Senior AI / ML Engineer

About the job

Description

The Senior AI/ML Engineer is an individual contributor responsible for the design, development, deployment, and ongoing optimization of artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions that advance the university’s academic, administrative, and research missions. Reporting to the Director of Data, Intelligence, and Automation or designated ITS leadership, this role serves as a subject matter expert in applied AI and works in close collaboration with ITS teams, academic departments, and institutional stakeholders to deliver responsible, scalable, and impactful AI capabilities. The Senior AI/ML Engineer applies deep technical expertise to solve complex problems, leads the development of AI standards and best practices, and ensures all solutions align with institutional policy, data governance requirements, and ethical AI principles.

Employment Authorization

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on an ongoing basis without the need for employer sponsorship. The university will not sponsor or assume sponsorship of an employment visa for this position, now or in the future. All applicants will be asked the same work authorization questions as part of the application, and employment eligibility will be verified upon hire in accordance with federal law.

About the University of New England UNE is Maine’s largest private university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study-abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible online offerings. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to positively impact a world full of challenges. We are the state’s top provider of health professionals and home to Maine’s only medical and dental colleges, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care programs, and nationally recognized programs in the marine sciences, the natural and social sciences, business, the humanities, and the arts.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Benefits Overview UNE offers a generous comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees. The package includes varied health and dental plans; a retirement plan that includes up to an 8% match; extensive paid leave including holidays, vacation, sick and personal time; and educational benefits. Please visit the Human Resources Benefits site (https://www.une.edu/hr/benefits) for additional information regarding UNE’s fantastic benefits package.

Responsibilities

AI Development & Implementation

• Design, build, test, and deploy AI/ML models, pipelines, and applications

• Develop solutions using large language models (LLMs), generative AI, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)

• Write clean, maintainable code (primarily in Python) following best practices

• Evaluate and implement AI tools, frameworks, and platforms (e.g., Azure OpenAI, Hugging Face, LangChain)

• Build and maintain data pipelines to support model training and deployment

• Develop intelligent automation and agentic AI workflows that streamline academic and administrative processes

Enterprise Integration & Collaboration

• Integrate AI solutions with enterprise systems (ERP, SIS, CRM, LMS, etc.) using APIs and modern architectures

• Collaborate with technical teams to ensure solutions are secure, scalable, and high-performing

• Support data quality efforts and develop monitoring tools to track model performance, drift, cost, and reliability in production

AI Governance & Responsible Use

• Apply responsible AI principles, including fairness, transparency, and data privacy

• Conduct model evaluations, bias assessments, and risk analyses

• Ensure compliance with institutional policies and regulations (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA)

• Contribute to AI governance frameworks and documentation

Technical Leadership & Engagement

• Serve as a technical resource and mentor for AI-related work

• Lead knowledge-sharing activities and promote AI literacy across the organization

• Partner with stakeholders to define use cases and translate technical concepts into clear solutions

• Participate in projects, working groups, and AI strategy initiatives

• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, information technology, data science, mathematics, statistics, engineering, or a closely related field; or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.

• Minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in software, data, or machine learning engineering, including at least three years designing, building, and deploying AI/ML solutions in production.

• Demonstrated experience developing LLM, generative AI, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) solutions, including prompt engineering, embeddings, and vector databases, using platforms such as Azure OpenAI, Hugging Face, LangChain, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or scikit-learn.

• Experience building data pipelines and system integrations (APIs, ETL, middleware, or file-based exchange) and applying MLOps practices, including Git, CI/CD, containerization, model deployment, and model monitoring in a cloud environment (Microsoft Azure preferred).

• Advanced proficiency in Python and common data and machine learning libraries, and strong SQL skills, including relational database design and writing and optimizing complex queries.

• Knowledge of responsible AI principles, model evaluation and bias assessment, enterprise systems security, role-based access control, and data governance, with a commitment to data privacy, information security, and compliance with institutional policy, FERPA, and HIPAA.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to translate functional requirements into technical solutions, explain AI capabilities and limitations to non-technical partners, and work effectively with administrative offices, academic departments, and external vendors.

• Must be authorized to work in the United States now and in the future without the need for employer sponsorship of an employment visa now or in the future. The university will not sponsor an employment visa for this position.

• Must work onsite at the Portland, ME campus and live within commuting distance or relocate to the Portland area by the agreed-upon start date.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, or a closely related field.

• Higher education experience integrating AI or automation solutions with enterprise platforms spanning student, ERP, SIS, HR, financial, and CRM functions (for example, Ellucian Banner, Workday, Oracle, or Salesforce), including AI capabilities such as predictive models, generative AI, or AI agents.

• Familiarity with higher education-specific data standards and reporting requirements (for example, IPEDS, NSC, Common App, state reporting).

• Experience with identity management and single sign-on (for example, LDAP, SAML, Shibboleth, Microsoft Entra ID) and with managing SaaS and vendor-hosted AI and system environments.

• Experience supporting major AI or enterprise system implementations or upgrades using agile or iterative delivery methods.

• Relevant vendor or platform certifications (for example, Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate, AWS Certified Machine Learning, Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer, or Salesforce AI Associate).

• Experience with additional programming languages such as Java or JavaScript.

Vaccination Statement (PLEASE NOTE)

Employees in clinical settings must meet the State of Maine’s immunization requirements for clinical activity.

Additional Note

This position is not eligible for H-1B visa sponsorship or STEM OPT extension.