Lead AI Developer
At a glance
Senior AI Engineering role at TELUS Digital. St. Louis · contract.
Pay not stated AI Developer salary
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Build applications powered by large language models, then improve their speed, cost and response quality
- Create retrieval pipelines and agent workflows for AI applications
- Connect AI services with enterprise software and APIs, including scalable backend components
- Work with architects, product owners and business stakeholders to shape AI use cases
- Review code, test and deploy solutions, while documenting designs and mentoring junior developers as needed
What you bring
- At least seven years developing software, including two years building generative AI or LLM applications
- Strong Python or Java skills and experience with an LLM platform and an AI development framework
- You understand retrieval-augmented generation, prompt design, vector databases and AI agents
- You have built REST APIs and worked with cloud platforms, containers, orchestration, CI/CD and Git
Who this fits
This senior contractor role suits an experienced developer focused on production AI applications, enterprise integrations and backend systems. The position is hybrid in St. Louis.
From the employer
Who We Are
Welcome to TELUS Digital — where innovation drives impact at a global scale. As an award-winning digital product consultancy and the digital division of TELUS, one of Canada’s largest telecommunications providers, we design and deliver transformative customer experiences through cutting-edge technology, agile thinking, and a people-first culture.
With a global team across North America, South America, Central America, Europe, Africa, and APAC, we offer end-to-end expertise across various service offerings: Web, Mobile & Digital Marketing | Enterprise AI | Customer Care AI & Technology | Enterprise Technology Modernization
From mobile apps and websites to voice UI, chatbots, AI, customer service, and in-store solutions, TELUS Digital enables seamless, trusted, and digitally powered experiences that meet customers wherever they are — all backed by the secure infrastructure and scale of our multi-billion-dollar parent company.
About the Role
Job Summary
We are seeking an experienced AI Developer to design, develop, and deploy enterprise-grade AI solutions. The ideal candidate will have strong experience building Generative AI and LLM-based applications, integrating AI services into enterprise platforms, and developing scalable cloud-native applications. This role requires close collaboration with business stakeholders, architects, and engineering teams to deliver secure, production-ready AI solutions.
Required Skills
7+ years of software development experience.
2+ years of hands-on experience with Generative AI/LLM application development.
Strong programming skills in Python (preferred) and/or Java.
Experience with OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or similar LLM platforms.
Experience building AI applications using frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, or LlamaIndex.
Strong understanding of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), prompt engineering, vector databases, and AI agents.
Experience developing REST APIs using FastAPI, Flask, Spring Boot, or similar frameworks.
Experience with cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.
Knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and Git.
Familiarity with SQL/NoSQL databases and vector databases (Pinecone, FAISS, ChromaDB, Weaviate, etc.).
Strong debugging, analytical, and communication skills.
Responsibilities
Design and develop AI-powered applications using Large Language Models (LLMs).
Build and optimize RAG pipelines and AI agent workflows.
Integrate AI services into enterprise applications and APIs.
Develop scalable backend services for AI solutions.
Collaborate with architects, product owners, and business stakeholders to define AI use cases.
Optimize AI model performance, cost, and response quality.
Ensure security, governance, and compliance for AI implementations.
Participate in code reviews, testing, and production deployments.
Document AI solutions and mentor junior developers when needed.