{"id":435394,"url":"https://alion.io/job/exponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required","title":"Senior AI Engineer (Ph.D. required)","company":{"id":452188,"name":"Exponent","domain":"exponent.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/exponent-5","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"iCIMS","truth_index":null},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Houston, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":150000,"max_usd":289000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":1332},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"Amazon ECS","optional":false},{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"Azure","optional":false},{"name":"Docker","optional":false},{"name":"Fine-tuning","optional":false},{"name":"Function Calling","optional":false},{"name":"GCP","optional":false},{"name":"Human-in-the-Loop","optional":false},{"name":"Knowledge Graph","optional":false},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":false},{"name":"LangChain","optional":false},{"name":"LangGraph","optional":false},{"name":"LlamaIndex","optional":false},{"name":"LLM","optional":false},{"name":"LLM Guardrails","optional":false},{"name":"LLMOps","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Multi-Agent Systems","optional":false},{"name":"OpenSearch","optional":false},{"name":"pgvector","optional":false},{"name":"Pinecone","optional":false},{"name":"Prompt Engineering","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"Semantic Search","optional":false},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":true},{"name":"SQL","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-06T06:55:59Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-22","last_verified_at":"2026-11-02T09:12:06Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":57,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":57},"description":"About Exponent\nExponent is the only premium engineering and scientific consulting firm with the depth and breadth of expertise to solve our clients’ most profoundly unique, unprecedented, and urgent challenges.\nOur vision is to engage multidisciplinary teams of science, engineering, and regulatory experts to empower clients with solutions that create a safer, healthier, more sustainable world. For over five decades, we've connected the lessons of past failures with tomorrow's solutions to advise clients as they innovate technologically complex products and processes, ensure the safety and health of their users, and address the challenges of sustainability.\nJoin our team of experts with degrees from top programs at over 500 universities and extensive experience spanning a variety of industries. At Exponent, you’ll contribute to the diverse pool of ideas, talents, backgrounds, and experiences that drives our collaborative teamwork and breakthrough insights. Plus, we help you grow your career through mentoring, sponsorship, and a culture of learning. Thanks for your interest in joining our team!\nKey statistics:\n950+ Consultants \n640+ Ph.D.s \n90+ Disciplines \n30+ Offices globally \nOur Opportunity\nWe are currently seeking a Senior AI Engineer for our Data Sciences Practice in Houston, TX. In this role, you will help design, build, and scale AI solutions - including generative and agentic AI systems - for client organizations across industries such as utilities, energy, life sciences, consumer electronics, and manufacturing. You will work alongside Exponent's multidisciplinary scientists and engineers to translate complex, real-world problems in safety-critical and highly regulated environments into production-grade AI applications.\nYou will be responsible for\nArchitecting, developing, and deploying end-to-end AI solutions for clients, from data foundations through model development to production deployment\nBuilding generative AI applications, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, LLM-powered assistants, and domain-specific copilots grounded in enterprise knowledge\nDesigning and implementing agentic AI architectures - multi-agent workflows, tool use, orchestration frameworks, and human-in-the-loop controls - for complex analytical and operational tasks\nDeveloping knowledge representation layers (knowledge graphs, ontologies, semantic search) that ground AI systems in trusted, domain-specific context\nDeploying and scaling AI workloads on cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred), including containerized services, vector databases, and MLOps/LLMOps pipelines\nRapidly prototyping and iterating on models, analyses, and visualizations in fast-paced, client-facing engagements\nImplementing responsible AI practices, including evaluation frameworks, guardrails, observability, and alignment with client governance and regulatory requirements\nCollaborating with Exponent consultants across engineering and scientific disciplines to embed domain expertise into AI solutions\nCommunicating technical approaches and results clearly to both technical and executive client stakeholders\nMentoring junior team members and contributing to the growth of Exponent's AI capabilities and reusable assets\nYou will have the following skills and qualifications\nPh.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related field\n5+ years of hands-on experience building and deploying machine learning and AI systems in production environments after the completion of the Ph.D.\nDemonstrated experience with generative AI, including LLM application development, prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and RAG architectures\nExperience with agentic frameworks and orchestration tools (e.g., LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex, or comparable)\nStrong software engineering fundamentals in Python; experience with APIs, microservices, and containerization (Docker, ECS/Kubernetes)\nHands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS strongly preferred; Azure or GCP acceptable), including serverless and managed AI/ML services\nFamiliarity with vector databases (e.g., pgvector, Pinecone, OpenSearch) and knowledge graph technologies is a plus\nHighly proficient in SQL, with the ability to work across large, complex enterprise datasets\nExperience working in consulting or client-facing roles, with the ability to manage ambiguity and deliver under tight timelines\nExcellent written and verbal communication skills\nPresently legally authorized to work in the United States; no immigration sponsorship or processing required \nPreferred qualifications:\nExperience applying AI in safety-critical, regulated, or physical-infrastructure industries (utilities, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation)\nFamiliarity with AI governance frameworks, model risk management, and trustworthy AI principles\nApplicants are encouraged to submit a CV (Curriculum Vitae) with publications (feel free to include publications that are in review or pending) [not restricted to 1 page].\nLife @ Exponent\nTo learn more about life at Exponent and our impact, please visit the following links:https://www.exponent.com/careers/life-exponent https://www.exponent.com/company/our-impact\nAttracting, inspiring, developing, and rewarding exceptional people with diverse backgrounds and expertise are central to our corporate culture. Our diverse team allows us to provide better value to our clients and enjoy an enriched work environment.\nOur firm is committed to offering a variety of programs and resources to support health and well-being. We believe that providing competitive benefits as well as compensation and recognition programs empowers our staff to do work that makes a difference.\nWork Environment\nAt Exponent, we have found that in-person interactions deepen employee engagement and are crucial for development, for realizing the full potential of our talented and diverse teams, and for building a more inclusive workplace where all have a sense of belonging. In our offices, you can expect a supportive culture and a collaborative, dynamic, multi-disciplinary work environment. Our consultants engage in-person in the office unless they are traveling for client work or other business activities.\nWe value the rich lives our colleagues enjoy outside of work and understand that work/life balance is critical to our employees and their well-being. Consultants have the autonomy to balance their work and personal schedules so you can meet with clients, visit inspection sites, attend conferences, and make time for priorities outside of work, too. It is this flexible, agile work style and working hours that allow our teams to drive innovation and results in their own ways, while meeting the needs of clients. #LI-Onsite\nCompensation\nOur consultants are rewarded for their technical and business contributions and have an opportunity to plan for future success and career growth. Exponent's total compensation plan is consistent with its expectations of the quality and quantity of work performed and with the professional standards set by Exponent. At the Associate and Senior Associate level, total compensation includes base salary, bi-weekly bonuses for high-intensity efforts, annual bonus and 401(k) employer contribution of 7% of base salary.\nThe base salary range for this position is dependent on experience and capabilities which will be assessed during the interview process.\nBenefits you will enjoy\nAccess benefits information on our Life@Exponent page:\nhttps://www.exponent.com/careers/life-exponent\nExponent is a proud equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected status.\nIf you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, you may email us at .\nJob Locations\nUS-TX-Houston","description_format":"text","description_chars":7985,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-06T06:55:59Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 8 · green card filings: 3","filings_12m":8,"filings_prev_12m":15,"green_card_filings_12m":3,"median_offered_wage_usd":117500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":25,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.689,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":56,"expected_fill_days":29,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/exponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/exponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-02T13:29:56Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":18410,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-03T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":452188},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=452188"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fexponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fexponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fexponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/exponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fexponent-senior-ai-engineer-ph-d-required"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":435394}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"exponent.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":435394},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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