AI Engineer

Join a team building enterprise-scale autonomous AI systems that bring next-generation GenAI and agentic capabilities into production. This contract-to-hire AI Engineer role offers the chance to design cloud-native frameworks, runtime components, and intelligent automation solutions that help power advanced AI experiences in a complex enterprise environment.
Responsibilities

• Design and develop autonomous AI agent systems that can reason, plan, act, and collaborate in production environments.
• Build scalable runtime infrastructure and foundational components that support enterprise AI and GenAI solutions.
• Partner with researchers, platform engineers, architects, and product leaders to move agentic AI ideas from concept to deployment.
• Create secure, cloud-native frameworks that support intelligent automation across distributed systems.
• Contribute to governance, safety, observability, and compliance for AI-powered applications.
• Help shape core agent capabilities such as memory handling, context management, identity, and tooling integration.
• Support the development of APIs, backend services, and production-ready infrastructure for AI workflows.

Skills

• Experience designing, building, and deploying autonomous AI agents or agent-based architectures.
• Strong Python skills, along with familiarity with backend engineering and AI infrastructure.
• Hands-on knowledge of LLM integration, prompt engineering, and agent runtime systems.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
• Background in Kubernetes, Docker, containerization, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Understanding of distributed systems, API design, and scalable production environments.
• Ability to communicate clearly, document work effectively, and collaborate across technical teams.
• Bachelor's or master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 2+ years of experience in software architecture, backend development, or AI infrastructure.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with MCP servers, vector databases, RAG systems, graph-based memory, or NLP frameworks.
• Familiarity with Java, Go, or C++.
• Knowledge of AI governance, safety, and compliance practices.
• Experience extending open-source tools for enterprise use cases.
• Ability to mentor others and contribute to cross-functional technical planning.
• Interest in building safe, human-centered autonomous systems.

Horizontal is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where every person is respected and valued. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and encourage applicants who are excited to contribute their unique perspective and experience.

By applying for this position, you acknowledge and agree that Horizontal Talent may contact you regarding your application using automated technology, including phone calls, SMS/text messages, or email, which may be delivered by our virtual AI recruiter, Alex.

Please apply through this online posting or by visiting our Job Board at Applications will be accepted for 4 weeks. For those that join the team, we offer competitive compensation and benefits including medical, dental, vision, and retirement. Check out all we have to offer and how you can become part of the Horizontal Talent Team. The pay range for this role is $22 - $46 per hour based on qualifications and experience.