchmarking GPU vs. CPU cost curves, and publishing internal tech briefs. You will run quarterly hackathons that transform the best POCs into billable client offerings, directly influencing Aprio’s revenue and reputation as a tech-forward CPA firm.
• • Ensure bulletproof documentation and compliance: Create living architecture diagrams, data-flow maps, and model cards that satisfy both external auditors and internal risk teams. You will conduct threat-modeling sessions, maintain an AI risk register, and deliver training that lifts AI literacy across non-technical stakeholders.
• • Champion a culture of experimentation and entrepreneurship: Aprio’s “what’s next” mindset means your ideas receive executive airtime. Whether you propose a new pricing-optimization engine or a computer-vision solution for lease-accounting compliance, you will have budget, cloud credits, and cross-functional squads to bring bold concepts to life.