Principal Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Summary

Join the City and County of San Francisco's Department of Technology as a Principal AI Engineer and contribute to developing cutting-edge AI solutions for various city services. You will design, develop, and implement AI models, work with large datasets, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and ensure ethical AI practices. This permanent, full-time position offers a hybrid work schedule with a minimum of 20% in-office time in San Francisco. The position requires a minimum of five years of relevant experience and an associate degree or equivalent. Competitive pay, robust retirement options, generous paid time off, and family leave are among the benefits offered.

Requirements

• Possess an associate degree in computer science, computer engineering, information systems, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university OR its equivalent in terms of total course credits/units [i.e., at least sixty (60) semester or ninety (90) quarter credits/units with a minimum of twenty (20) semester or thirty (30) quarter credits/units in one of the fields above or a closely-related field]
• Have five (5) years of experience analyzing, installing, configuring, enhancing, and/or maintaining the components of an enterprise network

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI models and algorithms to address various challenges faced by city departments, such as traffic management, public safety, healthcare, and public works
• Identify opportunities and design solutions that show what’s possible with exemplary projects
• Help set best practices and develop decision-making frameworks for the rest of the City on when to use AI
• Collect, preprocess, and analyze large datasets from multiple sources to support AI initiatives
• Ensure data integrity and security while adhering to privacy regulations
• Work closely with cross-functional teams, including data scientists, software engineers, and domain experts to identify AI opportunities and implement solutions to build best practices and templates, and cultivate a community of AI developers and users in the City
• Rapidly prototype AI applications and conduct experiments to test hypotheses and validate model performance
• Monitor, build an evaluation framework for generative AI, and evaluate the performance of AI systems in production
• Implement improvements and updates as necessary to maintain high accuracy and efficiency
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of AI models, processes, and project progress
• Prepare and present reports to stakeholders and senior management
• Ensure that AI solutions are developed and deployed in an ethical manner, considering equity, fairness, accountability, and transparency

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, or Java
• Strong understanding of machine learning frameworks and libraries (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn)
• Experience with data manipulation and analysis tools (e.g., SQL, Pandas, NumPy)
• Familiarity with cloud platforms and services (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to analyze complex datasets to extract meaningful insights
• Strong verbal and written communication skills. Ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Relevant certifications in AI/ML or cloud computing
• Familiarity with government processes and experience working on public sector projects
• Experience with project management tools and methodologies
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously

Benefits

• Competitive pay, as well as pension and robust retirement options
• Generous paid time off, family leave, and more!
• Hybrid Work with a minimum of 20% of time spent in our office in San Francisco, California for all IT related roles
• Career development and growth — move between departments, learn on the job, or take subsidized/reimbursed classes!