New

Lead AI Platform Engineer

Spectraforce Technologies
United States, Illinois, Chicago
Nov 14, 2026
Role: Lead AI Platform Engineer Location: Chicago, IL - 3 days onsite a week Duration: 12 Months with possibility for extension Project Overview: The Lead AI Platform Engineer / GAI Platform Operations Lead is the senior technical resource accountable for the operational reliability, productionization, optimization, and continuous improvement of the enterprise Generative AI platform. Contractor's Role: The role leads advanced platform support, cloud infrastructure operations, application and TLA onboarding, DevOps automation, performance engineering, incident resolution, and coordination across technical and business teams. Qualifications: * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. * Advanced experience supporting enterprise AI/ML, Generative AI, cloud, platform engineering, or production application environments. * Hands-on experience with Azure cloud services, application hosting, monitoring, logging, and production support practices. * Experience with incident, problem, change, release, and service-request management in an enterprise environment. * Experience supporting CI/CD pipelines, automated infrastructure provisioning, and deployment processes. * Demonstrated ability to lead complex troubleshooting, root cause analysis, technical coordination, and service restoration. * Strong written communication, operational documentation, stakeholder management, prioritization, and escalation-management skills. Nice to Haves: * Experience with Generative AI platforms, LLMOps, MLOps, model-serving environments, or shared enterprise AI services. * Experience onboarding enterprise applications or TLAs to a common platform. * Knowledge of Infrastructure as Code, cloud-native architecture, observability, resiliency, and performance engineering. * Experience guiding distributed onsite and offshore support resources. Core Technical Capabilities: * Generative AI and AI/ML platform operations * Microsoft Azure cloud services and hosted application environments * Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and automated infrastructure provisioning * ServiceNow or equivalent enterprise service-management tooling * Monitoring, logging, diagnostics, performance testing, and root cause analysis * Production support, release management, operational resilience, and technical documentation Expected Deliverables: * Stable and supportable GAI platform services across lower and production environments. * Repeatable application and TLA onboarding processes and supporting documentation. * Completed incident resolutions, root cause analyses, and corrective/preventive action tracking. * Maintained monitoring, performance-testing, runbook, playbook, troubleshooting, and operational documentation. * Automation and resilience improvements that reduce manual effort and recurring production incidents. Performance and Success Measures: * Platform availability, reliability, and production stability. * Resolution of escalated incidents within applicable service expectations and SLAs. * Quality and timeliness of root cause analysis, corrective actions, and stakeholder communications. * Effectiveness of onboarding, automation, monitoring, and operational-maturity improvements. * Reduction of recurring incidents, manual support effort, and avoidable escalations. Working Relationships: * Collaborate with GAI platform engineering, application delivery, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, service management, and business stakeholder teams. * Coordinate with third-party providers and distributed onsite/offshore support resources as required. Governance and Control Expectations * Follow applicable SDLC, security, change-management, incident-management, access-control, and documentation requirements. * Use designated systems for issue logging, tracking, knowledge management, and closure. * Maintain accurate, timely, and audit-ready operational records and stakeholder communications. Tasks & Responsibilities: * Lead deployment, management, and optimization of GAI platform resources across non-production and production environments. * Own Level 3 investigation and resolution of complex platform, application, infrastructure, access, deployment, integration, and performance issues within agreed service expectations. * Develop and mature repeatable platform onboarding processes for applications and TLAs, including readiness, access, infrastructure, deployment, and upstream/downstream integration dependencies. * Coordinate with delivery teams, cloud infrastructure, security, application teams, and service providers to support smooth execution and service restoration. * Establish continuous monitoring, logging, performance testing, capacity analysis, and proactive issue identification for deployed infrastructure and applications. * Analyze platform and application logs, identify root causes, and direct corrective and preventive actions through closure. * Lead support for DevOps pipelines, automated infrastructure provisioning, release activities, configuration, patching, maintenance, and productionization. * Act on incidents, requests, defects, and problem records in accordance with defined escalation processes and SLAs. * Create and maintain technical standards, runbooks, playbooks, troubleshooting guides, onboarding procedures, and operational knowledge. * Identify and implement opportunities to strengthen resilience, reduce production incidents, decrease manual effort, and increase automation. * Provide clear stakeholder communications regarding service status, incident progress, risks, dependencies, SLA performance, and required actions. * Demonstrate a self-starter mindset by proactively identifying, owning, and driving work through completion with limited oversight. * Think in systems by understanding complex processes, recognizing cross-functional dependencies, and solving interconnected problems across platform, application, infrastructure, and operational domains. * Provide technical direction and escalation support to L1/L2 GAI Operations Support Engineers.