$120,000–$170,000
Lead AI Developer
Updated
$70–$75/hrSaint Louis, MOHybrid
Lead development of enterprise-grade Generative AI and LLM applications, including RAG pipelines, AI agents, backend services, and integrations with enterprise platforms.
Nextmove
Find roles that fit you
We find roles for your experience and goals, explain the fit, and help you get introduced to hiring teams.
We never share your profile with employers without your permission.
Try NextmoveCreate an account, then add your resume
View posting at WillowTreeAt a glance
Posted base pay
$146K–$156KBelow the median
Median $188K
This job$146K–$156KTypical senior FDE payMiddle 50% of 1,748 postings$160K–$220KThe work
Builds what the customer runs
Balance
- Mostly building
- Mixed
- Mostly pre-sales or support
Project stages
- Pre-sales (not covered)
- Proof of concept (not covered)
- Implementation
- Operations (not covered)
- Coding
- Writes production code
- Level
- Senior
- Role
- Technical lead
What they ask for
Experience
Background
Tools
Less common in FDE jobs
- Company stage: Subsidiary3%
- Hybrid35%
- Company size: About 5,000+ people38%
- Individual contributor or manager: Technical lead47%
Share of US FDE postings that state each fact.
The job description from WillowTree
Posted by WillowTree on
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.
About WillowTree
Legacy digital product consultancy, now operating under TELUS Digital, that combines strategy, UX, full-stack engineering, digital marketing, enterprise AI, and customer-experience transformation for large enterprises.
Acquired · 5000+ people
Similar jobs
AccordionBuilds what the customer runs
Senior Software Engineer
Boston, MA · Charlotte, NC · +4 moreBoston, MA +5Hybrid
$110,000–$200,000
AccentureBuilds what the customer runs
Generative AI Applications Engineer (Agents & RAG)
Washington, DC
$103,200–$203,400
Booz AllenBuilds what the customer runs
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Engineer, Senior
Wahiawa, HI
$99,000–$225,000
Hiring at WillowTree and want this page changed or removed? Email info@nextmove.md and we take it down.
Employer postings · How we read postings