This role sits within NCS AI Central's (AIC) Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) model — the combined capability that takes AI solutions from proof-of-concept through to hardened production systems. As AI Engineer, you design and run rapid experiments on Gen AI models, prompts, and retrieval strategies to give the squad fast, evidence-based answers on model performance — operating primarily within fast-moving FDE engagements (POC/POV, pilot deployments).
What will you do:
1. Experimentation & Evaluation
- Understand the business problem, POC objectives, and evaluation metrics.
- Design experiments to test different model configurations, prompts, or retrieval strategies.
- Analyse Gen AI outputs for quality, accuracy, and alignment with requirements; identify common failure modes (hallucination, bias, irrelevant answers, factual errors).
- Support SMEs in defining ground truth benchmarks for evaluation.
2. Data Preparation & Pipelines
- Profile and clean sample datasets for experimentation (lightweight data prep).
- Build and test simple pipelines for data ingestion, prompt construction, and output evaluation.
3. Gen AI & Agentic Techniques
- Work with foundation models via AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, or Azure AI Foundry depending on engagement cloud posture.
- Apply working knowledge of China-origin models (DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM) as increasingly relevant, cost-effective alternatives.
- Apply agentic orchestration frameworks such as AWS Strands, LangGraph, or equivalent, for designing and testing multi-step agent workflows.
- Apply prompt strategies, prompt engineering patterns, and RAG design (chunking, embeddings, retrieval evaluation); support ingesting/vectorising content to knowledge bases.
- Provide insights and recommendations to improve model performance in quick iterations, including fine-tuning approaches where applicable.
4. FDE & Development/Maintenance Coverage
- During FDE engagements: rapidly test candidate models, prompts, and retrieval strategies, giving the team fast, evidence-based go/no-go signals.
- During system development & maintenance engagements: support ongoing model/prompt tuning and monitoring as applications move toward production.
5. Collaboration
- Collaborate with developers on integrating models into the POC workflow, and work closely with PM, devs, and SMEs to refine data and prompts.
- Partner with the Data Scientist on evaluation methodology where classical statistical baselines are in play, and with the AI/LLM Specialist when an engagement moves toward production-grade evaluation.
- Document experiments briefly but clearly (hypothesis → result → conclusion).
We are hiring at two levels for this role. All responsibilities above apply to both; the distinction is in scope of ownership, years of experience, and seniority of judgement expected.
AI Engineer
- 4–5 years of hands-on experience in AI/ML or Gen AI engineering. Runs experiments and prototypes independently within a defined POC/POV scope, under guidance from a Senior AI Engineer or AI/LLM Specialist.
- Executes rapid experimentation cycles for one engagement at a time; escalates ambiguous evaluation calls to senior team members.
Senior AI Engineer
- 6+ years of hands-on experience, including prior ownership of experimentation strategy for complex or ambiguous problem statements. Sets the experimentation approach across multiple engagements and mentors junior AI Engineers.
- Advises PMs and stakeholders directly on feasibility and experimentation trade-offs; represents technical experimentation findings in client conversations.
Qualifications
The ideal candidate should possess:
- 4+ years hands-on experience in AI/ML or Gen AI engineering (see Role Levels for the split between AI Engineer and Senior AI Engineer).
- Understanding of Gen AI concepts (tokenization, embeddings, RAG, prompting, evaluation).
- Familiar with at least one major cloud AI service (AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, or Azure AI Foundry); working knowledge of others a plus.
- Working knowledge of the China AI model landscape (DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM) a strong plus.
- Familiarity with agentic orchestration frameworks (AWS Strands, LangGraph, or equivalent), for designing and testing multi-step agent workflows.
- Ability to do rapid experimentation rather than perfect models.
- Basic proficiency in Python and Gen AI tools (e.g., model SDKs, vector DBs).
- Analytical mindset: can quantify subjective output (accuracy, relevance, readability).
- Good data wrangling skills to prepare small datasets quickly.
Preferred Qualifications
- Generative AI Leader or Machine Learning Engineer certification, or equivalent.
- Exposure to LLMOps practices (model monitoring, versioning) for production transition.
- Familiarity with model fine-tuning techniques.
- Exposure to Singapore Government GCC/HCC environments.
Tech Stack (Illustrative)
- Languages: Python
- LLM Runtime: AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Azure AI Foundry; DeepSeek/Qwen/GLM (China stack)
- Agentic Frameworks: AWS Strands, LangGraph
- Data & Eval: Model SDKs, vector DBs, pandas/Jupyter-style tooling for experimentation
Why Join NCS
Lead high-impact AI management consulting programs for major enterprises and public sector clients.
Shape enterprise strategies and governance frameworks that drive real transformation.
Work with a talented, multidisciplinary team in a collaborative environment.
Competitive compensation and strong professional development support.
We are driven by our AEIOU beliefs—Adventure, Excellence, Integrity, Ownership, and Unity—and we seek individuals who embody these values in both their professional and personal lives. We are committed to our Impact: Valuing our clients, Growing our people, and Creating our future.
Together, we make the extraordinary happen.
Learn more about us at ncs.co and visit our LinkedIn career site.
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