AI Engineer I, II, III or Senior

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. is hiring an AI Engineer (I, II, III or Senior) in Westminster, CO (hybrid) to help deliver AI capabilities that support measurable business outcomes. This role blends hands-on AI platform architecture with end-to-end delivery across teams, from discovery through production operations in cloud and secure on-premises environments. With a salary range of USD 91,000 - 161,000 per year, you will influence technical direction, engineering standards, and governance-aligned deployment for high-value utility use cases.

What you’ll do

• Act as a primary technical partner for AI initiatives by building strong relationships with business leaders and stakeholders across Tri-State.
• Lead discovery with business units to identify problems and opportunities where AI, machine learning, and data science can create measurable value.
• Translate business needs into AI solutions with clear success criteria, expected value, feasibility, and risk.
• Develop business cases and prioritization recommendations, including value, effort, data readiness, and risk.
• Set expectations, communicate progress and results, and ensure solutions are adopted and achieve intended outcomes.
• Drive end-to-end delivery of AI solutions across multiple teams: discovery, design, build, deployment, adoption, and ongoing operation.
• Design advanced AI and analytical solutions for high-value utility use cases such as load and renewable forecasting, asset health and predictive maintenance, wildfire and outage risk, and grid operations support.
• Coordinate engineering efforts across teams spanning data, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and business partners to deliver on time and as designed.
• Measure and report business outcomes and improve solutions based on results and user feedback.
• Define reference architectures, design patterns, and a technical roadmap for AI/ML solutions.
• Architect AI platforms and shared services across cloud and on-premises, including model hosting, agent infrastructure, retrieval services, evaluation, and observability.
• Lead technology and vendor evaluations, including build-versus-buy analysis and on-premises infrastructure recommendations.
• Determine where AI workloads run based on data sensitivity, regulatory requirements, latency, cost, and operational risk.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, statistics, and data science, including experimental design and interpretation of results.
• Set standards for model validation, statistical rigor, uncertainty quantification, bias testing, and reproducibility.
• Define AI engineering standards for LLMOps and MLOps, including evaluation frameworks, release gates, security patterns, and production readiness criteria.
• Review designs for high-risk and enterprise-wide solutions; resolve critical AI production issues and drive post-incident improvements.
• Turn emerging research into production-ready capabilities through prototypes and pilots.
• Ensure solutions align with Tri-State AI governance, including human-in-the-loop design, explainability, and safety controls matched to operational and regulatory risk.
• Contribute technical input to AI governance standards, risk assessments, AI security, and regulatory compliance (including NERC CIP).
• Lead, guide, and mentor engineers across multiple AI teams and projects; support interviews, skill development, and best practices.
• Share knowledge through the AI Community of Practice, technical presentations, and documentation.
• Represent Tri-State’s AI work in industry forums, peer utility groups (including EPRI), and with vendors and academic partners.
• Because Tri-State provides continuous, reliable electric service, overtime may be required at any time of day or week.
• Maintain compliance with company policies and stay current on regulations, laws, standards, and best practices for the functional area.

Requirements

• 8+ years delivering machine learning, data science, and AI solutions, or 8+ years with a Master’s degree or PhD.
• 5+ years experience as a technical lead, principal engineer, or architect leading multiple teams or projects.
• Expert knowledge in machine learning, deep learning, statistics, and data science, including experimental design, probabilistic forecasting, optimization, and model validation.
• Expert knowledge of LLMs, agentic systems, RAG architectures, multi-agent orchestration, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and generative AI application design at enterprise scale.
• Deep expertise in AI platform and solution architecture across cloud and on-premises environments, including local model inference, GPU infrastructure, and Kubernetes.
• Expert knowledge of MLOps and LLMOps, evaluation frameworks (including golden test sets, LLM-as-judge, and red-teaming), observability, and AI cost management.
• Deep understanding of AI security, privacy, and risk, including OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, MITRE ATLAS, IT/OT segmentation, and model supply-chain risk.
• Strong understanding of AI governance and risk frameworks such as NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO/IEC 42001.
• Strong Python and software engineering skills, with ability to prototype hands-on and review code/designs across teams.
• Business acumen and stakeholder management skills, including discovery facilitation, problem framing, business case development, and value measurement.
• Ability to lead and align multiple teams and stakeholders through influence, technical credibility, and clear direction.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication, including executive briefings and presentations to non-technical audiences.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or related field; Master’s degree or PhD preferred.

Technologies you’ll work with

• Python, Azure, AWS, GCP, Databricks
• Kubernetes
• LLMs, RAG architectures, Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• LLMOps, MLOps
• OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, MITRE ATLAS
• NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001
• NERC CIP

Compensation

• Senior AI Engineer: $125,000-$161,000
• AI Engineer III: $113,000-$143,000
• AI Engineer II: $101,000-$128,000
• AI Engineer I: $91,000-$114,000

Benefits

• Medical Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance
• Flexible Work Schedules including compressed work week and telecommuting opportunities to work remotely up to 40%
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Life Insurance
• Retirement Option
• Long Term Disability (LTD), Short Term Disability (STD)
• Employee Assistant Program (EAP)
• Paid Leave Benefits

Additional notes

• One position is available, filled at one of four job grade levels (AI Engineer I through Senior AI Engineer) based on qualifications and Tri-State business needs at the time of hire.
• Regional travel may be required up to 10% as needed, and a valid driver’s license is required.

Desired qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, or a related quantitative field
• Advanced AI certifications (examples include Claude Certified Architect Pro, Microsoft Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect Expert, Databricks Gen AI Engineer, Databricks Certified Machine Learning Professional, or cloud architect certifications such as Azure/AWS/GCP)
• Experience in the utility, energy, or other critical infrastructure industry, including familiarity with NERC CIP
• Experience deploying AI in on-premises or air-gapped environments
• Expertise in specialized areas such as physics-informed ML, reinforcement learning, optimization, computer vision for infrastructure inspection, or geospatial analytics
• Published research, patents, conference presentations, or open-source contributions in AI/ML
• Experience building an AI community of practice or enterprise AI platform