Lead Engineer, AI & Automation

Location: Hybrid onsite 3 days per week in Lake Forest, California, within the Orange County / Greater LA Area

Company

hirify.global is partnering with a manufacturing and services industry organization on internal data management, automation, and AI initiatives.

What you will do

• Own the operations, architecture, roadmap, maintenance, and production support of an internal Material Master Data Management system connecting SAP, ERP platforms, and MDG.
• Design and optimize SQL Server/T-SQL solutions, Azure Data Factory and Microsoft Fabric pipelines, and Excel/VBA components.
• Lead automation and process-improvement initiatives from requirements and design through development, testing, deployment, and production support.
• Evaluate generative AI and agentic AI opportunities to accelerate automation development and improve business processes.
• Collaborate with Finance & Accounting, Engineering Documentation, Pricing, Sourcing, Marketing, and Supply Chain stakeholders to scope and prioritize automation opportunities.
• Apply code-quality, documentation, version-control, data-governance, privacy, security, and responsible-AI practices while defining success metrics and delivering measurable business value.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Business Analytics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in data engineering, automation engineering, or a related discipline, including independent ownership of complex projects and production systems.
• Strong SQL Server and T-SQL expertise, including stored procedures, views, and complex production queries.
• Hands-on experience with Azure Data Factory and/or Microsoft Fabric, including pipeline design, linked services, and triggers.
• Experience with ERP-adjacent data structures such as SAP, transactional systems, or master-data platforms, plus production troubleshooting and support experience.
• Proficiency in VBA, VB.NET, C#, Python, or another object-oriented or automation-focused language; familiarity with Git and modern version control.

Nice to have

• Experience with GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude, large language model tool/function calling, or retrieval-augmented generation.
• Knowledge of responsible AI, AI governance, data privacy, and security for production automation and AI systems.
• Experience with Logic Apps, Power Automate, Key Vault, Data Lake, low-code workflow platforms, data governance, or MDM concepts.
• Familiarity with R or application development.

Culture & Benefits

• Contract engagement with potential to convert to a full-time employee.
• Hands-on technical leadership with end-to-end ownership of systems and projects.
• Direct collaboration with technical and business stakeholders across multiple functions.
• Focus on measurable outcomes, including cost savings, cycle-time improvements, and system reliability.