Senior AI Engineer (m/f/x) – Focus: Software Engineering Heilbronn Heilbronn

The appliedAI Initiative elevates Europe’s industry to become shapers in the age of AI, creating a future that we desire to live in. Through our ecosystem of strong partners, comprehensive programs, services and solutions we advance companies holistically on their AI journey. With our uniquely diverse, interdisciplinary, and driven team, we build on deep technical expertise while specializing on applicability of the solutions. We share a mindset of collaboration and openness with our ecosystem of leading companies and tech players. Our common goal is to strengthen the European landscape, jointly creating unique knowledge for applying trustworthy AI. We believe that AI Agents will be the dominant topic for AI in the near future and that appliedAI with its partner ecosystem will impact how this technology is being used in industry and beyond in Europe.

Your mission

As a Senior AI Engineer (m/f/x) in the Professional Services organization, you take ownership of production-grade AI features and services from design through operation, and you’re the engineer other team members turn to when a delivery gets technically hard. You work at the intersection of software engineering rigor and applied AI, translating client requirements into scalable, maintainable systems while raising the bar for how the team builds. Beyond your own delivery scope, you help shape how junior and mid-level engineers on your engagements approach quality, testing, and production readiness.

Your tasks will include:

• Owning the end-to-end design, build, and operation of production AI features and services across one or more client engagements
• Making architecture and implementation decisions for ML/LLM-integrated systems - APIs, microservices, event-driven pipelines - with a clear eye on maintainability and cost
• Driving evaluation, safety, and observability practices into every service you ship, and holding others on the engagement to the same bar
• Guiding partner teams through the transition from PoC to scalable, production-deployed solutions, acting as the primary technical point of contact
• Mentoring AI Engineers on your engagements through code review, pairing, and technical guidance
• Contributing technical scoping, effort estimates, and solution options during pre-sales, in close collaboration with AI strategists and program managers
• Identifying and building reusable patterns or components that other engagements can adopt

Your profile

• Several years of software engineering experience, including meaningful hands‑on experience building and operating ML/LLM-based systems in production
• Strong command of Python and professional engineering practices - testing, CI/CD, code review, Git workflows - applied consistently under client delivery pressure
• Solid grounding in cloud-native development (Docker, Kubernetes), APIs/microservices, and data stores, with working knowledge of the modern AI stack (LangChain/LangGraph, vector stores, evaluation frameworks)
• Demonstrated experience leading a feature or service through production hardening in a client-facing or cross‑functional setting
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and taking ownership without close supervision, while remaining approachable to less experienced colleagues you’re guiding
• Excellent communication skills - able to explain technical trade-offs to both engineers and client stakeholders
• Fluent English; working proficiency in German is a strong plus

What we offer

• A highly qualified and motivated team of ~90 people is on a journey to change the rapidly evolving European AI Landscape
• Experience the best of both worlds with our hybrid work model: You can choose to work from our vibrant offices — either at the IPAI in Heilbronn or the House of Communication in Munich — while also enjoying the flexibility to work remotely a few days each week
• Opportunity to shape a variety of projects and the development of new, original content based on the latest developments in AI and its adoption in businesses
• An atmosphere that encourages to think and experiment in new ways with software, hardware, and processes
• A highly visible initiative that helps you build a large and high-level network of start-ups, partners, and tech companies
• A flexible development budget that’s yours to shape — invest it in training, certifications, conferences, or new challenges, however you want to grow
• Sports membership with Wellpass to access thousands of sports facilities all over Germany (and beyond), as well as online courses
• JobRad: Lease a bike for a cheaper rate via JobRad and we cover the bike insurance on top
• Sabbatical option: You can take a sabbatical of up to 3 months after min. 3 years of employment — because sometimes 30 vacation days are not enough to explore the beauty of this world
• PME Familienservice: A 24/7 support for a successful work & life in any life situation. Benefit from free support in areas like life coaching, child care and many other options
• Mobility budget: Every month we contribute to your individual mobility usage with public transport or shared mobility offers within the app Moovster
• Workation: Work from anywhere in the EU/EWR area for up to 3 months per year — combining working at a nice place and spending your leisure time in the evening like vacation

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