Lead Data Scientist – AI Engineer at Williamblair

Solutions for Today’s Challenges. Vision for Tomorrow’s Opportunities. Join William Blair, the Premier Global Partnership. We are hiring a Senior AI Engineer to join a newly formed AI Innovation Function, part of the Investment Banking AI & Technology team. This is not a back-office engineering role. This role follows the Forward Deployed Engineer philosophy: you will not build in isolation. You will be embedded with deal teams and industry/sector groups, understanding their day-to-day workflows and delivering tools that create immediate, measurable impact on how they originate, execute, and close deals. You will work across the full stack—data pipelines, ML models, LLM-powered applications, and Salesforce integrations—with a bias for shipping fast, learning from real user feedback, and iterating relentlessly. RESPONSIBILITIES • Build AI-powered features and agents using Enterprise Claude and proprietary ML models, integrated directly into the Salesforce workflows bankers use every day. • Develop LLM applications for banking use cases including automated comparable analysis, buyer recommendation, meeting intelligence summarization, and deal status briefings. • Design and maintain data pipelines using Databricks and Dagster for feature engineering, model training, and real-time analytics. • Work directly with deal teams and industry groups to identify high-impact automation opportunities and translate banker pain points into working solutions. • Perform rapid prototyping and exploratory analysis—build proof-of-concept tools quickly to validate ideas before investing in production-grade implementations. • Integrate third-party AI tools (Rogo.ai, Blueflame AI, Fellow.ai) via APIs and ensure seamless data flows across the composable architecture. • Write well-tested, production-quality code with rigorous engineering practices: code reviews, CI/CD, monitoring, and documentation. • Contribute to the team’s engineering standards and share knowledge as the team scales. QUALIFICATIONS • 3+ years of software engineering experience with full-stack capability and a track record of shipping production applications. • Experience building applications or agents using large language models: prompt engineering, RAG architectures, LLM orchestration, or tool-use patterns. • Experience building interconnected multi-agent ecosystems — implementing agent coordination, shared tooling, and communication patterns across autonomous components. • Solid ML fundamentals: ability to perform data analysis, build and evaluate models, and work with feature pipelines. • Rigorous engineering habits—you believe in tested code, clean architecture, and building for maintainability from the start. • Familiarity with capital markets; experience in or adjacent to investment banking, private equity, venture capital, or hedge funds is strongly preferred. • Experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred), data tools (Databricks, Spark), and pipeline orchestration (Dagster, Airflow, or similar). • Outcome-focused mindset—you care about whether bankers actually use what you build and whether it moves the needle on their productivity. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS • Experience in a Forward Deployed Engineer, solutions engineer, or embedded technical role with direct business stakeholder accountability. • Experience deploying multi-agent ecosystems into production environments — including operational monitoring, failure handling, and end-to-end lifecycle management. • Exposure to financial services workflows: deal execution, pitch preparation, due diligence, or financial modeling. • Experience working with Salesforce APIs or CRM platforms as integration surfaces. • A builder’s mentality: you have side projects, open-source contributions, or a portfolio that demonstrates curiosity and initiative beyond your day job. #LI-CH #LI-Hybrid A reasonable estimate of the current base salary range at time of posting is below. Base salary does not include other forms of compensation or benefits. Actual base salary within the specified range is based on several factors, including but not limited to applicant's skills, prior relevant experience, specific degrees and certifications, job responsibilities, market considerations and, if applicable, the location of the position. This role is eligible for either a discretionary annual bonus (based on company, business unit and individual performance) and/or commission-based incentives. Our featured benefit offerings include medical, dental and vision coverage, employer paid short & long-term disability and life insurance, 401(k), profit sharing, paid time off, Maven family & fertility benefit, parental leave (including adoption, surrogacy, and foster placement), as well as other voluntary benefits. Salary Range$175,000—$200,000 USD About Our Firm William Blair strives to attract qualified candidates who specialize in investment banking, investment management, private wealth management, and other strategic resource groups. We are committed to empowering our colleagues to deliver client success and engage in our communities. Our firm has delivered trusted advice for nine decades, continuing to deepen our expertise and relationships across asset classes and markets throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet clients’ evolving needs amid dynamic market conditions and varying industries. What sets us apart is that we are an independent partnership, with colleagues who have unique experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. We empower our people to bring their best thinking so we can deliver the tailored, thoughtful work and problem-solving abilities that our clients expect. We invite you to learn more about us by visiting williamblair.com. William Blair is an equal opportunity employer. It complies with all laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in employment practice because of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, marital status, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, unfavorable discharge from the military service or on the basis of a physical or mental disability that is unrelated to the employee's ability to perform the duties of the job applied for. EOE m/f/d/v Be aware of hiring scams: William Blair has clear processes and guidelines with regards to recruiting. We do not request personal financial information in connection with an employment application nor does William Blair extend any employment offers without first conducting an interview through one of its registered offices. William Blair does not use instant messaging services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or iMessage as part of the recruiting or interviewing process. Note to External Recruiters / Search Firms: William Blair does not accept unsolicited resumes and will not pay for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. Any unsolicited resumes received will not be considered as a valid submission. Download William Blair's privacy policies for job applicants: • California Consumer Privacy Act Privacy Notice (CCPA) • General Data Protection Regulation Privacy Notice (GDPR) Contact us should you have any questions or concerns.