AI Engineer - FDE Software Engineering Sr. Manager

$122K - $302K New York, NY, US Senior AI Software Engineer

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Skills & Technologies

AnthropicClaudeDockerKubernetesOpenaiPythonRag

About This Role

AI job market dashboard showing open roles by category

Posted Date 7/19/2026 Description We Are

Accenture is a leading solutions and services company that helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together the talent of our approximately 800,000 people, our proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work in the world. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity, and we measure our success by the 360° value we create for all our stakeholders. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

There is never a typical day at Accenture, but that’s why we love it here! This is an extraordinary chance to work in a digitally driven, innovation-led environment where you can help clients in their own reinvention journey. As you build a rewarding career at Accenture, you’ll have the opportunity to work with leading-edge technologies and take on some of the coolest projects you can imagine.

You are:

An AI Native Engineer with a minimum of 3 years of experience building cloud-native solutions, and deep expertise in designing and deploying agentic systems, especially for enterprise environments. You are a critical thinker that thrives in ambiguity, delivering concrete results by designing, building, and running custom AI agents that augment workflows and scale across modern infrastructure. You’ll help shape the playbook for how enterprises adopt and scale AI-native engineering globally.

The Work:

You’ll embed directly with clients — acting as both technologist and trusted advisor. You’ll partner with stakeholders to define use cases, rapidly prototype, and deploy agentic workflows that are robust, secure, and operational in complex enterprise domains. Often, these will be completely net new platforms and systems that need to be stitched together in our clients' environments alongside our Ecosystem partners.

Responsibilities:

  • Agent Architecture and Engineering: Design and engineer enterprise-ready AI agents encompassing retrieval, orchestration, policy-based routing, tool invocation, evaluation harnesses, and lifecycle observability.
  • AI Platform Integration: Develop abstraction layers across AI providers (Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, etc. ) to enable seamless integration and enablement.
  • Cloud-Native Engineering: Leverage containerization (Kubernetes, Docker), microservices, serverless, event-driven architectures, CI/CD, and observability to deliver scalable AI-native systems.
  • Domain-Specific Workflows: Tailor and deploy agentic applications across verticals — e.g., finance, healthcare, retail — addressing domain-specific processes via intelligent automation.
  • Client Engagement: Conduct design workshops, POCs, and code-with sessions to shape data-driven agent workflows with stakeholders, fostering trust and adoption.
  • Measure & Improve: Define and use key metrics, test harnesses, and evaluation plans to measure agent accuracy, latency, safety, and cost effectiveness
  • Knowledge Sharing: Craft reusable patterns, documentation, and best practices to influence internal assets and client roadmaps.

Travel may be required for this role. The amount of travel will vary from 0 to 100% depending on business need and client requirements.

Here’s What You Need:

  • Minimum 10 years' experience with end-to-end software engineering and SDLC expertise
  • Minimum 8 years' experience in the following:

+ Programming in Python, Java, or equivalent; familiarity with evaluation tooling, logging, monitoring, and agent observability. + Deploying to production — CI/CD, infrastructure as code (Terraform, Helm), monitoring, and debugging. + With client communication and collaboration, including being capable of leading technical workshops and delivering under ambiguity.

  • Minimum of 3 years’ experience in the following:

+ Engineering experience with cloud-native systems (APIs, microservices, containerization, serverless). + With AI platforms — OpenAI, Claude, plus open-source models — including building abstraction layers to manage multi-provider pipelines.

  • Minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience designing and delivering Agentic AI solutions
  • Minimum of 1.5 years' experience in the following:

+ With semantic models, ontologies, knowledge graphs, or enterprise knowledge + Using coding agents and AI-assisted software development

  • Minimum of 1 year expertise in designing and deploying agentic solutions (agents, orchestration, context engineering, RAG, workflows) in production environments
  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent (minimum 12 years) work experience. (If Associate Degree, must have minimum 6 years work experience)

Bonus Points If:

  • You’ve served as an Agentic AI Engineer in an Enterprise environment
  • Additional AI certifications or agentic tool experience is a plus.
  • You’ve defined or worked with enterprise-grade architectures for compound AI systems, orchestration frameworks, or agent registry/stream-based architectures.
  • You understand the AI-native paradigm — blending cloud-native with generative model architectures — optimizing for performance, modularity, and efficiency.
  • You’ve delivered solutions across multiple industries (e.g., finance, healthcare) by tailoring agentic workflows to industry needs

Compensation at Accenture varies depending on a wide array of factors, which may include but are not limited to the specific office location, role, skill set, and level of experience. As required by local law, Accenture provides a reasonable range of compensation for roles that may be hired as set forth below.

We anticipate this job posting will be posted until 11/30/2026.

Accenture offers a market competitive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability coverage, a 401(k) plan, bonus opportunities, paid holidays, and paid time off. See more information on our benefits here:

U.S. Employee Benefits | Accenture

Role Location Annual Salary Range

California $132,500 to $302,400

Colorado $132,500 to $261,300

Connecticut $132,500 to $261,300

District of Columbia $141,100 to $278,200

Illinois $122,700 to $261,300

Maine $112,900 to $222,500

Maryland $132,500 to $261,300

Massachusetts $132,500 to $278,200

Minnesota $132,500 to $261,300

New York $122,700 to $302,400

New Jersey $141,100 to $302,400

Ohio $122,700 to $241,900

Virginia $122,700 to $278,200

Washington $141,100 to $278,200

Requesting an Accommodation

Accenture is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities or religious observances, including reasonable accommodation when needed. If you are hired by Accenture and require accommodation to perform the essential functions of your role, you will be asked to participate in our reasonable accommodation process. Accommodations made to facilitate the recruiting process are not a guarantee of future or continued accommodations once hired.

If you would like to be considered for employment opportunities with Accenture and have accommodation needs such as for a disability or religious observance, please call us toll free at 1 (877) 889-9009 or send us an email or speak with your recruiter.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

We believe that no one should be discriminated against because of their differences. All employment decisions shall be made without regard to age, race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status or any other basis as protected by federal, state, or local law. Our rich diversity makes us more innovative, more competitive, and more creative, which helps us better serve our clients and our communities.

For details, view a copy of the Accenture Equal Opportunity Statement

Accenture is an EEO and Affirmative Action Employer of Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities.

Accenture is committed to providing veteran employment opportunities to our service men and women.

Other Employment Statements

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States.

Candidates who are currently employed by a client of Accenture or an affiliated Accenture business may not be eligible for consideration.

Job candidates will not be obligated to disclose sealed or expunged records of conviction or arrest as part of the hiring process. Further, at Accenture a criminal conviction history is not an absolute bar to employment.

The Company will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. Additionally, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the Company's legal duty to furnish information.

California requires additional notifications for applicants and employees. If you are a California resident, live in or plan to work from Los Angeles County upon being hired for this position, please click here for additional important information.

Please read Accenture’s Recruiting and Hiring Statement for more information on how we process your data during the Recruiting and Hiring process.

We work with one shared purpose: to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity. Every day, more than 775,000 of us help our stakeholders continuously reinvent. Together, we drive positive change and deliver value to our clients, partners, shareholders, communities, and each other.

We believe that delivering value requires innovation, and innovation thrives in an inclusive and diverse environment. We actively foster a workplace free from bias, where everyone feels a sense of belonging and is respected and empowered to do their best work.

At Accenture, we see well-being holistically, supporting our people’s physical, mental, and financial health. We also provide opportunities to keep skills relevant through certifications, learning, and diverse work experiences. We’re proud to be consistently recognized as one of the World’s Best Workplaces™.

Join Accenture to work at the heart of change. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Salary132,500.00 - 302,400.00 Annual Type Full-time

Salary Context

This $122K-$302K range is above the median for AI Software Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $193K across 172 roles with salary data).

Role Details

Title AI Engineer - FDE Software Engineering Sr. Manager
Location New York, NY, US
Category AI Software Engineer
Experience Senior
Salary $122K - $302K
Remote No

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 9,653 AI roles we're tracking, AI Software Engineer positions make up 5% of the market. At Information Technology Senior Management Forum, 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

Anthropic (2% of roles) Claude (4% of roles) Docker (3% of roles) Kubernetes (4% of roles) Openai (3% of roles) Python (17% of roles) Rag (7% of roles)

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 1,448 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $228,700. Disclosed range: $122K to $302K.

Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,400. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,230. The 90th percentile reaches $319,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($253,100) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $110,408; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $228,700; Director: $272,275; VP: $235,000.

Information Technology Senior Management Forum AI Hiring

Information Technology Senior Management Forum has 30 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, Data Scientist, MLOps Engineer, AI Safety. Positions span New York, NY, US, McLean, VA, US, Riverwoods, IL, US. Compensation range: $168K - $434K.

Location Context

AI roles in New York pay a median of $221,000 across 2,878 tracked positions. That's 4% above the national 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 9,653 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 193 entry-level, 4,500 mid-level, 3,455 senior, and 1,505 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (568 positions). The remaining 9,010 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.

The market median for AI roles is $213,400. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,230. The 90th percentile reaches $319,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($253,100 median, 57 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 419 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 51 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 9,653 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (7,301), Data Scientist (441), AI Software Engineer (438). 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 (193) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,500) and senior (3,455) 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 1,505 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.

Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (568 positions), with 9,010 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 $213,400. Top-quartile roles start at $264,230, and the 90th percentile reaches $319,400. 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 $253,100 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 (1,605 postings), Aws (916 postings), Azure (724 postings), Rag (634 postings), Gcp (522 postings), Pytorch (495 postings), Kubernetes (384 postings), Claude (383 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

Based on 1,448 roles with disclosed compensation, the median salary for AI Software Engineer positions is $220,000. Actual compensation varies by seniority, location, and company stage.
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.
About 6% of the 9,653 AI roles we track offer remote work. Remote availability varies by company and seniority level, with senior and leadership roles more likely to offer location flexibility.
Information Technology Senior Management Forum is among the companies actively hiring for AI and ML talent. Check our company profiles for detailed breakdowns of open roles, salary ranges, and hiring trends.
Common next steps from AI Software Engineer positions include Staff Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager. Progression depends on whether you lean toward technical depth, people management, or product strategy.

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