Senior AI Engineer - Generative AI & Applied ...

Job Description We are at the forefront of transforming the future of technology in the financial industry, and we seek curious, practical individuals to help us pave the way. Our team is not intimidated by taking calculated risks, as they relish a good challenge and are eager to engage in problem-solving. As a member of our team, you will work alongside like-minded experts in a culture that is deeply rooted in innovation and progression. Join us to be part of a transformative journey that can shape the industry's future. We are seeking a hands-on Senior AI Architect-Engineer who bridges enterprise architecture leadership with deep engineering execution. You will define and evolve our Generative AI reference architectures while building high-quality solutions end-to-end-accelerating delivery of RAG systems, copilots, and agentic workflows that enhance client experiences, streamline operations, and unlock business value across financial services. This role balances strategy and governance with pragmatic coding, prototyping, and productionizing AI systems. Locations: Dallas Texas (strongly preferred) or El Segundo, CA What would you do: A tenured, self-driven AI leader who combines systems thinking and architectural rigor with hands-on engineering. You proactively learn and apply emerging GenAI tools, collaborate across Business, Risk, and Technology, and mentor engineers while aligning delivery to enterprise guardrails. What will you do: Own and evolve enterprise GenAI reference architectures (LLM orchestration, unified RAG patterns, retrieval, vector index, observability, security). • Design solution blueprints and integration patterns across data platforms, APIs, identity, secrets, and tenant isolation; ensure consistency via reusable components and IaC. • Lead architecture reviews and guardrail enforcement (Responsible AI, cost/performance, safety controls) while unblocking delivery teams. • Prototype quickly and build high-quality services: prompts, evaluators, retrievers, chunking pipelines, embeddings, and inference APIs. • Develop scalable ML/AI pipelines and microservices using cloud-native tools (e.g., Azure, AWS), with CI/CD and automated testing. • Implement agent frameworks and workflow orchestration (manual and autonomous) for business scenarios; catalog prompts and agents. • Partner with Data Engineering and MLOps to deploy, monitor, and lifecycle-manage models; establish model telemetry and cost/usage alerts. • Collaborate with AI Program Strategy, Product, Compliance, and LOB stakeholders to identify/prioritize use cases and align with operating model. • Contribute to internal libraries and shared components; publish patterns, design decisions, and best practices to the AI Community of Practice. • Drive build-vs-buy decisions, evaluate vendor capabilities, and ensure alignment with governance and ROI frameworks. What you need to have: 12 years of professional experience in Architectural Technology 3+ years of experience in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Hands-on experience architecting and building Generative AI systems, including LLM orchestration, RAG pipelines, and copilots. Experience with leading AI platforms and frameworks: Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, Hugging Face, LangChain, and agent frameworks Strong software engineering skills in Python, TypeScript, and Java, with cloud-native development on Azure and AWS. Proven ability to design and deploy production ML systems: feature stores, model registries, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and data privacy controls. Expertise in retrieval systems: semantic chunking, metadata extraction, hybrid search, and vector stores (Azure AI Search, Pinecone). Deep understanding of security and compliance patterns: SSO, RBAC, secrets management, multi-tenant isolation; familiar with financial services risk and controls. Skilled in prompt engineering and evaluation, including prompt versioning, catalogs, and test harnesses. Proficient in IaC and automated delivery pipelines (Terraform, Bicep, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps). Strong cross-functional leadership: driving architecture reviews, establishing standards, mentoring engineers, and collaborating with Risk/Compliance teams. Excellent communicator of trade-offs, cost/performance, and ROI to both technical and business stakeholders. What will really catch our eye: • Examples of enterprise-grade GenAI reference implementations reused across multiple use cases. • Proof of reducing time-to-production via standardized RAG patterns and shared components. • Demonstrated Responsible AI governance embedded in delivery workflows (evaluations, guardrails, and red teaming). • Architecting agentic solutions that integrate with existing systems (Salesforce, NICE, AWS) through robust APIs and observability. • Published internal architecture notes/patterns, mentorship and community contributions. Our top performers share the following traits • Deep understanding of business processes and how AI can be applied to improve them. • Pragmatic and collaborative, building trust across business and technical teams. • High integrity and accountability in architectural and technical decision-making. • Exceptional problem-solving skills and a bias for action. • Comfortable navigating ambiguity and creating structure where none exists. • Balance of architectural depth with practical execution and delivery. • Continuous learning mindset to stay current with AI/ML trends and applications. Compensation The salary range for this role is $140,000 - $185,000 plus competitive performance-based bonus. Compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, years and depth of experience, certifications, and specific office location. Compensation ranges may differ in differing locations due to cost of labor considerations. #LI- HybridAbout Us About Us What we give you in return: Not many teams can say that they support people's dreams coming to life... We happen to do that every day. And as important as we know your career is, we recognize that there's a whole lot more to life. To ensure that our Employees can make the most of their time outside of working hours, we offer a competitive salary and for full-time roles, a benefits package including: Inclusive health, dental, vision and life insurance plans built to support diverse lifestyles, offer preventative care, and protect against hardship. Easy access to mental health benefits to meet our team members and their families where they are. 20 plus days of paid time off (PTO), paid holidays, and 2 paid wellness days to give our employees the time they need to stay close with their loved ones, recharge, and give back to their communities. 401(k) Savings plan with a generous company contribution (up to 5%), and access to a financial professional to offer our employees the opportunity to plan-ahead for a strong financial future well beyond their working years. Paid parental leave to support all team members with birth, adoption, and foster. Health Savings and Flexible Spending Account options to help you save money on healthcare, daycare, commuting, and more. Employee Assistance Program (EAP), LifeLock, Pet Insurance and more. About Cetera Financial Group: Cetera Financial Group® ("Cetera") is a leading network of independent retail broker-dealers empowering the delivery of objective financial advice to individuals, families and company retirement plans across the country through trusted financial advisors and financial institutions. Cetera is one of the largest independent financial advisor networks in the nation by number of advisors, as well as a leading provider of retail services to the investment programs of banks and credit unions. Through its multiple distinct firms, Cetera offers independent and institutions-based advisors the benefits of a large, established broker-dealer and registered investment adviser, while serving advisors and institutions in a way that is customized to their needs and aspirations. Advisor support resources offered through Cetera include award-winning wealth management and advisory platforms, comprehensive broker-dealer and registered investment adviser services, practice management support, and innovative technology. "Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Wealth Services LLC (f/k/a Cetera Advisor Networks), Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions, or Cetera Investors. All firms are members FINRA/SIPC. Cetera Financial Group is committed to providing an equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. For us, this is the only acceptable way to do business. Accordingly, all employment decisions at Cetera Financial Group, including those relating to hiring, promotion, transfers, benefits, compensation, and placement, will be made without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, age, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic characteristics, religion, religious dress and/or grooming, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, U.S. military status, political affiliation, or any other class protected by state and/or federal law. Agencies please note: this recruitment assignment is being managed directly by Cetera's Talent Acquisition team. We will reach out to our preferred agency partners in the rare instance we require additional talent options. Your respect for this process is appreciated. Please review our Workforce Privacy Policy for further details on what information we collect and the purposes for collection.

Created: 2026-03-04