AI Engineer III

AI Engineer III

Work Model: Onsite, Lincolnshire, IL

About Staples

Staples is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values the diversity of its people, products, and services. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.

About the Role

Staples is seeking an experienced AI Engineer III to design, develop, and implement advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions that solve complex business challenges. In this role, you will create and optimize algorithms, manage data pipelines, and collaborate with cross-functional partners to ensure AI initiatives align with organizational objectives. This position supports high-impact, technically complex projects and requires seasoned technical expertise, strong independent judgment, and the ability to deliver scalable AI-driven solutions in a production environment.

As an AI Engineer III, you will play a key role in advancing Staples' technology roadmap by developing AI solutions that improve operational efficiency, support data-driven decision-making, and deliver high-value business insights. Your work will help streamline processes, enhance performance, and enable strategic growth through practical, scalable AI and ML capabilities.

What You'll Do

This role requires close partnership with internal and external stakeholders, including senior leaders, project managers, data engineers, product owners, and vendors. You will be expected to communicate complex technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, present AI project proposals and outcomes, align stakeholders on scope and timelines, and help manage priorities where objectives may vary across teams.

• Architect, design, and maintain AI/ML models and systems that support large-scale data processing and analytics.
• Implement advanced algorithms and technical methodologies to anticipate, resolve, and prevent roadblocks.
• Conduct rigorous testing and validation of AI models to ensure performance, accuracy, and scalability.
• Partner with data scientists, engineers, product owners, and other cross-functional stakeholders to translate business requirements into AI-driven solutions.
• Lead or support the design of data pipelines while ensuring integrity, security, and compliance.
• Monitor deployed models, troubleshoot production issues, and continuously optimize model performance.
• Contribute to AI research, experimentation, and the evaluation of emerging technologies and industry best practices.
• Provide technical guidance, mentoring, and knowledge sharing to less experienced team members.
• Prepare clear technical documentation, including best practices, standards, and process guidelines.

What You Bring to the Table

• Strong analytical thinking, creative problem-solving abilities.
• Hands-on engineering mindset with the ability to build scalable, maintainable, and production-ready AI solutions.
• Debugging and optimization expertise in Python.
• Excellent collaboration skills to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
• Adaptability and a continuous learning mindset to stay current with industry trends.
• High level of integrity, professionalism, and accountability in delivering results.
• Ability to balance experimentation with practical business implementation.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent experience, in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related technical field.
• At least 4 years of progressively complex experience in AI, Machine Learning, data science, or software engineering roles.
• At least 4 years of experience developing, deploying, and maintaining AI or Machine Learning solutions in a production environment.
• Strong proficiency in Python, including optimization and debugging.
• At least 2 years of hands-on experience with RAG and LLM solutions.
• At least 3 years of experience with machine learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Proven experience optimizing data pipelines and working with large datasets.
• Experience with containerization, version control, and CI/CD practices for software deployment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a closely related field.
• Experience leading or coordinating portions of complex projects involving multiple stakeholders.
• Familiarity with big data processing tools such as Spark or Hadoop.
• Experience with cloud-based AI services, including AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
• Published research or conference presentations in Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning.

We Offer

• Inclusive culture with associate-led Business Resource Groups
• 22 days of PTO and Holiday Schedule (7 observed paid holidays + 1 floating holiday)
• Online and Retail Discounts, Company Match 401(k), Physical and Mental Health Wellness programs, and more

The salary range represents the expected compensation for this role at the time of posting. The specific base pay may be influenced by a variety of factors to include the candidate's experience, skill set, education, geography, business considerations, and internal equity. In addition to base pay, this role may be eligible for bonuses, or other forms of variable compensation.

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