Director Data Engineering Jobs in Springfield, MO

Job Title:Principal AI Engineer

Location:Springfield, Missouri

Department:Information Technology

Employment Type:Full-time

Job Summary:Join a compassionate, collaborative team making a measurable difference by delivering AI-driven analytics that empower business decisions and improve outcomes for stakeholders. This role offers the opportunity to lead high-impact AI initiatives, mentor cross-functional teams, shape enterprise AI strategy, work withcutting-edgeLLM and Snowflake technologies, and build production-ready systems that increase data accessibility and drive faster insights. Weseeka self-directed, systems-thinking engineer withstrong communicationskills and a passion for translating complex analytical needs into scalable technical solutions.

The Principal AI Engineer is the senior technical contributor within Analytics responsible for designing, developing, and implementing enterprise AI capabilities on the data platform with a focus on Snowflake integration. This hands-on role develops natural language-to-SQL solutions, semantic data models, and prototype applications that enable governed, conversational access to enterprise data, and guides their transition into scalable, production-ready solutions.

This position offers...
Employee Assistance Program- 24/7 counseling services, legal assistance, & financial consultation for you and your household at no cost
Mileage Reimbursement- Company paid for work functions requiring travel
Employee Discounts- Hotels, Theme Parks & Attractions, College Tuition
Workplace Culture- An environment cultivating employee wellbeing, valuing each individual's humanity, and actively promoting a healthy, joyful workforce
Additional Perks & Benefits- Scroll down to bottom of this post to learn more

Key Responsibilities:
Lead the design and implementation of LLM-enabled analytics capabilities leveraging Snowflake and Cortex AI features
Develop natural language-to-SQL solutions and conversational interfaces that allow business users to query governed enterprise data
Collaborate with Data Engineering to design and maintain semantic data models that support reliable AI-driven query generation
Build prototype AI applications to validate high-value business use cases and demonstrate new capabilities
Guide the transition of prototypes into scalable, production-ready solutions and establish architectural patterns and best practices for LLMs with structured data
Assist Data Engineering with prompt design, query-generation frameworks, evaluation approaches, and integration tasks
Identify high-impact opportunities for AI across analytics, reporting, and decision-support workflows
Evaluate emerging AI technologies, tools, and Snowflake platform capabilities for potential adoption
Support development of standards for responsible, secure AI usage aligned with enterprise data governance
Document system architecture, design decisions, and implementation approaches
Provide technical guidance and mentorship to analytics and data engineering team members
Function in accordance with operational guidelines and professional ethics; participate in staff development activities; perform other duties as assigned

Education, Experience, and/or Credential Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, or related field
7+ years of experience in data, analytics, engineering, or applied AI roles
Demonstrated experience building or prototyping AI/LLM-driven solutions in enterprise environments
Experience with modern data warehouse platforms (Snowflake preferred)
Proficiency in SQL and Python
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) preferred
Healthcare or regulated industry experience preferred but not required

Additional Qualifications:
Strong understanding of modern data warehouse architecture and analytics data modeling practices
Experience designing natural language query interfaces, prompt engineering, context management, and grounding techniques for LLM systems
Knowledge of semantic data modeling and data governance principles
Ability to translate complex analytical questions into scalable technical solutions and communicate clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
Self-directed problem solver with leadership and mentoring experience
Successful completion of background check including criminal record, driving record, abuse/neglect, and fingerprint check required
Current driver's license, acceptable driving record, and current auto insurance required

Physical Requirements
Sedentary work: exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible forcefrequentlyto lift, carry, push, or pull objects; repetitive movements of hands, fingers, and arms for typing and/or writing during work shift
Primarily sitting with occasional walking or standing for brief periods

Keywords: Principal AI Engineer, LLM, Snowflake, Cortex AI, natural language to SQL, semantic data modeling, data engineering, Python, SQL, enterprise AI