Principal AI Engineer

Description

The role is a senior leadership position in the company's Enterprise Solutions group, leading delivery of GenAI, LLM and machine learning solutions for enterprise clients in the public and private sectors, from concept through to production.

The role combines technical leadership, people management and client work. The Principal is a manager-level position, accountable for technical quality, team growth and client outcomes.

You would advise senior client stakeholders and turn complex AI capabilities into clear business value, while leading and mentoring a team of AI and ML engineers.

The work is highly client-facing. You would represent the AI function in strategic discussions, run workshops and help shape enterprise AI adoption roadmaps.

The focus is on designing and delivering scalable, production-grade AI systems that are reusable, extensible and in line with best practice, going beyond off-the-shelf tools.

The team is based in Athens and is part of a company of more than 2,300 tech professionals. The company works on large-scale projects with EU institutions and public and private organisations across Europe, which has over 8,900 staff.

Responsibilities

• Act as the main AI and ML adviser to enterprise clients, turning business problems into scalable AI solutions with measurable results.
• Lead, mentor and develop a team of AI and ML engineers, building a culture of technical excellence, innovation and continuous learning.
• Own the architecture and delivery of ML and GenAI pipelines, from ideation and prototyping through to production.
• Work closely with MLOps, DevOps and data engineering teams to build robust, scalable and maintainable solutions.
• Manage stakeholder relationships across several projects, covering executive communication, reporting and risk.
• Run client workshops, discovery sessions and technical presentations to define AI strategy and speed up adoption.
• Make sure delivered solutions meet standards for performance, scalability, security and governance.
• Help grow the practice through methodology, tooling, reusable assets and pre-sales work.

Requirements

• A bachelor's or master's degree in AI, data science, machine learning, computer science, engineering, operational research or a related field. A PhD is a plus.
• 8+ years in AI or ML engineering, with a solid record of taking enterprise AI solutions from concept to production.
• Proven leadership or management experience, including leading teams, mentoring and managing performance.
• Strong experience in client-facing settings, including running workshops and presenting to senior stakeholders such as C-level executives and board members.
• Deep expertise in machine learning and GenAI, including LLMs (for example GPT, Claude or Gemini), RAG architectures, prompt engineering, and agentic AI systems and orchestration frameworks.
• Solid understanding of MLOps practice, model lifecycle management and production deployment patterns.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform.
• Hands-on experience with current AI and ML frameworks and tooling, including open-source ecosystems.
• Nice to have: experience in consulting, systems integration or professional services.
• Nice to have: familiarity with AI governance, responsible AI and LLM monitoring frameworks.
• Nice to have: experience with advanced GenAI frameworks (for example LlamaIndex or LangGraph) and evaluation tools.
• Nice to have: exposure to AIOps practices and production AI observability.
• Nice to have: experience supporting pre-sales, proposals or business development in AI and data.
• Applications should include your CV in English, submitted through the Apply button.

Conditions

The role is hybrid, based in Athens, with access to three modern offices for on-site days.

Applications are handled in strict confidence.

Equal opportunity applies to all candidates, regardless of protected characteristics under applicable law.

Benefits

• A modern working environment and a hybrid working model.
• A structured onboarding process with a buddy to support your first steps.
• A competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Health and life insurance.
• Meal and commuting allowance.
• On-site well-being activities.
• Continuous learning, including unlimited access to Udemy for Business and ad-hoc training.
• A personalised development plan for career growth.
• The chance to work with experienced professionals on large-scale projects that affect millions of citizens across the world.