Lead AI Engineer (Generative AI)

Location: Remote or hybrid from anywhere in Kazakhstan; Astana

Company

EPAM Kazakhstan delivers enterprise software engineering and Generative AI solutions for clients.

What you will do

• Lead the architecture and implementation of scalable enterprise AI applications, including multi-agent workflows, custom search engines, and end-to-end AI systems.
• Translate client and business goals into technical roadmaps and recommend feasible, high-impact LLM solutions.
• Set standards for code quality, architecture, data pipelines, prompt management, and automated evaluation.
• Lead design reviews, development practices, and mentorship for junior and senior developers.
• Guide R&D, prototype emerging AI models, and standardize Generative AI tools and frameworks.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in a Lead, Principal, or Senior AI/Software Engineering role, including architecting and shipping complex production-grade AI or ML solutions.
• At least 1 year of relevant leadership experience.
• Master-level Python proficiency, specifically FastAPI or equivalent web frameworks, with a strong foundation in NLP concepts including semantic similarity, tokenization, NER, and text classification.
• Expertise in Generative AI patterns, especially RAG, autonomous multi-agent networks, and tool integration.
• Production experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, or Gemini APIs and orchestration tools such as LangGraph or LlamaIndex.
• Experience optimizing AI applications for performance, security, prompt-injection mitigation, data privacy, cloud costs, and programmatic or LLM-as-a-judge evaluation.
• Ability to build intuitive UI/UX prototypes with Streamlit, Gradio, or equivalent tools.
• Strong leadership and communication skills, including presenting architectures to executives and clients and bridging technical and non-technical audiences.
• English communication skills at B2 level or higher.

Culture & Benefits

• Remote or hybrid work, with the option to work abroad for up to two months per year.
• Relocation opportunities within offices in 55+ countries.
• Corporate and social events, leadership development, career advising, soft-skills, and well-being programs.
• Certifications including GCP, Azure, and AWS, unlimited access to EPAM's internal learning database, and free English classes.
• Medical and family care package, six trust days per year, sports and service discounts, and housing support through an Otbasy Bank mortgage partnership.