AI Engineer

Position Summary: AI Engineer at Mercury Insurance

Mercury Insurance is seeking an AI Engineer who possesses a strong foundation in software engineering complemented by specialized expertise across various AI and ML domains. As a pivotal member of our AI/ML Engineering team, you will engage with cutting-edge technologies including Large Language Models (LLMs), Vision Language Models (VLMs), speech recognition systems, and conversational AI. This role involves implementing sophisticated document understanding solutions, OCR systems, human-in-the-loop processes, and multimodal AI applications. Your focus will encompass model selection, evaluation, fine-tuning, and deployment, collaborating closely with the broader engineering team to construct systems that integrate traditional software engineering principles with advanced AI technologies.

An in-person interview may be required during the hiring process.

Responsibilities

As an AI Engineer, your essential job functions will include:

• Implementing and fine-tuning Large Language Models (LLMs) for diverse business applications.
• Developing Vision Language Models (VLMs) for advanced image understanding and multimodal applications.
• Designing and building robust document understanding systems utilizing OCR and sophisticated text processing.
• Creating effective speech recognition and conversational AI solutions.
• Recommending and establishing human-in-the-loop processes to enhance AI model improvement across various modalities.
• Building and deploying AI agents and assistants powered by foundation models.
• Integrating multimodal capabilities (text, vision, speech) into cohesive AI systems.
• Evaluating and benchmarking foundation models across different domains and tasks.
• Implementing effective prompt engineering strategies for LLMs and VLMs.
• Partnering with the platform team for model serving infrastructure and monitoring solutions for production AI systems.
• Creating and maintaining comprehensive evaluation frameworks and metrics for different AI modalities.
• Collaborating with team members to seamlessly integrate AI capabilities into existing software systems.
• Staying current with emerging AI technologies and research advancements to drive innovation.

Qualifications

Education:

• Minimum: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Preferred: Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.

Experience:

• Minimum: 2+ years of software engineering experience and 2+ years of hands-on experience with AI/ML systems. Experience with Large Language Models and/or Vision Language Models. Familiarity with at least one of: document understanding, OCR, speech recognition, or conversational AI. Experience with foundation model evaluation, selection, or fine-tuning. Knowledge of distributed systems concepts.
• Preferred: 3+ years of software engineering experience and 3+ years of hands-on experience implementing AI/ML solutions. Demonstrated experience across multiple AI domains (language, vision, speech). Experience developing document understanding or OCR systems. Track record of building conversational AI or speech recognition applications. Experience with model deployment and monitoring in production. Experience with multimodal AI systems integration. Familiarity with large language model evaluation benchmarks.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Minimum: Strong programming skills in Python and at least one other modern language (e.g., Java, Go). Solid understanding of software design patterns and principles. Experience with AI/ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar). Proficiency with foundation model APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.). Knowledge of LLM architectures and capabilities. Knowledge and experience with fine-tuning foundational models. Experience with at least one: computer vision frameworks, OCR technologies, speech recognition systems, or conversational AI platforms. Experience with prompt engineering and optimization for foundation models. Knowledge of AI evaluation methodologies and metrics. Ability to work with cloud-based AI infrastructure. Good verbal and written communication abilities.
• Preferred: Experience with multimodal AI systems (text, vision, speech). Expertise in document understanding or information extraction. Skills in building conversational agents or voice assistants. Experience with computer vision models and image processing. Knowledge of RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems. Experience with human-in-the-loop AI systems. Familiarity with AI alignment and safety practices. Experience with model deployment and serving infrastructure. Skills in AI/ML performance optimization techniques. Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies.

About Mercury Insurance

Join Mercury Insurance, a company consistently recognized for its achievements and culture, including the recent Forbes award as one of America's Best Midsize Employers for 2025. For over 60 years, Mercury has been guided by its purpose to help people reduce risk and overcome unexpected events. The team fosters growth, encourages fun, and works collaboratively, embracing diverse perspectives to serve customers effectively. Mercury rewards its professionals with competitive compensation, bonus potential, and comprehensive benefits aimed at supporting health, retirement, and professional goals.

Perks And Benefits

Mercury Insurance offers a robust benefits package designed to support its team members:

• Competitive compensation and incentive bonus programs.
• Flexibility to work from anywhere in the United States for most positions.
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, sick time, 9 paid Company holidays, and volunteer hours.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and pet insurance.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match.
• An engaging work environment with promotional and professional development opportunities.
• Company recognition programs and extensive health and wellbeing resources, including free mental wellbeing therapy/coaching sessions, and child and eldercare support.

Key skills/competency

• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Vision Language Models (VLMs)
• Speech Recognition
• Conversational AI
• Document Understanding
• OCR Systems
• Prompt Engineering
• Python Programming
• PyTorch/TensorFlow
• Model Deployment