About the Role
We are seeking a Lead AI Engineer with strong hands-on experience in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and production-grade GenAI systems to design, build, and operate scalable LLM and RAG solutions.
This is a delivery-first, hands-on engineering role, with ownership across solution design, development, and operationalization of AI systems. You will work with Gemini and Vertex AI, while applying strong engineering fundamentals to build reliable, secure, and scalable AI services.
This role is ideal for a senior engineer with a strong GCP background who has already delivered GenAI/RAG solutions in production, even if not exclusively on Gemini.
Location & Engagement
Location: Anywhere in India (Fully Remote)
Working Model: Offshore with 3–4 hours overlap with US time zones
Contract Duration: 6+ months (strong potential for extension)
Role Level & Expectations
Profile: Senior / Lead AI Engineer (Senior Individual Contributor)
Ownership: End-to-end technical ownership (architecture + hands-on delivery)
Leadership: Technical leadership by example (no people management)
Focus: Production delivery, with flexibility for research and experimentation
Key Responsibilities
Design, build, and operate LLM-powered systems using Gemini and Vertex AI
Implement RAG architectures at scale, including ingestion, retrieval, and generation
Build and orchestrate LLM agents using LangChain or similar frameworks
Integrate AI capabilities via API-driven architectures
Debug and optimize end-to-end LLM pipelines:
Chunking strategies
Embeddings
Retrieval logic
LLM response behavior
Deliver production-ready AI services, including:
Monitoring and observability
Rate limiting and cost controls
Reliability and fallback strategies
Contribute to solution design and technical decision-making
Continuously evaluate and experiment with new LLM models and platform features
Implement AI safety, security, and compliance controls
Collaborate with cross-functional teams across time zones
MUST-HAVE Skills & Experience
Cloud & Platform (Required)
Strong hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in production
Experience with services such as Cloud Run, GKE, Storage, Pub/Sub, BigQuery, IAM
Proven ability to design and operate production workloads on GCP
Experience integrating Vertex AI services is a strong plus
GenAI & LLM Engineering
Hands-on experience delivering GenAI solutions in production
Experience integrating LLM platforms (Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, etc.)
Strong experience with LangChain or similar LLM orchestration frameworks
Solid understanding of:
Prompt engineering
Agent orchestration
LLM pipeline debugging
RAG & Vector Search
Hands-on experience building RAG systems
Experience with vector databases such as Pinecone, FAISS, Chroma, or similar
Strong understanding of vector similarity search fundamentals
Practical knowledge of RAG evaluation metrics, such as:
Precision@K, Recall@K
MRR, nDCG
Faithfulness and Answer Relevance
Programming & APIs
Strong programming skills in Python (PySpark or Java is a plus)
Experience building scalable, API-based services
Solid understanding of:
API performance tuning
Rate limiting
Reliability patterns
AI Safety, Security & Compliance
Hands-on experience implementing AI guardrails, including:
Input validation
PII detection and redaction
Hallucination and reliability checks
Understanding of cloud security best practices:
IAM
Data isolation
Audit logging
NICE-TO-HAVE (Strong Plus)
Experience with Terraform or Infrastructure-as-Code tools
Background in data engineering, analytics, or data science
Knowledge of data warehousing concepts (ETL/ELT, analytics platforms)
Experience operating large-scale production RAG systems
Experience evaluating and comparing new LLM models
Exposure to bias mitigation techniques in enterprise AI systems
Multi-cloud experience (AWS alongside GCP)
What Success Looks Like
You independently design, build, deploy, and debug Gemini-powered AI systems
You deliver production-grade AI solutions, not prototypes
You contribute meaningfully to architecture and technical strategy
You adapt quickly as GenAI platforms and models evolve
You take full ownership of AI systems from design to production
About Opplane
Opplane specializes in delivering advanced data-driven and AI-powered solutions for financial services, telecommunications, and reg-tech companies, accelerating digital transformation.
Our leadership team includes Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and executives from organizations such as PayPal, Xerox PARC, Amazon, Wells Fargo, and SoFi, with deep expertise in product management, data governance, privacy, machine learning, and risk management.
Team & Culture
🌍 Global & Multicultural – Diverse perspectives, global collaboration
⚡ Startup Energy – Fast-moving, impact-driven environment
💪 Ownership Mindset – Engineers own what they build
🤝 Collaborative & Friendly – Open, curious, and supportive culture