
AI Engineer - Azure (Onsite)
Washington, DCJob$110–135K/yrSeen 1 day agoSeen in employer's feed 1 day ago
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Job overview
The AI Engineer designs, builds, and operates production-grade generative AI systems on Microsoft Azure. The role owns retrieval-augmented generation solutions from data ingestion through monitored deployment, develops agentic workflows and APIs, and deploys scalable applications. It also applies responsible AI practices, including guardrails, security controls, and compliance standards.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Benefits
Full job description
About the Role
We’re looking for an AI Engineer to design, build, and operate production-grade generative AI systems on Microsoft Azure. You’ll own retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) solutions end to end, from data ingestion through to monitored, deployed services, and build the agentic workflows and APIs that put them in users’ hands.
What You’ll Do
Build RAG systems
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Design and implement end-to-end RAG pipelines: data ingestion, embedding generation, vector database management, and retrieval optimization.
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Develop and maintain APIs that orchestrate RAG workflows, including retrieval, prompt handling, and model interaction.
Develop agentic AI workflows
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Build orchestration and multi-step reasoning workflows using Semantic Kernel, LangChain, or LangGraph, incorporating tool use and memory.
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Integrate LLMs such as Azure OpenAI, and tune prompts for accuracy, performance, and cost.
Ensure quality and reliability
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Implement observability, monitoring, and evaluation frameworks using LangSmith and Azure monitoring tools to track output quality, latency, and hallucination rates.
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Troubleshoot and improve retrieval quality, grounding accuracy, and response relevance.
Deploy and operate
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Deploy and manage AI services on Azure using CI/CD pipelines and containerization.
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Build and maintain scalable web applications using Python, Node.js, and React.
Build responsibly
- Apply responsible AI practices, including guardrails, security controls, and compliance standards.
Required
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Hands-on Python experience for backend services and automation
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Hands-on experience with LangChain and/or LangGraph
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Experience with RAG, embeddings, and vector search
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Hands-on experience with Azure OpenAI and Azure AI Search
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Proficiency with REST APIs, JSON, and Git
Nice to Have
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JavaScript experience (React, Node.js)
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Docker and container-based deployments
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Experience with Azure services such as Azure Container Apps or AKS, Azure Functions, Azure Monitor/Application Insights, and Key Vault
Salary and Other Compensation :
The annual salary for this position is between $110,000– $135,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.
This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.
Benefits : Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:
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Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
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Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
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401(k) plan and contributions
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Long-term/Short-term Disability
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Paid Parental Leave
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Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.
Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.
How this job compares
Set against the 7,260 open AI Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 1, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$110–135K/yr
- Washington, D.C. median$125–220K/yr78 salary ranges
- US median$133–241K/yr6,040 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $123K, is 29% below the Washington, D.C. median midpoint ($173K) — in the lowest quarter of AI Engineer salary ranges in Washington, D.C..
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 93 open AI Engineer jobs in Washington, D.C. and 7,260 across the US. 8% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- AI Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 3 to 8 years (6,193 postings).
- Education
- 3,321 of the 7,260 open AI Engineer jobs (46%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 1, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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