Applied AI Engineer
University of Michigan
About the Role
The Center for Academic Innovation at the University of Michigan is seeking an Applied AI Engineer for a one-year post-graduate fellowship focused on practical AI prototyping, evaluation, platform operations, and knowledge transfer.
Key Responsibilities
- Prototype and test AI-enabled workflows for CAI projects.
- Build lightweight applications, connectors, retrieval pipelines, and automations that integrate with existing CAI systems.
- Support pilots with domain experts, collect user feedback, diagnose failures, and iterate.
- Build evaluation datasets, test cases, and repeatable harnesses for quality, reliability, safety, and cost.
- Implement logging, access controls, guardrails, and operational telemetry.
- Establish defined operating work for CAI's local AI server, including model deployment, updates, monitoring, and runbook upkeep.
- Share practical guidance through demonstrations, office hours, and workshops.
Requirements & Tech Stack
- Hands-on programming experience in Python, JavaScript, or a comparable language.
- Experience working with APIs.
- Experience building applications with large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, structured outputs, agents, or related AI techniques.
- Experience using Git.
- Experience working with cloud, container, or modern application-development environments.
- Experience designing tests or evaluations and interpreting both quantitative results and user feedback.
- Working knowledge of software security, privacy, access control, and responsible AI practices.
- Experience with retrieval-augmented generation and agent frameworks.
- Experience with evaluation or observability tooling.
- Ability to learn and appropriately use new technologies to improve processes, communication, and outcomes, including AI-enabled tools where relevant to the role.
Qualifications
- A bachelor's degree in computer science, information, human-computer interaction, data science, engineering, learning sciences, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and applied experience.
- Experience building applications with large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, structured outputs, agents, or related AI techniques.
- Experience using Git and working with cloud, container, or modern application-development environments.
- Experience designing tests or evaluations and interpreting both quantitative results and user feedback.
- Working knowledge of software security, privacy, access control, and responsible AI practices.
- Experience with retrieval-augmented generation and agent frameworks.
- Experience with evaluation or observability tooling.
Additional Information
- This is a one-year term-limited fellowship with the possibility of annual renewal.
- Mode of work: Hybrid with a minimum of 4 days in the office per week.
- Salary range: $85,000 - $92,000.