Senior AI Engineer [Onsite]
No Visa Sponsorship is available for this position.
This position is 100% on-site and located on the Cornell University Campus in Ithaca, New York.
About Information Technology at Cornell
Information Technology (IT) is a strategic enabler for many functions at Cornell University, with staff located across colleges, administrative units, and campuses throughout the institution. While comprised of many organizations, IT operates as one partnering closely with faculty, staff, and students to support teaching, research, and business operations. By being embedded where the Cornell community is, IT is well positioned to provide support ranging from day‑to‑day needs to large, complex initiatives that advance major academic, research, and operational objectives across the university. Check out this link to find out more about IT@Cornell
What will you do:
The Senior AI Engineer serves as the technical lead for the AI Engineering team, providing expert‑level guidance, architectural leadership, and hands‑on development in support of Cornell’s enterprise AI services. This role is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining complex production‑grade AI applications and systems, ensuring they meet the highest standards of security, scalability, and reliability. The Senior AI Engineer mentors developers and technical leads, establishes engineering best practices, and ensures AI projects remain on the correct technical trajectory throughout the development lifecycle.
This position directs and evaluates advanced AI solutions, leads the development and enhancement of enterprise AI systems, and formulates standards and methodologies that shape how AI applications are built across the university. The Senior AI Engineer collaborates closely with the Principal Solutions Architect for the AI Platform to define patterns and reference architectures that ensure all AI Innovation Lab applications are production‑ready and aligned with Cornell’s secure AI infrastructure.
The role applies deep technical expertise across Generative AI technologies, API development, authentication and identity protocols, and cloud‑native architectures. It also integrates AI Innovation Lab services with Cornell enterprise systems using standards such as OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, JWT, LDAP, and Microsoft identity services. Additionally, the Senior AI Engineer develops or refines procedures to address the most complex challenges related to system capacity, operational constraints, and distributed AI system performance.
As a senior leader within the AI Innovation Lab, the Senior AI Engineer provides technical direction to project teams—including project managers, business analysts, subject‑matter experts, developers, and quality‑assurance specialists—ensuring that solutions are well‑designed, well‑implemented, and aligned with institutional strategy.
While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.
What We Need
A resume is required for further consideration for this position. A cover letter outlining your interest and how your experience and goals align with the potential for mutual success in the role are strongly encouraged for consideration. When applying through our system, please remember to attach your application materials (Cover Letter and Resume) in PDF format.
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, information technology, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
5–7 years of professional software engineering experience,…