Manager; AI Engineering
At a glance
Manager-level AI Engineering role at Cat (CaterpillarCareers). Chicago · full-time · $147,760–$240,110 base.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Lead and coach engineers building AI agents and the tools and services around them
- Set technical direction and oversee delivery of cloud-based AI applications, from design through production operations
- Coordinate with product, architecture, data science, business and engineering partners to ship AI-enabled features
- Set standards for testing, security, observability and reliability, and manage production support
- Plan releases, staffing and delivery risks across initiatives while improving software quality and team capability
What you bring
- A track record of leading software engineering teams and delivering through their work
- Strong grounding in software design and development, including distributed cloud applications
- Experience shaping scalable, resilient platforms and making architectural decisions
- Background establishing testing, monitoring, observability and incident response practices
Who this fits
This role suits an engineering manager who can lead people while staying close to cloud software and generative AI. Experience with AI assistants, agents, LLMs, evaluation and cloud platforms is relevant to the role. Visa sponsorship is unavailable, and the listed location is Chicago.
From the employer
Career Area:
Technology, Digital and DataJob Description:
Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.
When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.
Cat Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc., leveraging the latest technologies to build industry leading digital solutions for our customers and dealers. With over 1.5 million connected assets worldwide, our teams use data, technology, advanced analytics, telematics and AI capabilities to help our customers build a better, more sustainable world.Job Summary
We are seeking an experienced Software Engineering Manager to lead a team responsible for designing, building, and operating cloud-native AI agents and tools. In this role, you will provide technical and organizational leadership for a team developing enterprise-scale AI Assistant that transform how Caterpillar customers, dealers, and employees interact with digital products.
You will oversee the end-to-end delivery of AI-powered applications and services, including agentic based architecture, agent orchestration framework and tools services, and observability solutions. The ideal candidate combines strong people leadership with hands-on technical expertise in modern software engineering and Generative AI technologies.
What You Will Do
- Lead and develop a high-performing team of software engineers responsible for AI agent and AI tooling development.
- Drive technical strategy, architecture, and execution for cloud-native AI solutions.
- Oversee the design, development, deployment, and operation of AI agents, agent orchestration, and supporting services.
- Partner with product owners, architects, data scientists, business stakeholders, and engineering teams to define and deliver AI-enabled capabilities.
- Establish engineering best practices, coding standards, testing frameworks, security controls, and operational excellence processes.
- Own service reliability, scalability, performance, and production support for AI applications and platforms.
- Lead release planning, resource allocation, project execution, and risk management across multiple initiatives.
- Drive continuous improvement in engineering productivity, software quality, observability, and automation.
- Develop team capabilities through coaching, mentoring, career development, and succession planning.
- Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, collaboration, and accountability.
- Ensure compliance with enterprise security, governance, and responsible AI requirements.
What You Will Have
- Organizational Leadership: Proven ability to lead software engineering teams and deliver results through others. Experience building highly engaged teams and developing engineering talent.
- Software Development: Deep understanding of modern software engineering principles, design patterns, and development practices. Experience leading the delivery of distributed cloud-native applications.
- Software Architecture: Experience designing scalable, resilient, and maintainable software platforms. Ability to evaluate architectural tradeoffs and guide technical decisions.
- Software Quality & Operations: Experience establishing testing strategies, observability standards, monitoring practices, and incident management processes. Knowledge of reliability engineering, security best practices, and operational excellence.
Considerations For Top Candidates:
- Proven experience leading engineering teams.
- Experience building AI assistants, digital copilots, autonomous agents, or AI-powered business applications.
- Experience with AI evaluation, model observability, prompt management, and experimentation frameworks.
- Experience working with cloud AI services and leading foundation models such as OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Gemini, or open-source alternatives
- Understanding of LLMs, RAG architecture, tool-calling patterns, prompt engineering, and agent orchestration frameworks.
- Familiarity with frameworks such as LangGraph, LangChain, Semantic Kernel, CrewAI, or similar technologies.
- Experience building and operating applications on major cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
- Knowledge of containerization, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and platform operations.
- Strong proficiency in Python, Go, Java, or similar programming languages.
- Strong knowledge of Agile development
- Experience working in Azure DevOps
Summary Pay Range:
$147,760.00 - $240,110.00Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.
Benefits:
Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.
Medical, dental, and vision benefits*
Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*
401(k) savings plans*
Health Savings Account (HSA)*
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
Health Lifestyle Programs*
Employee Assistance Program*
Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
Career Development*
Incentive bonus*
Disability benefits
Life Insurance
Parental leave
Adoption benefits
Tuition Reimbursement
* These benefits also apply to part-time employees
Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position.
Posting Dates:
October 14, 2026 - October 25, 2026Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.
Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.
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