Principal AI Engineer - Hybrid

Genesis10 is currently seeking a Principal AI Engineer for a contract to hire position with a Regional Financial Institution located in Columbus, OH. Compensation: $86.00 - $96.00 per hour, W2, based on qualifications Position Overview: We are looking for a talented Principal AI Engineer to join our Engineering Frameworks Team. In this role, you will be instrumental in leading a team in the design, architecture, development, integration, operationalization, and support of AI tools and platforms utilized by developers across the company. This is a hands-on engineering role centered on GCP, Gemini and Vertex AI, Claude Code, Copilot, MCP Servers, Java Spring Boot, and React.js, requiring deep expertise in building and integrating these specific tools and services. Key Responsibilities: Serve as a technical expert and development leader for enterprise AI platforms, agent frameworks, and developer productivity capabilities Drive strategic initiatives involving GCP, Gemini, Vertex AI, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, MCP servers, A2A integrations, and agentic frameworks Design the architecture and implementation of reusable AI platform services, orchestration patterns, reference implementations, and shared integration components Integrate and operationalize AI services with cloud, security, and enterprise technology platforms Establish secure, scalable, observable, performant, and maintainable patterns for custom agents and AI tool integrations Provide technical leadership, support, training, and guidance to engineering teams building, deploying, and operating custom agents Define framework lifecycle practices for versioning, release management, documentation, adoption, support, and continuous improvement Establish and promote responsible AI, privacy, access control, governance, cost management, and model-risk practices Lead the implementation of observability capabilities for logging, metrics, token utilization, tracing, and operational health on GCP-hosted services Partner with product management, security, architecture, and lines of business to shape the AI platform roadmap and align delivery with enterprise needs Mentor junior engineers, identify training needs, and lead the team through the end-to-end product development and delivery lifecycle Primary Requirements: Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience in computer science, engineering, artificial intelligence, or a related field 7-10+ years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, AI engineering, or a related technical discipline Proven experience designing and delivering production-quality AI, LLM, or developer-platform capabilities Demonstrable hands-on experience with cloud-based AI services such as GCP Gemini and Vertex AI or comparable model platforms Extensive knowledge of AI agent architecture, reusable orchestration patterns, shared integrations, and cross-team platform consumption Strong experience with enterprise software development using Java and Spring Boot, and working knowledge of React.js for single-page applications Experience designing and integrating secure REST APIs and OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect authorization flows Strong understanding of software development lifecycle, CI/CD, observability, reliability, security, privacy, and responsible AI practices Desired Skills: Hands-on experience using Claude Code and GitHub Copilot in an engineering workflow Experience building or integrating MCP servers and clients to expose tools, resources, or data sources to AI agents Experience enabling agent-to-agent communication using A2A or comparable protocols Experience with Google ADK, Spring AI, LangChain, LangChain4j, or similar LLM integration libraries and SDKs Direct experience with Gemini Agent Platform / Vertex AI capabilities Experience implementing model governance controls such as GCP Model Armor, cost controls, and access policies Experience designing logging, metrics, distributed tracing, token-utilization monitoring, and operational dashboards for AI services on GCP Experience with containerization, microservices, and cloud-native application architecture Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines in Harness and Azure DevOps Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and product management practices for shared platform capabilities Only candidates available and ready to work directly as Genesis10 employees will be considered for this position. If you have the described qualifications and are interested in this exciting opportunity, please apply! Ranked a Top Staffing Firm in the U.S. by Staffing Industry Analysts for six consecutive years, Genesis10 puts thousands of consultants and employees to work across the United States every year in contract, contract-for-hire, and permanent placement roles. With more than 300 active clients, Genesis10 provides access to many of the Fortune 100 firms and a variety of mid-market organizations across the full spectrum of industry verticals. For contract roles, Genesis10 offers the benefits listed below. If this is a perm-placement opportunity, our recruiter can talk you through the unique benefits offered for that particular client. Benefits of Working with Genesis10: Access to hundreds of clients, most who have been working with Genesis10 for 5-20+ years The opportunity to have a career-home in Genesis10; many of our consultants have been working exclusively with Genesis10 for years Access to an experienced, caring recruiting team (more than 7 years of experience, on average) Behavioral Health Platform Medical, Dental, Vision Health Savings Account Voluntary Hospital Indemnity (Critical Illness & Accident) Voluntary Term Life Insurance 401K Sick Pay (for applicable states/municipalities) Commuter Benefits (Dallas, NYC, SF, and Illinois) For multiple years running, Genesis10 has been recognized as a Top Staffing Firm in the U.S., as a Best Company for Work-Life Balance, as a Best Company for Career Growth, for Diversity, and for Leadership, amongst others. To learn more and to view all of our available career opportunities, please visit us at our website. Genesis10 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. #DIG10-OH