Overview
Remote
Contract - W2
Skills
Microsoft
Prototyping
Management
Collaboration
Machine Learning (ML)
Software Engineering
.NET
Artificial Intelligence
Cosmos-Db
SQL Azure
Docker
Continuous Integration
Continuous Delivery
DevOps
GitHub
Instrumentation
Analytics
Grafana
Dashboard
RESTful
Microservices
Regulatory Compliance
Cloud Computing
Microsoft Azure
RBAC
Communication
Mentorship
Graph Databases
Terraform
Open Source
Semantics
Life Insurance
Screening
Writing
Career Counseling
Recruiting
Law
Testing
Job Details
Lead AI Engineer - Contract - Remote - $85.00- $ 113.33/hr.
The final salary or hourly wage, as applicable, paid to each candidate/applicant for this position is ultimately dependent on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate's/applicant's qualifications, skills, and level of experience as well as the geographical location of the position.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Sponsorship not available.
Our client is seeking a Lead AI Engineer for a remote opportunity.
Role Description
We're seeking a hands-on technical leader to architect, build, and operate AI Agents powered by Microsoft Semantic Kernel. You'll own end-to-end delivery: from prototyping and containerizing AI workloads, to setting up observability, to deploying and scaling in Azure. A .NET background is preferred.
Key Responsibilities
Lead design and implementation of AI Agents using Semantic Kernel, orchestrating prompts, skills, memory, and plugins
Containerize services into Docker images; author and maintain Dockerfiles and multi-stage CI/CD pipelines
Deploy and manage containerized workloads on Azure
Integrate with Azure AI services (OpenAI, Cognitive Services) for embedding, completions, and vector stores
Instrument services for observability on Azure
Define and enforce best practices for secure configuration, secret management (Azure Key Vault), and identity (Managed Identities)
Collaborate with data engineers, ML engineers, and architects to integrate retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and knowledge bases
Skills & Requirements
7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years leading high-visibility projects
Deep expertise in Semantic Kernel for .NET 8+
Hands-on experience with Azure compute and AI services:
o AKS, ACI, App Service, Azure Functions
o Azure OpenAI Service, Cognitive Search, Cosmos DB or Azure SQL
Strong containerization skills: Docker, multi-stage builds, image security scanning
CI/CD pipelines experience (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions) for automated builds and deployments
Observability and monitoring proficiency:
o Instrumentation with Application Insights / OpenTelemetry
o Log Analytics, Prometheus, Grafana dashboards
Solid background in RESTful API design, microservices, and event-driven architectures
Familiarity with security and compliance in cloud environments (Azure Policy, Key Vault, RBAC)
Excellent communication skills; proven ability to drive technical decisions and mentor teams
Experience with vector and/or graph databases
Prior work on retrieval-augmented generation or custom embedding pipelines
Knowledge of Terraform for infrastructure as code
Open source contributions or published Semantic Kernel examples.
Benefits/Other Compensation
This position is a contract/temporary role where Hays offers you the opportunity to enroll in full medical benefits, dental benefits, vision benefits, 401K and Life Insurance ($20,000 benefit).
Why Hays?
You will be working with a professional recruiter who has intimate knowledge of the industry and market trends. Your Hays recruiter will lead you through a thorough screening process in order to understand your skills, experience, needs, and drivers. You will also get support on resume writing, interview tips, and career planning, so when there's a position you really want, you're fully prepared to get it.
Nervous about an upcoming interview? Unsure how to write a new resume?
Visit the Hays Career Advice section to learn top tips to help you stand out from the crowd when job hunting.
Hays is committed to building a thriving culture of diversity that embraces people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better we serve our candidates, clients, and employees. We are an equal employment opportunity employer, and we comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, marital status, genetic information, HIV-positive status, as well as any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. One of Hays' guiding principles is 'do the right thing'.
We also believe that actions speak louder than words.
In that regard, we train our staff on ensuring inclusivity throughout the entire recruitment process and counsel our clients on these principles. If you have any questions about Hays or any of our processes, please contact us.
In accordance with applicable federal, state, and local law protecting qualified individuals with known disabilities, Hays will attempt to reasonably accommodate those individuals unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the company. Any qualified applicant or consultant with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions of the job should call or text .
Drug testing may be required; please contact a recruiter for more information.
#LI-DNI
The final salary or hourly wage, as applicable, paid to each candidate/applicant for this position is ultimately dependent on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate's/applicant's qualifications, skills, and level of experience as well as the geographical location of the position.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Sponsorship not available.
Our client is seeking a Lead AI Engineer for a remote opportunity.
Role Description
We're seeking a hands-on technical leader to architect, build, and operate AI Agents powered by Microsoft Semantic Kernel. You'll own end-to-end delivery: from prototyping and containerizing AI workloads, to setting up observability, to deploying and scaling in Azure. A .NET background is preferred.
Key Responsibilities
Lead design and implementation of AI Agents using Semantic Kernel, orchestrating prompts, skills, memory, and plugins
Containerize services into Docker images; author and maintain Dockerfiles and multi-stage CI/CD pipelines
Deploy and manage containerized workloads on Azure
Integrate with Azure AI services (OpenAI, Cognitive Services) for embedding, completions, and vector stores
Instrument services for observability on Azure
Define and enforce best practices for secure configuration, secret management (Azure Key Vault), and identity (Managed Identities)
Collaborate with data engineers, ML engineers, and architects to integrate retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and knowledge bases
Skills & Requirements
7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years leading high-visibility projects
Deep expertise in Semantic Kernel for .NET 8+
Hands-on experience with Azure compute and AI services:
o AKS, ACI, App Service, Azure Functions
o Azure OpenAI Service, Cognitive Search, Cosmos DB or Azure SQL
Strong containerization skills: Docker, multi-stage builds, image security scanning
CI/CD pipelines experience (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions) for automated builds and deployments
Observability and monitoring proficiency:
o Instrumentation with Application Insights / OpenTelemetry
o Log Analytics, Prometheus, Grafana dashboards
Solid background in RESTful API design, microservices, and event-driven architectures
Familiarity with security and compliance in cloud environments (Azure Policy, Key Vault, RBAC)
Excellent communication skills; proven ability to drive technical decisions and mentor teams
Experience with vector and/or graph databases
Prior work on retrieval-augmented generation or custom embedding pipelines
Knowledge of Terraform for infrastructure as code
Open source contributions or published Semantic Kernel examples.
Benefits/Other Compensation
This position is a contract/temporary role where Hays offers you the opportunity to enroll in full medical benefits, dental benefits, vision benefits, 401K and Life Insurance ($20,000 benefit).
Why Hays?
You will be working with a professional recruiter who has intimate knowledge of the industry and market trends. Your Hays recruiter will lead you through a thorough screening process in order to understand your skills, experience, needs, and drivers. You will also get support on resume writing, interview tips, and career planning, so when there's a position you really want, you're fully prepared to get it.
Nervous about an upcoming interview? Unsure how to write a new resume?
Visit the Hays Career Advice section to learn top tips to help you stand out from the crowd when job hunting.
Hays is committed to building a thriving culture of diversity that embraces people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better we serve our candidates, clients, and employees. We are an equal employment opportunity employer, and we comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, marital status, genetic information, HIV-positive status, as well as any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. One of Hays' guiding principles is 'do the right thing'.
We also believe that actions speak louder than words.
In that regard, we train our staff on ensuring inclusivity throughout the entire recruitment process and counsel our clients on these principles. If you have any questions about Hays or any of our processes, please contact us.
In accordance with applicable federal, state, and local law protecting qualified individuals with known disabilities, Hays will attempt to reasonably accommodate those individuals unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the company. Any qualified applicant or consultant with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions of the job should call or text .
Drug testing may be required; please contact a recruiter for more information.
#LI-DNI
Employers have access to artificial intelligence language tools (“AI”) that help generate and enhance job descriptions and AI may have been used to create this description. The position description has been reviewed for accuracy and Dice believes it to correctly reflect the job opportunity.