AI Engineer (AI Accelerator Program)

Certain terms and conditions of employment for this position, including the rate of pay, benefits, etc., are currently subject to negotiation with the appropriate union.

Job Summary:

This position requires 1 day onsite per week, based on business needs, this may increase. 

UCSF Health is seeking a highly skilled AI Engineer to design, build, and deploy scalable AI-driven applications that improve clinical operations, patient care, and health system efficiency. This role spans the full AI lifecycle, including data pipeline development, model training and evaluation, and deployment of machine learning and generative AI solutions on modern cloud platforms. 

The AI Engineer will translate emerging technologies, including large language models (LLMs), into production-ready tools that integrate with healthcare systems. Responsibilities include building robust data pipelines, deploying machine learning and generative AI models, and developing APIs or web-based applications that enable seamless use in clinical and operational workflows. This role works closely with clinicians, data scientists, and IT teams to deliver solutions that are reliable, secure, and scalable. 

 Competitive applicants for this position are software, data, or machine learning engineers with 5+ years of experience building AI systems in production. They have strong skills in Python and SQL, and hands-on experience with MLOps, CI/CD, and cloud platforms (e.g., GCP, AWS, or Azure). Candidates should be comfortable developing and maintaining data pipelines, deploying machine learning or generative AI models, and building APIs or lightweight web applications, with the ability to work across the stack and deliver practical, user-facing solutions in a healthcare environment. 

Department Overview:

The Health AI team is part of the larger UCSF Health IT team and supports the development, implementation, and monitoring of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other analytical tools, improving patient care, clinician experience, and health system operations. The team’s expertise spans data science, machine learning, software/data engineering, business, nursing informatics, and medical informatics.   

UCSF Health IT provides clinical and informatics leadership to achieve the strategic priorities of UCSF Health, as enabled by technology. Health IT is a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and technology professionals that partners with clinical, business, and technology leaders throughout the organization, using information technology to improve the quality, safety, and value of care, and the patient and provider experience, for UCSF and its partner organizations. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training. 
• 5 years of experience in positions of increasing responsibility designing, implementing, and maintaining complex AI/ML applications. 
• Experience with data analysis and machine learning tools such as Jupyter, Pandas, scikit-learn, Numpy/Scipy, PyTorch, etc. 
• Demonstrated advanced knowledge of full software development lifecycle 
• Advanced experience with Python; ability to write clean, efficient, and production-level Python code 
• Advanced experience with SQL (e.g., SQLServer, PostgreSQL)   
• Demonstrated experience deploying, monitoring, and maintaining AI/ML models and pipelines 
• Experience designing and developing APIs or microservices to support AI/ML applications 
• Familiarity with web application development frameworks (e.g., React, JavaScript/TypeScript) or integrating backend systems with user-facing applications 
• Experience with large language models (LLMs), including prompt engineering, evaluation, and production deployment 
• Experience with real-time or streaming data processing systems and low-latency inference architectures 
• Demonstrated effective communication and interpersonal skills 
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information to technical and non-technical personnel at various levels in the organization 
• Self-motivated and works independently and as part of a team. Able to learn effectively and meet deadlines 
• Demonstrated broad problem-solving skills 
• Demonstrated ability to interface with management on a regular basis 
• Excellent project leadership and management skills. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related area and/or equivalent experience/training.  
• Epic Clarity or Clinical Data Model 
• Familiar with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau) 
• Experience with Epic data structures