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Lead Ai Developer Jobs in Missouri (NOW HIRING)

Lead AI Platform Engineer Location: St. Louis, MO (On-site) Employment Type: Contract (Only W2 through ZipStaff) About the Opportunity ZipStaff is seeking a Lead AI Platform Engineer to design, build ...

Lead AI Engineer - Observability

California, MO · On-site

$91K - $120K/yr

... prompt engineering, and agentic AI workflows * • Build intelligent systems using LangChain ... • Lead the end-to-end GenAI solution lifecycle from architecture and engineering through ...

In this role, you will lead a talented team in architecting and deploying cutting‑edge ... What you'll do As our AI Engineer, you will be the driving force behind our technical vision and ...

Principal AI Engineer Location: Springfield, Missouri Department: Information Technology Employment ... Five reasons to apply: opportunity to lead AI strategy across the data platform; handson work with ...

Equifax is seeking a visionary AI engineer to lead our technology transformation initiative. In this role, you will lead a talented team in architecting and deploying cutting-edge, cloud-native ...

AI Engineer

O Fallon, MO · On-site

$110K - $150K/yr

Position Summary The AI Developer will lead the design, development, and implementation of artificial intelligence solutions across Milestone Marketing Solutions and its affiliated businesses. This ...

Security architecture & engineering : Proven track record designing scalable, resilient solutions ... Lead AI security research, innovation, and POCs for new threat models * Prepare SOPs, protocols ...

AI Red Team Lead Engineer

Earth City, MO · On-site

$97K - $128K/yr

The AI Red Team Lead Engineer leads the execution and evolution of offensive security activities focused on AI/ML systems, platforms, and integrations, in addition to traditional enterprise attack ...

Lead AI architectural design and end-to-end solutioning and sales efforts * Provide leadership and ... Preferred: Microsoft Certified AI Engineer or equivalent certification * Preferred: management ...

The position combines hands-on engineering with the architectural leadership needed to deliver ... Lead AI-assisted software development using platforms such as Replit Agent/Builder, ensuring ...

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Showing results 1-20

Lead Ai Developer information

What is a Lead AI Developer?

A Lead AI Developer is a senior-level professional responsible for overseeing the design, development, and implementation of artificial intelligence solutions within an organization. They lead a team of AI engineers and data scientists, guiding the technical strategy and architecture of AI projects. Their role often involves collaborating with stakeholders to understand business needs, setting project goals, and ensuring that AI systems are scalable, reliable, and ethical. Lead AI Developers also stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in AI technology and best practices to drive innovation within their teams.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Lead AI Developer?

To thrive as a Lead AI Developer, you need advanced expertise in machine learning, deep learning, and programming languages like Python or Java, usually backed by a degree in computer science or a related field. Familiarity with AI frameworks (such as TensorFlow, PyTorch), cloud platforms, and experience with data engineering tools and model deployment is essential. Leadership, problem-solving, and strong collaboration skills help you manage teams and communicate complex technical ideas effectively. These capabilities are crucial for designing innovative AI solutions, leading technical teams, and driving successful project delivery.

How does a Lead AI Developer typically collaborate with cross-functional teams during a project?

As a Lead AI Developer, you’ll frequently work alongside data scientists, software engineers, product managers, and business stakeholders to ensure AI solutions align with organizational goals. Collaboration often involves translating technical AI concepts into actionable plans, guiding team members through implementation challenges, and facilitating communication between technical and non-technical team members. Effective leadership in this role means fostering an environment where feedback is encouraged and project milestones are clearly communicated, ultimately resulting in efficient, innovative AI product development.

What is the difference between Lead Ai Developer vs Data Scientist?

AspectLead Ai DeveloperData Scientist
Required CredentialsBachelor's/Master's in CS, AI, or related; experience with AI frameworksBachelor's/Master's in CS, Statistics, or related; strong analytical skills
Work EnvironmentDevelops AI models, leads AI projects, collaborates with engineering teamsAnalyzes data, builds predictive models, interprets complex datasets
Industry UsageUsed in tech companies, AI startups, R&D departmentsCommon in finance, healthcare, marketing, and research sectors

The main difference is that a Lead Ai Developer focuses on designing and leading AI development projects, while a Data Scientist emphasizes analyzing data and building predictive models. Both roles require strong technical skills and often overlap, but their primary responsibilities and work focus differ.

Infographic showing various Lead Ai Developer job openings in Missouri as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 65% Full Time, and 35% Contract. Highlights an 85% In-person, and 15% Remote job distribution.

Lead AI Platform Engineer

Saint Louis, MO • On-site

$60 - $62/hr

Contractor

Posted 17 days ago


Job description

Job Title: Lead AI Platform Engineer
Location: St. Louis, MO (On-site)
Employment Type: Contract (Only W2 through ZipStaff)

About the Opportunity
ZipStaff is seeking a Lead AI Platform Engineer to design, build, and operate production AI solutions for a major energy and utilities organization.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on agentic workflows, RAG architectures, evaluation frameworks, and AI observability. You will establish reusable AI patterns, raise engineering standards, and deliver enterprise-grade AI systems that are reliable, measurable, and integrated with existing APIs, applications, and data sources.

What You’ll Do:
  • Design, build, deploy, and support production AI solutions.
  • Develop agentic workflows, tool integrations, and orchestration pipelines.
  • Build and evolve RAG and agent-based architectures.
  • Create evaluation frameworks to improve quality, groundedness, and reliability.
  • Implement AI observability, tracing, and monitoring capabilities.
  • Develop automated testing and regression validation processes.
  • Integrate AI solutions with APIs, enterprise applications, and data sources.
  • Design reusable AI patterns, frameworks, and components that increase platform scalability and team productivity.
  • Establish engineering best practices and contribute to code reviews.
  • Research and adopt emerging AI technologies where they provide business value.
  • Partner with stakeholders to translate business problems into AI solutions.

Required Qualifications:
  • 7–8+ years of software engineering experience with a proven track record of delivering enterprise-grade production software.
  • Strong Python development skills.
  • Experience building, deploying, and operating production AI systems.
  • Experience designing and implementing RAG solutions.
  • Hands-on experience with Databricks.
  • Hands-on experience with LangGraph or similar agent orchestration frameworks.
  • Experience building AI workflows that leverage tools, APIs, and external systems.
  • Experience with AI evaluation frameworks and quality measurement.
  • Experience implementing AI observability and tracing solutions.
  • Understanding of agent architecture patterns, prompt engineering, and LLM evaluation techniques.
  • Experience with AWS in production environments.
  • Experience designing and consuming REST APIs.
  • Experience with Git, CI/CD, and modern software engineering practices
  • Knowledge of secure coding principles and responsible AI practices.
  • Experience collaborating within Agile software development teams.
  • Ability to work on-site in St. Louis, MO.
  • Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience with AgentBricks.
  • Experience with Microsoft Copilot extensibility and agent development.
  • Experience with LangChain and related frameworks.
  • Experience with MCP integrations.
  • Experience with vector databases and semantic search.
  • Experience with AWS Bedrock.
  • Experience with OpenTelemetry, LangSmith, Grafana, MLflow, DeepEval, or similar tooling.
  • Experience deploying multi-agent systems.
  • Experience with Terraform.
  • AWS, Databricks, Microsoft, or AI-related certifications.

About ZipStaff:
ZipStaff partners with leading organizations to connect skilled technology professionals with high-impact contract opportunities. We focus on quality matches and long-term success.

To apply, please submit your resume highlighting your production AI systems experience, Python, RAG, Databricks, and LangGraph (or similar) agent orchestration background.