Principal AI Engineer

Candidates must not require sponsorship now or in the future.

TITLE

Principal AI Engineer

COMPANY

JTEKT

DEPARTMENT

Engineering

LOCATION

Greenville, SC

CLASSIFICATION

Salaried (EXEMPT)

REPORTS TO

Director Technical Center

GRADE

107

Summary/Purpose

JTEKT North America is seeking a Principal AI Engineer to lead the design, architecture, and deployment of Generative AI and Machine Learning systems that power intelligent knowledge platforms, document understanding, and diagnostics. You’ll be responsible for building and orchestrating large language model (LLM)–driven solutions using Azure AI services, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines, and agentic frameworks.

In this role, you’ll not only build AI-powered user-facing tools but also architect robust systems for automating the ingestion and indexing of structured and unstructured enterprise data—including PDFs, SharePoint repositories, and sensor data. You’ll design and evaluate machine learning models for anomaly detection, diagnostics, and classification, applying both deep learning and classical techniques across engineering and operational domains.

As our lead GenAI architect, you’ll define the foundation for AI-powered applications across engineering, operations, and manufacturing—bridging cloud infrastructure, prompt workflows, and enterprise-scale data systems. This is a highly technical, hands-on role with strategic influence, designed for an individual who can both build and lead.

Essential Duties and Accountabilities:

This person may lead or assist in the activities listed but are not limited to the following:

• Architect and Deploy GenAI Systems: Design intelligent applications using Azure OpenAI, Prompt Flow, LangChain, Semantic Kernel, and other agentic frameworks.
• Develop and Orchestrate AI Pipelines: Integrate Azure services (Logic Apps, Container Apps, Cognitive Search, Azure Blob Storage, SharePoint) into end-to-end solutions that support retrieval, generation, and feedback workflows.
• Full-Stack AI Application Development: Build scalable backend services (Python, FastAPI, Node.js) and modern frontends (React, TypeScript, TailwindCSS) to deliver production-ready tools.
• Design and Optimize RAG Pipelines: Engineer semantic and hybrid search systems that power intelligent Q&A, summarization, and document extraction.
• Automate Data Ingestion and Indexing: Connect structured and unstructured enterprise data sources (PDFs, SharePoint, sensor signals) with AI systems.
• Implement and Evaluate ML Models: Apply deep learning and classical ML (e.g., CNNs, RNNs, XGBoost, logistic regression) for diagnostics, anomaly detection, and document classification.
• Apply Statistical Modeling: Use multivariate analysis, hypothesis testing, and Bayesian methods to build robust industrial analytics solutions.
• Establish Evaluation & Feedback Loops: Design systems to monitor LLM performance, detect hallucinations, and continuously improve relevance and output quality.
• Champion Responsible AI Practices: Ensure compliance with privacy, security, fairness, and transparency standards. Incorporate ethical considerations in AI design and deployment.
• Mentor and Scale: Provide technical mentorship and foster a collaborative, learning-oriented team culture as JTEKT’s AI capabilities grow.
• Align with Business Outcomes: Work cross-functionally with engineering, operations, IT, and innovation teams to ensure solutions drive real-world value and operational impact.
• Lead with Purpose: Help create systems that improve knowledge access, reduce decision-making friction, and accelerate enterprise-wide innovation.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Job Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Ability to lead projects across:

• Backend: Python, FastAPI, Node.js
• Frontend: React, TypeScript, TailwindCSS
• Cloud & Infrastructure: Azure OpenAI, Cognitive Search, Prompt Flow, Logic Apps, Azure Blob Storage, SharePoint
• ML Frameworks: scikit-learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, LangChain, Semantic Kernel
• Data & APIs: SQL, REST APIs, Pandas, NumPy

Expertise in:

• Large Language Models (LLMs), prompt engineering, retrieval tuning
• Agent orchestration, tool chaining, multi-agent coordination
• Deep learning (CNNs, RNNs, transformers) and classical ML models
• Statistical modeling: multivariate analysis, Bayesian inference
• Industrial data use cases: diagnostics, time-series forecasting, anomaly detection

Familiarity with:

• Human-in-the-loop feedback systems for LLM evaluation
• GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD workflows

Education and Experience:

• Education: Master’s degree in Computer Science, AI, Data Science, or related technical field (PhD is a plus).
• 3+ years of experience designing and deploying production-grade AI/ML systems.
• Experience deploying GenAI systems with agentic logic, memory management, and tool use.
• Background in enterprise AI applications that integrate with document management and workflow tools (e.g., SharePoint, Power Platform).
• Experience building dashboards or tools that allow non-technical users to engage with AI systems.

Work Environment/Physical Demands:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Work is mostly performed in a normal office setting with minimal exposure to health or safety hazards, and with substantial time spent working on a computer. Requires sufficient hand, arm, and finger dexterity to operate computer keyboard and other office equipment.
• The performance of this position may occasionally require exposure to manufacturing areas which require the use of personal protective equipment such as safety glasses with side shields and mandatory hearing protection.
• Travel by automobile and plane required approximately 10% of time.

Employee may perform other duties as requested, directed or assigned.