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About This Role
Discover your future at Citi
Working at Citi is far more than just a job. A career with us means joining a team of approximately 219,000 dedicated people from around the globe. At Citi, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your career, give back to your community and make a real impact.
Job Overview
We are seeking a results-driven Generative AI practitioner with end-to-end experience for the execution and deployment of cutting-edge Generative AI and agentic AI solutions across our enterprise-wide Controls Technology platform. In this role, you will be responsible for translating AI strategy into tangible, production-ready capabilities that enhance operational efficiencies and drive business value. We're looking for someone who combines deep technical expertise in generative AI — including context engineering, retrieval systems, knowledge graphs, and multi-agent orchestration — with a proven track record of successfully delivering complex technology projects. This role centers on architecting and delivering solutions built on pre-trained and hosted foundation models, not on training or fine-tuning models.
Key Responsibilities
- GenAI Delivery Leadership: Execute the delivery roadmap for generative and agentic AI projects, ensuring alignment with business objectives and timelines. Manage the project lifecycle from ideation and scoping to deployment and post-launch support.
- Team Leadership & Mentorship: Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing team of AI engineers and specialists. Foster a culture of execution, collaboration, and continuous improvement to successfully deliver on the AI roadmap.
- End-to-End Solution Delivery: Oversee the design, development, and deployment of robust, scalable, and production-ready GenAI and agentic applications. Ensure all solutions meet rigorous performance, security, and quality standards before and after deployment.
- Agentic Solution Delivery: Drive the design and delivery of agentic workflows and multi-agent systems, establishing standards for agent harnesses, orchestration patterns, and reliable long-running agent execution across the platform.
- Stakeholder & Program Management: Serve as the primary point of contact for GenAI delivery. Manage stakeholder expectations, communicate project progress, identify and mitigate risks, and ensure on-time and on-budget delivery.
- Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate closely with Data Mesh, Cloud Architecture, MLOps/LLMOps, and business unit teams to ensure the seamless integration and operationalization of GenAI and agentic solutions into our existing technology ecosystem.
- Technical Excellence & Best Practices: Drive the adoption of best practices in software development (CI/CD), LLMOps, agent observability, and project management (Agile/Scrum) within the AI team to ensure efficient and repeatable delivery.
- Governance & Ethical Deployment: Implement and enforce robust governance and ethical AI frameworks throughout the delivery process — including guardrails, agent isolation/sandboxing, and responsible AI practices — ensuring compliance with data privacy standards and corporate policies.
Technical Skills
- Programming Languages: Python (expert proficiency required)
- Python Packages: Transformers, LangChain, LlamaIndex, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn, Flask/Django, and other relevant data science, machine learning, and web development libraries.
- Deep Learning Frameworks: TensorFlow, PyTorch
- LLMs: Llama, Gemini, GPT, and other advanced LLMs.
- Vector Databases: Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, Faiss, PostgreSQL with vector extensions (pgvector).
- Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure, GCP
- MLOps Tools: MLflow, Kubeflow, or similar.
- Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes
- CI/CD Tools: GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar.
- Version Control: Git
- Data Visualization & Reporting: Tableau, Power BI, matplotlib, seaborn.
- Databases: SQL and NoSQL databases
Qualifications
- 10+ years of overall experience.
- 8+ years of experience in AI/ML, with at least 3 years in Generative AI (including agentic AI).
- 5+ years of leadership experience managing technical teams and delivering complex software or AI solutions.
- Extensive hands-on experience with AWS services and infrastructure related to AI/GenAI.
- A strong portfolio of projects showcasing the successful delivery of AI solutions into a production business environment.
Education:
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, or a related field (PhD preferred).
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Job Family Group:
Technology -
Job Family:
Applications Development -
Time Type:
Full time -
Primary Location:
Irving Texas United States -
Primary Location Full Time Salary Range:
$156,160.00 - $234,240.00
In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.
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Most Relevant Skills
Please see the requirements listed above. -
Other Relevant Skills
For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter. -
Anticipated Posting Close Date:
Oct 13, 2026 -
Automated Processing and AI
We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi.
Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.
Illinois residents – AI Notice and Right
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Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Salary Context
This $156K-$234K range is above the median for AI Software Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $192K across 198 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
AI Software Engineers build the applications and systems that AI models run inside. They own the API layers, data pipelines, frontend integrations, and infrastructure that turn a model into a product users interact with. Every AI company needs engineers who can build the software around the AI.
The challenge is building reliable systems around inherently unreliable components. Models are probabilistic. They'll give different answers to the same question. They hallucinate. They're slow. They're expensive. Your job is to build an application layer that handles all of this gracefully while delivering a product that users trust and enjoy.
Across the 9,079 AI roles we're tracking, AI Software Engineer positions make up 5% of the market. At Citi, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: building API endpoints that serve model inference with caching and fallback logic, designing the data pipeline that feeds context to a RAG system, implementing streaming responses in the frontend, debugging a race condition in the async inference pipeline, and optimizing database queries for the vector search layer. It's full-stack engineering with AI at the center.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
Skills Required
Full-stack engineering skills with AI integration experience. Python and TypeScript are the most common requirements. You'll need to understand API design, database architecture, and how to build reliable systems around probabilistic outputs. Experience with streaming, async processing, and caching patterns is increasingly important as real-time AI applications proliferate.
Knowledge of vector databases, embedding APIs, and LLM integration patterns (function calling, structured outputs, retry logic) differentiates AI software engineers from general software engineers. Understanding cost optimization (caching strategies, model routing, batched inference) is valuable since inference costs can dominate application economics.
Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Software Engineer roles pay a median of $220,000 based on 1,601 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $229,300. This role's midpoint ($195K) sits 11% below the category median. Disclosed range: $156K to $234K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($256,000) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $111,000; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $229,300; Director: $272,300; VP: $235,830.
Citi AI Hiring
Citi has 44 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, Data Engineer, Data Scientist, AI Software Engineer. Positions span Jersey City, NJ, US, Jersey City, NJ, New York, NY. Compensation range: $130K - $300K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 6% (531 positions) offer remote work, while 8,478 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (3,078 roles, $221,000 median); San Francisco (2,646 roles, $261,000 median); Los Angeles (1,486 roles, $210,000 median).
Career Path
Common paths into AI Software Engineer roles include Software Engineer, Full-Stack Developer, Backend Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Staff Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager.
If you're a software engineer, you're already 80% there. Learn the AI integration patterns: RAG, streaming inference, function calling, structured outputs. Build a project that demonstrates you can wrap an AI model in a production-quality application with proper error handling, caching, and user experience. That's the portfolio piece that gets you hired.
What to Expect in Interviews
Technical screens look like standard software engineering interviews with an AI twist. Expect system design questions about building reliable applications around probabilistic models: handling streaming responses, implementing retry logic for API failures, and designing caching strategies for LLM outputs. Coding rounds test standard algorithms plus practical integration patterns like async processing and rate limiting.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 9,079 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 106 entry-level, 4,384 mid-level, 3,343 senior, and 1,246 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (531 positions). The remaining 8,478 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($256,000 median, 66 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 457 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 55 roles).
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 9,079 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (6,862), AI Product Manager (453), AI Software Engineer (451). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (106) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,384) and senior (3,343) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 1,246 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (531 positions), with 8,478 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $213,000. Top-quartile roles start at $263,911, and the 90th percentile reaches $318,400. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $256,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,649 postings), Aws (898 postings), Azure (723 postings), Rag (671 postings), Gcp (536 postings), Pytorch (434 postings), Claude (410 postings), Kubernetes (406 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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