AI Engineer Associate Consultant

ZS offers a deeply collaborative environment with a comprehensive total rewards package that supports health and well-being, financial future, time away, and professional development. You’ll also have access to robust skills-building programs, multiple career progression paths, and internal mobility. The role follows a Flexible and Connected working model with hybrid flexibility, milestone training aligned to growth, and cross-functional skill development through custom learning pathways.

Hybrid location: Princeton, NJ (hybrid). ZSers are onsite at clients or ZS offices three days a week, with the ability to work remotely two days a week.

What you’ll do

• Own architecture design and development of scalable, distributed software systems.
• Translate business needs into technical requirements and drive end-to-end execution across analysis, design, coding, testing, and deployment.
• Design, develop, and deploy LLM-based pipelines including patterns such as RAG and agentic workflows, with support for PEFT approaches like LORA and QLORA.
• Make data-driven decisions focused on achieving product goals, ensuring code quality, meeting deadlines, and efficient resource allocation.
• Use responsible AI guardrails by designing and deploying prompt and response controls aligned to responsible AI requirements.
• Implement DevOps practices using Docker and Kubernetes, including writing DevOps scripts for automation and monitoring.
• Support production-grade delivery by leveraging cloud services on AWS and/or Azure (for example: IAM, Monitoring, Load Balancing, Autoscaling, database and networking, storage, ECR, AKS, ACR).
• Build governance from data to model outputs using Databricks, especially Unity Catalog.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, conduct code reviews, and provide guidance on software design and best practices.

What you bring

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).
• Strong coding skills with proficiency in Python and JavaScript.
• Experience building with API frameworks such as FastAPI and Django (stateless and stateful).
• Proficiency with AWS, Databricks, and Azure.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code, especially Terraform and CloudFormation.
• Knowledge of LLM patterns including RAG, Vector DB, Hybrid Search, agent development, agentic workflows, and prompt engineering.
• Hands-on experience with LLM APIs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and AWS Bedrock, plus SDKs like LangChain and DSPy.
• Hands-on DevOps experience with Docker and Kubernetes, and AWS services such as Redshift, RDS, and S3.
• Hands-on Databricks experience including Unity Catalog.
• Experience with production deployments for thousands of users, including capabilities such as Redis and Vector Search.
• Strong understanding of scalable application design, plus security best practices and compliance with privacy regulations.
• Good software engineering practices with Git, Azure DevOps preferred, and Agile or Scrum.
• Strong communication skills to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Experience with SDLC and best practices, and experience with Agile methodology for continuous product development and delivery.

How you’ll grow

• Cross-functional skills development and custom learning pathways.
• Milestone training programs aligned to career progression opportunities.
• Internal mobility paths that support growth through s-curves, individual contribution, and role expansion.

Travel

Travel is required for client-facing ZSers. Some projects may be local, but you should be prepared to travel as needed.

Work authorization

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States that does not now or in the future require employer sponsorship.

How to apply

Submit an online application, including a full set of transcripts (official or unofficial).