Lead Python AI Engineer
✨ AI Summary
EPAM Systems is hiring a Lead Python AI Engineer in Canada to build secure, scalable LLM-powered API services and agentic workflows. The role requires 7+ years of backend experience with Python, microservices, and AWS, alongside practical expertise in LangChain, LangGraph, and RAG pipelines. Notable benefits include company-paid healthcare, life insurance, and an RRSP with company match.
We are looking for a Lead Python AI Engineer to build robust, AI-powered API services and agentic workflows. In this role, you will bridge the gap between traditional backend systems and modern language models, focusing on secure and scalable LLM interactions with internal systems, vector databases, and external tools via orchestration frameworks.
We treat LLMs not as magic, but as components in a secure, scalable distributed system. If you take pride in API reliability, graceful failure handling, and production-grade AI integration, we’d love to talk to you.
Req# 1109260679
Responsibilities
- End-to-End Ownership: Own API contracts and service reliability end-to-end. AI edge cases must fail gracefully without compromising system integrity
- Rigorous Systems Engineering: Integrate LLMs with a strong engineering foundation—baking in evaluation, comprehensive observability, robust fallback handling, and cost awareness
- Reusable Frameworks: Build reliable, reusable orchestration frameworks and logic designed for downstream developer consumption
- Design and build scalable backend API services and advanced LLM orchestration layers
- Implement and maintain complex RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines, covering document ingestion, chunking, embedding, and retrieval optimization
- Develop and connect agent tools using LangChain, LangGraph, and potentially MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- Ensure top-tier security, privacy, enterprise-grade observability, and comprehensive test coverage across all backend workflows
- Contribute actively to architecture decisions and engineering standards within your pod
- Collaborate cross-functionally with frontend engineers, data engineers, and infrastructure teams
Requirements
- Backend Experience: 7+ years of backend engineering with a heavy focus on microservices and distributed systems, using Python for high-performance backend services and cloud-native APIs
- Cloud & Infrastructure: Hands-on experience with AWS, Docker, ECS/EKS, and RESTful APIs
- Security First: Proven experience with secure coding practices and strong authentication/authorization (auth/authz) fundamentals
- Agentic Frameworks: Practical, hands-on experience with frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, or LangGraph
- AI SDK Integration: 1–2+ years of hands-on experience integrating AI SDKs (OpenAI, Anthropic/Claude, AWS Bedrock, or equivalent) in production environments
- AI Observability & Evaluation: Familiarity with AI evaluation tooling or real-time APM platforms (e.g., LangSmith, Langfuse, Arize)
- RAG Pipelines: Practical experience working with vector databases (e.g., Amazon Kendra, OpenSearch), advanced embedding strategies, and retrieval systems
Nice to have
- Frontend Fluency: 1–2+ years of experience with React and TypeScript
- Scale & Deployment: Experience deploying applications to EKS environments at scale
- Interoperability & Security: Knowledge of agent interoperability patterns (MCP) and identity/security domain models (IAM, CIAM)
- Secondary Languages: Professional proficiency in Java, Node.js, or Go
Benefits
Extended Healthcare with Prescription Drugs, Dental and Vision, and Healthcare Spending Account (Company Paid)
Life and AD&D Insurance (Company Paid)
Employee Assistance Program (Company Paid)
Telehealth (Company Paid)
Short-term Disability (Company Paid)
Long-Term Disability
Paid Time Off (including vacation and sick days)
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) with Company match
Maternity/Parental/Adoption Leave Top-up
Employee Stock Purchase Program
Critical Illness Insurance
Employee Discounts
Unlimited access to LinkedIn learning solutions
About the Company
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