Lead AI Engineer, Business Operations (Hybrid or Remote)
AFL TelecommunicationsAbout AFL
AFL manufactures industry-leading fiber optic cable, connectivity and accessories and provides engineering and installation services for some of the largest telecom customers in the world. Founded in 1984, AFL manufactures thousands of products, generates an excess of $2B in revenue, and employs approximately 11,000 associates worldwide.
About the Role
We are seeking a Lead AI Engineer to join our Business Operations team. This position may be able to work remotely from anywhere within the United States.
The Lead AI Engineer is a senior technical leader on AFL's AI Enablement team, responsible for defining the architecture, standards, and delivery approach for agentic AI solutions that automate the operational backbone of the business through workflow orchestration, model adaptation, and analytics. Working directly with the AI Enablement Manager, the Lead AI Engineer will establish the technical foundation the team builds on, including model selection and management, deployment posture, orchestration patterns, and evaluation and audit.
As the team grows, an AI Product Manager and AI Operations Specialists will join to take on intake, sequencing, stakeholder coordination, and product ownership of deployed solutions, allowing the team to stay focused on design, delivery, and maintenance of future solutions.
Responsibilities
Architecture & Technical Foundation
- Establish the architectural patterns, evaluation practices, and deployment standards for the team
- Make framework and model recommendations that set the foundation for the team, including evaluating orchestration frameworks, selecting deployment patterns, training and fine-tuning models, and determining where managed platforms end and custom build begins
Solution Design & Delivery
- Collaborate with the AI Enablement Manager and business unit to optimize operational processes, owning the infrastructure architecture and translating strategic direction into technical plans, product life cycles, a prioritized backlog, and buildable work
- Own solutions end-to-end: technical planning, architecture, build, and deployment, then continuously monitor, iterate, and improve them to keep them reliable in production
Production Reliability
- Build and continuously maintain the monitoring, evaluation, and regression detection systems that keep production agents reliable over time, including logging, performance benchmarking, and feedback loops that surface drift early
Governance & Collaboration
- Partner with data governance to ensure solutions meet compliance, data quality, and operational standards
Personal Qualities
- Innovative and tech-savvy, with deep curiosity about emerging AI capabilities and how to apply them
- Analytical and detail-oriented, with a strong architectural mindset
- Collaborative and communicative, able to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders
- Self-directed and accountable, able to set technical direction and drive execution independently
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience
- 5+ years of software engineering and architecture experience with a strong full-stack foundation — backend services, API design, system integration, and data infrastructure
- Recent hands-on experience architecting and delivering AI or LLM-backed systems in production
- Experience architecting solutions from scratch and owning them through deployment, observability, testing, and ongoing reliability
- Experience with AI development practices — model selection, fine-tuning, prompt engineering, evaluation frameworks, and understanding when each approach is the right fit
- Proficiency in Python; experience with cloud platforms
- Experience mentoring engineers and setting technical direction across multiple initiatives
- Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
What We Offer
- Flexible time off policy
- 401K Company match (up to 4% — dollar for dollar)
- Professional development, training, and tuition reimbursement programs
- Excellent medical, dental, vision, and life insurance policy options
- Opportunities for career advancement with an industry leading company
Working Conditions
- Environment: Remote work environment (US-based)
- Travel: Occasional domestic travel as needed
About AFL Telecommunications
AFL is a manufacturer of fiber optic products that also provides engineering and installation services for telecommunications and related networks. Its offerings include fiber optic cable and hardware, connectivity, fusion splicers, test and inspection equipment, transmission and substation accessories, and outside plant equipment, serving the energy, service provider, enterprise, hyperscale and industrial markets. AFL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan.
Interested in this role?
Apply now to join AFL Telecommunications.