Sr/Lead AI Backend Data Engineering - GenAI

Job Summary

FICO is hiring a remote Senior/Lead AI Backend Data Engineering - GenAI. This full‑time position is located in the USA and focuses on integrating robust data engineering with next‑generation AI capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and maintain scalable backend systems and data pipelines that incorporate applied AI capabilities into FICO's analytics and decision‑management platform.
• Build high‑quality solutions for data ingestion, transformation, and storage, ensuring reliable, high‑throughput data flow for real‑time analytics.
• Design and implement LLM‑powered solutions for decision automation, fraud investigation, and process automation.
• Develop sophisticated prompting strategies and Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures for high‑stakes, mission‑critical applications.
• Partner with data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams to develop microservices and APIs that enable intelligent, data‑driven decision‑making.
• Optimize distributed architectures and implement real‑time processing frameworks to support high‑volume, low‑latency workloads.
• Implement advanced monitoring, testing, and performance‑optimization techniques to ensure system reliability, security, and scalability.
• Define and evolve architectural patterns that support FICO's analytics and decisioning solutions at scale.
• Lead and mentor engineering team members, promoting best practices in software development, data engineering, AI integration, and systems design.

Qualifications

• In‑depth experience in backend or data engineering, with a proven track record of delivering large‑scale production systems.
• Strong coding skills in Python, Go, Java, or an equivalent language, with a commitment to clean, maintainable, and well‑tested code.
• Hands‑on experience with big‑data frameworks (e.g., Apache Spark, Kafka, Hadoop) and proficiency with relational and NoSQL databases.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and container orchestration tools such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Proven ability to design, build, and maintain scalable, production‑grade backend systems focused on reliability and performance.
• Solid experience with testing frameworks (including A/B testing), performance optimization, and production monitoring/observability practices.
• Demonstrated experience integrating AI/ML solutions into production systems, including work with Large Language Models (LLMs) and related techniques.
• Experience with Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures and familiarity with vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector) is strongly preferred.
• Strong problem‑solving and communication skills, with the ability to mentor engineers, influence technical direction, and collaborate across disciplines.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. Advanced degree is a plus but not required.

Benefits & Compensation

Highly competitive compensation and benefits, including a base pay range of $140,000 to $220,000, and a people‑first work environment promoting work/life balance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

FICO promotes a culture of inclusion and seeks to attract a diverse set of candidates for each job opportunity. We are an equal employment opportunity employer and we’re proud to offer employment and advancement opportunities to all candidates without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

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