Location: Phoenix, AZ / Charlotte, NC (Hybrid â 3 days onsite)
Job Type: Full - Time
Salary: $175Kâ$185K per year
Duration: Not Specified
Experience: 5+ years, Java, Python, Kafka, LLMs
Job Description & Details
"The world of Generative AI is exploding, and companies are racing to embed intelligent assistants directly into their products. A role that blends deep Java/Python engineering with cutting\u2011edge LLM work offers a rare chance to shape the future of fintech solutions. This AI Architect position gives you a hybrid base in two tech hubs, letting you collaborate onsite while still enjoying flexibility.\n\n# Job Summary\nWe are seeking a senior\u2011level AI Architect to design, develop, and scale end\u2011to\u2011end Generative AI solutions for banking and fintech applications. The candidate will lead microservice\u2011based platforms built with Java Spring Boot and Python, integrate real\u2011time data pipelines (Kafka, Flink, Redis), and craft conversational experiences using LLMs and prompt engineering (Dialogflow CX or equivalents). The role is hybrid, requiring three days on\u2011site in Phoenix or Charlotte, and involves close collaboration with product, data science, and security teams.\n\n# Top 3 Critical Skills Table\n| Skill | Why it's critical | Mastery Level |\n|-------|-------------------|--------------|\n| Java (Spring Boot) & Python | Core languages for building scalable microservices and AI pipelines | Senior |\n| LLMs, Prompt Engineering & Conversational AI | Drives the core Generative AI product offering and customer interaction | Senior |\n| Kafka / Flink / Redis | Enables real\u2011time data streaming, state management, and low\u2011latency responses | Senior |\n\n# Interview Preparation\n1. **Explain how you would design a microservice architecture that supports both synchronous REST APIs and asynchronous event streams (Kafka/Flink).**\n *What the interviewer is looking for:* Understanding of service decomposition, API contracts, event\u2011driven design, data consistency, and scalability.\n2. **Walk me through the steps to fine\u2011tune a large language model for a banking chatbot, including prompt engineering.**\n *What the interviewer is looking for:* Knowledge of LLM customization, data privacy considerations, prompt design, evaluation metrics, and deployment.\n3. **How do you ensure low latency and high throughput when integrating Redis caching into a real\u2011time AI inference pipeline?**\n *What the interviewer is looking for:* Experience with caching strategies, cache invalidation, serialization, and performance benchmarking.\n4. **Describe a situation where you had to migrate a legacy Java monolith to a Spring Boot microservice ecosystem. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?**\n *What the interviewer is looking for:* Practical migration experience, handling of state, testing, CI/CD pipelines, and team coordination.\n5. **What security and compliance measures would you implement for an AI solution handling sensitive financial data?**\n *What the interviewer is looking for:* Awareness of data encryption, access controls, audit logging, GDPR/PCI\u2011DSS compliance, and secure model serving.\n\n# Resume Optimization\n- Java\n- Spring Boot\n- Python\n- Kafka\n- Flink\n- Redis\n- Microservices\n- REST APIs\n- LLM\n- Prompt Engineering\n- Conversational AI\n- Dialogflow CX\n- Fintech\n- Banking\n- Hybrid Cloud\n- Real\u2011time Streaming\n\n# Application Strategy\nWhen reaching out to the recruiter, send a concise email that greets them, briefly states your interest, and attaches your resume. In the body, explicitly highlight your top skills\u2014such as Java Spring Boot, LLM prompt engineering, and real\u2011time streaming with Kafka/Flink\u2014mention relevant projects where you applied these technologies, and map each skill to the key requirements listed in the job description.\n\n# Career Roadmap\n| Current Role | Typical Experience | Core Focus | Next Position |\n|--------------|-------------------|------------|---------------|\n| AI Architect (Full Stack) | 5\u20117 years in software engineering & AI | End\u2011to\u2011end AI platform design, microservices, LLM integration | Senior AI Architect |\n| Senior AI Architect | 8\u201110 years, leading multiple AI products | Strategy, large\u2011scale deployments, cross\u2011team leadership | AI Engineering Manager |\n| AI Engineering Manager | 10\u201112 years, people\u2011management & budgeting | Team growth, roadmap ownership, stakeholder alignment | Director of AI / Head of AI |\n"