Lead AI Engineer

Inside the Role

In this role, as a lead AI engineer, you will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery, adoption, and value realization of AI-enabled solutions. The role provides technical leadership, delivery oversight, people leadership, and strategic direction to ensure AI applications are successfully designed, developed, deployed, operated, and adopted across Procurement and Supply Chain functions. The AI lead serves as the primary owner of technical execution and business outcomes, leading a cross-functional team of AI Engineers, Data Engineers, and business stakeholders. This position balances technical expertise, product ownership, stakeholder management, and people leadership to drive scalable AI and data solutions that deliver measurable business value.

Posting Information

We provide a scheduled posting end date to assist our candidates with their application planning. While this date reflects our latest plans, it is subject to change, and postings may be extended or removed earlier than expected.

We Take Care of Our Team

What You Drive at DTNA

1. AI Application Development & Delivery

• Design, build, test, deploy, and maintain AI-enabled applications within Palantir Foundry and associated AI platforms.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to identify, evaluate, and prioritize use cases.
• Develop solutions using LLMs, AI agents, machine learning techniques, and workflow automation technologies.
• Participate in rapid, iterative development cycles to deliver business value quickly.
• Engineer scalable and reusable solutions with global deployment potential.

2. Ontology, Data & Integration Architecture

• Define and consult on ontology design, object models, and schema architecture.
• Identify, ingest, clean, transform, and integrate enterprise and external data sources.
• Develop robust data pipelines and connectivity frameworks.
• Design data architectures that maximize interoperability, discoverability, and future use-case expansion.
• Collaborate with IT on security, permissions, governance, and system integration requirements.

3. Platform Engineering

• Design and support infrastructure architecture required for AI and data applications.
• Develop APIs, integrations, and platform connectivity solutions.
• Support engineering standards, scalability, performance optimization, and deployment practices.
• Evaluate and incorporate emerging AI technologies and tools into enterprise solutions.

4. Platform Operations & Support

• Own operational support for deployed AI applications.
• Monitor application performance, reliability, and adoption metrics.
• Accept escalations for technical incidents and troubleshoot root causes.
• Coordinate with IT Service Management and platform support teams to resolve issues.
• Ensure operational excellence and continuous platform improvement.

5. Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Apply Lean principles and value-stream thinking to identify process inefficiencies.
• Reimagine business processes through automation, AI agents, predictive analytics, and intelligent workflows.
• Evaluate emerging AI capabilities and determine practical business applications.
• Drive innovation by continuously exploring advancements in generative AI, machine learning, and automation technologies.

6. Community Development & Adoption

• Promote AI literacy and digital transformation across Procurement and Supply teams.
• Deliver training, demonstrations, workshops, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
• Mentor super users, champions, and citizen developers.
• Support change management and adoption efforts for newly deployed solutions.
• Foster collaboration with the Palantir ecosystem and broader AI community.

7. Governance & Strategic Alignment

• Contribute technical expertise to governance reviews and architectural decisions.
• Support evaluation and prioritization of approved and backlog use cases.
• Ensure compliance with enterprise standards, security requirements, and AI governance frameworks.
• Provide technical assessments, effort estimates, and implementation recommendations to leadership and steering committees.

Knowledge You Should Bring

· Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Supply Chain, or a related field, and 5-y years of relevant experience, is required.

· At least 1 year of group leader, project lead or mentoring experience required

· 2+ years of experience in one or more of the following: AI Engineering, Data Engineering, Software Development, Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Logistics, Advanced Analytics.

· Strong programming skills in languages such as: Python, Java, C++, TypeScript/JavaScript, SQL.

· Experience building and deploying AI, machine learning or LLM-based solutions.

· Understanding of prompt engineering, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), AI Agents, Model Evaluation, Machine Learning Fundamentals, Data Pipelines, API Development, Cloud and Platform Architectures.

· Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.

· Ability to translate business needs into technical solutions.

· Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

· Comfortable working in a fast-paced, highly iterative environment.

· Ability to collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical teams.

· Experience applying Lean methodologies and continuous improvement principles.

· An attached resume is required.

Exceptional Candidates Might Have

· Advanced degree preferred but not required.

· Experience with Palantir Foundry or similar enterprise data and AI platforms preferred

· Working knowledge of one of more of the following: supply chain, material planning, logistics, procurement

#LI-RR1 #LI-Hybrid

Where We Work

This position is open to applicants who can work in (or relocate to) the following location(s)-

Portland, OR US. Relocation assistance is not available for this position.

Schedule Type:

Hybrid (4 days per week in-office / 1 day remote). This schedule builds our #OneTeamBestTeam culture, provides an unparalleled customer experience, and creates innovative solutions through in-person collaboration.

At Daimler Truck North America, we recognize our world is changing faster than ever before. By listening to the needs of today, we’re building to solve with cutting-edge solutions in sustainability and future driving technology across electric, hydrogen and autonomous. These solutions, backed by years of innovative success and achievement, continue DTNA’s legacy as the undisputed industry leader. Our evolving brand portfolio is second to none, including Freightliner Trucks, Western Star, Demand Detroit, Thomas Built Buses, Freightliner Custom Chassis, and Financial Services. Together, we work as one team towards our envisioned future – building a cleaner, safer and more efficient tomorrow for all.

That is what we are working toward - for all who keep the world moving.

Additional Information

• Visa sponsorship will only be open to current Daimler Truck North America employees working under an existing U.S. Daimler Truck North America Visa

• All other applicants must be legally authorized to work permanently in the country the position is located in at the time of application

• Final candidate must successfully complete a criminal background check

• Final candidate may be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screen

• Contractors, professional services, or other contingent workers should confirm with their local agency if they are eligible to apply for FTE positions

• EEO - Disabled/Veterans

Daimler Truck North America is committed to workforce inclusion and providing an environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, sex (including pregnancy), religion, national origin, age, marital status, family relationship, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (including transgender and transitioning status), genetic information, or veteran status.

For an accommodation or special assistance with applying for a posted position, please contact our Human Resources department at 503-745-8982 or toll free 800-206-3369. For TTY/TDD enabled call 503-745-2137 or toll free 866-355-6935.