Lead Generative AI Developer

About the Position

We are seeking a Lead Generative AI Developer to join our COO Technology Division in New York. In this high-impact role, you will architect, develop, and operationalize cutting-edge Generative AI and Large Language Model (LLM) solutions that directly transform how Citi's operational teams work. You will collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders - including operations leads, data engineers, product managers, and enterprise architects to deliver enterprise-grade AI capabilities at scale.

This is a hands-on engineering role for a builder who thrives at the intersection of applied AI research and production software engineering.

Responsibilities

• Design & Build GenAI Solutions: Architect and implement end-to-end Generative AI pipelines including LLM integrations, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, autonomous AI agents, and prompt engineering frameworks.
• Python Development: Develop robust, scalable, and production-ready Python services and APIs that power AI-driven features across COO platforms.
• Model Integration & Fine-tuning: Evaluate, integrate, and fine-tune LLMs (e.g., GPT-5, Claude, Mistral) and embedding models for domain-specific financial use cases.
• MLOps & Deployment: Build and maintain ML/GenAI deployment pipelines using modern MLOps practices, ensuring reliability, observability, and governance.
• Agentic Workflows: Design and implement multi-agent orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangGraph, Google ADK) for complex, multi-step operational workflows.
• Enterprise AI Governance: Collaborate with Citi's AI Risk and Compliance teams to ensure all AI solutions align with regulatory requirements, responsible AI frameworks, and data privacy standards.
• Data Engineering: Design and optimize data pipelines feeding AI systems, working with vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector) and enterprise data platforms.
• Technical Leadership: Mentor junior developers, lead code reviews, and contribute to GenAI standards and best practices across the COO Technology organization.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Translate complex business requirements from COO operations stakeholders into technical AI solutions, providing clear communication of trade-offs and timelines.

Requirements

• Experience: 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 2+ years focused on Generative AI / LLM application development.
• Python: Expert-level Python proficiency - including async programming, API development (FastAPI, Flask), and software design patterns.
• GenAI & LLM Stack:
  • Deep hands-on experience with LLM frameworks: LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex etc
  • Hands on experience with Google Cloud AI Platform
  • Proven experience with RAG architectures, embedding pipelines, and vector search
  • Strong understanding of prompt engineering, few-shot learning, and chain-of-thought techniques
  • Experience integrating with LLM APIs: OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, or Google Vertex AI
• Machine Learning: Solid grounding in ML fundamentals; familiarity with model evaluation, fine-tuning (LoRA, PEFT), and inference optimization.
• Cloud Platforms: Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider - AWS, Azure, or GCP - particularly managed AI/ML services.
• Data & Databases: Proficiency with SQL, NoSQL, and vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, pgvector).
• Software Engineering Practices: Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), version control (Git), and automated testing.
• Financial Services Acumen (Preferred): Prior experience in banking, fintech, or a regulated industry is a strong plus.

Nice to Have

• Experience with multi-agent orchestration frameworks (MS AgentFramework, ADK, Strands, LangGraph)
• Familiarity with MLflow, Weights & Biases, or similar experiment tracking and model management tools
• Knowledge of responsible AI practices: bias detection, explainability, hallucination mitigation
• Exposure to Kafka, Spark, or Airflow for data pipeline engineering
• Experience working in an Agile/SAFe delivery environment
• Advanced degree (M.S.) in Computer Science, AI/ML, or a related discipline - or equivalent demonstrated experience

We Offer

• Competitive Salary: $176,720.00 - $265,080.00 per year
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; wellness programs.
• Paid Time Off: Vacation, sick leave, and paid holidays.
• Professional Development: Opportunities for growth and learning.

About the Company

Working at Citi is far more than just a job. A career with us means joining a team of approximately 219,000 dedicated people from around the globe. At Citi, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your career, give back to your community, and make a real impact.

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.