Research AI Solutions Engineer

Job SummaryWork as a Senior Software Engineer on a small team to develop, harden, and maintain of artificial intelligence software tools and patterns for basic science and health research at a world-class research institution.These tools will be leveraged by researchers across UCSF to support cutting-edge work in the basic sciences, sociobehavioral studies, epidemiology, and public and global health initiatives.The incumbent will lead the curation of an ecosystem of open-source AI libraries and tools to be reviewed, hardened, and containerized for researchers to use in UCSF’s secure environments in the Research Analysis Environment, the Facility for Advanced Compute, and the new UCSF AI HPC environment.The tools provided in this ecosystem will align where possible with Jupyter code sample libraries the team will provide for researchers to enable them to progress from learning and discovery into production-quality deployment of tools.Although the incumbent’s duties will initially focus on GenAI/LLM tooling, it will establish frameworks and strategies that would also support many other AI/ML tools. Providing standardized tooling now will significantly reduce friction for researchers to integrate technologies for trustworthy AI in the future as the pathway for that effort becomes clearer.Examples of tooling to be developed into reusable patterns includes (but are not limited to):- Templates for transformers and inference models (encoder/decoders such as BERT, Llama, etc)- AI integration libraries (such as Langchain, LlamaIndex, AutoGPT, etc)- Vector databases and adapters (ie ChromaDB for local discovery, Azure for cloud)- Multi-agent and skills-based tools (ie Autogen)- Language agent model and concept mapping strategies (ie AI tools for Neo4j)One of the key outcomes of this work will be a set of building blocks which can be combined to produce production-ready products used by other teams, including an LLM- and RAG-based co-pilot for UCSF’s research data assets and a chatbot testing platform with the capacity for integration against sensitive research data.In addition to contributing to the engineering efforts in support of the above, this position will provide a key role in crafting real-world implementation patterns for these tools in our on-prem and hardened cloud infrastructure. The successful candidate will have background in delivering products and applications, managing release cycles, and experience working with IT teams in a large organization to deploy complex applications.The ideal candidate is passionate about open source software, creating well-documented standards and design patterns relied on by other data engineers. Additional responsibilities of the position may include assisting clients via complex AI solutioning requests and consults, implementation troubleshooting, communicating with key stakeholders via one-on-one training, documentation, requirements gathering, and other duties as assigned.The final salary and offer components are subject to additional approvals based on UC policy.Your placement within the salary range is dependent on a number of factors including your work experience and internal equity within this position classification at UCSF. For positions that are represented by a labor union, placement within the salary range will be guided by the rules in the collective bargaining agreement.The salary range for this position is $138,100 - $207,100 (Annual Rate).To learn more about the benefits of working at UCSF, including total compensation, please visit: Department DescriptionAcademic Research Services (ARS) serves the needs of the UCSF research community by providing an integrated repository of HIPAA compliant clinical and life sciences data and a centralized, secure, professionally managed infrastructure for the storage and management of research data. ARS empowers medical scientific investigations by offering secure computing environments, data capture, management and analysis tools, and support services that meet researcher’s needs.This position is part of a new research AI tooling team within the ARS Research Tools group, which has a storied history of successfully deploying technology to enable cutting-edge work by researchers across many domains. Our team members have opportunities to provide direct impact for real-world efforts across the basic sciences, socio-behavioral studies, epidemiology, and public and global health initiatives.Our team is distributed across the United States, and strives to protect a workplace with a strong focus on work/life balance. We work hard to appreciate the diverse backgrounds and life experiences of each of our team members. Our team culture includes an understanding that there can be many pathways for all of our journeys; in support of this we encourage applications from folks with a rich and varied background, including those re-entering the workforce.Required QualificationsBachelor's degree in computer science, or a related/quantitative area, **OR** equivalent combination of experience / training.2 or more years experience working with customers or stakeholders to determine and understand technical needs and translate them into meaningful software solutions.4 or more years experience using modern devops tools for security scanning, CI/CD, and controlled code release practices (e.g. Github, Github Actions, Gitlab, SonarQube, etc)Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with end users and diverse stakeholders in appropriately technical and non-technical termsExperience writing and executing application test plans or utilizing test-driven design practices4 or more years experience managing code versioning and development workflows with a modern source control system such as Github; working knowledge of production system change control processes.Demonstrated ability to interconnect existing open source or commercial software libraries using standardized API-driven processesDemonstrated knowledge of and at least 5 years of professional experience using modern data science and data engineering orientated high level programming languages, including SQL and at least one of Python, Julia, Java, PHP, and/or Node.js.Experience working in a structured software development environment with planned release cycles using a standardized project management framework (Agile, Kanban, Lean, or similarPreferred QualificationsDemonstrated knowledge of modern AI/LLM foundational engineering tooling, such as Langchain, Chainlit, ChromaDB, etcPost-graduate education in computer science, mathematics, or artificial intelligence, **OR** equivalent combination of experience / training.Advanced degree in health care information technology, computer science or a related/quantitative area, **OR** equivalent combination of experience / training.Working knowledge of modern AI/LLM low-code/no-code prototyping platforms, such as LangFlow, Langsmith, etcProven experience deploying tools or solutions leveraging foundational GenAI/LLM engineering tooling (for example, building and deploying a containerized multi-agent RAG-enabled chatbot using Python libraries).Experience delivering platform-quality tools or experiences to a user community, preferably composed of researchers and/or developers.Working knowledge of microservice or service mesh technologiesDemonstrated ability to interface with stakeholders to understand UI/UX considerations.Experience managing documentation with Wikis, markdown, and/or document assemblers such as MkDocs.License/CertificationCITI human subjects research protection (can be completed after hire)About UCSFThe University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It is the only campus in the 10-campus UC system dedicated exclusively to the health sciences. We bring together the world’s leading experts in nearly every area of health. We are home to five Nobel laureates who have advanced the understanding of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, aging and stem cells.Pride ValuesUCSF is a diverse community made of people with many skills and talents. We seek candidates whose work experience or community service has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence – also known as our PRIDE values. In addition to our PRIDE values, UCSF is committed to equity – both in how we deliver care as well as our workforce. We are committed to building a broadly diverse community, nurturing a culture that is welcoming and supportive, and engaging diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery, and patient care. Additional information about UCSF is available at diversity.ucsf.edu Join us to find a rewarding career contributing to improving healthcare worldwide.Equal Employment OpportunityThe University of California San Francisco is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.OrganizationCampusJob Code and Payroll Title000599 DATA SYS ANL 4 Job CategoryClinical Systems / IT Professionals Bargaining Unit99 - Policy-Covered (No Bargaining Unit) Employee ClassCareerPercentage100%LocationSan Francisco, CA CampusMission Center Building (SF) Work StyleHybridShiftDaysShift Length8 Hours Additional Shift DetailsM-F regular business hoursDepartment Name: F_IT_CMSPosition Type: Full TimeReq Number: 82251BR