AI Engineer

The AI Engineer at Cozen O'Connor will design, develop, deploy, and maintain robust AI-driven applications leveraging Microsoft Azure AI and cognitive services, specifically targeting use cases in large language models (LLMs) and Generative AI within the legal industry. This technical role will ensure effective integration with the firm's existing Microsoft technology stack. The role focuses on retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic workflows, and prompt orchestration that surface knowledge stored in SQL Server databases and SharePoint repositories for the firm’s legal professionals. Success will be measured by secure, accurate, and explainable deployments that improve research speed, drafting quality, and risk analysis while meeting all legal and regulatory requirements.

• Design and develop innovative AI solutions using Azure AI Service, Azure Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning, and Azure AI Studio.
• Implement robust security practices, identity management (Azure Active Directory), and compliance frameworks leveraging Azure security tools (Azure Security Center, Azure Purview).
• Engineer reusable prompts and agent chains with Semantic Kernel or LangChain for .NET, ensuring citation, tool invocation, and reasoning transparency.
• Discover, profile, and ingest legacy data from on-premises and cloud SQL Server instances; implement SharePoint content crawls with appropriate metadata tagging and PII redaction.
• Establish and enforce security controls—including Azure Key Vault, role-based access, and audit logging—to maintain confidentiality, integrity, and evidentiary soundness of legal data.
• Define and monitor evaluation metrics (accuracy, hallucination rate, latency, cost) via Prompt Flow, Application Insights, and custom dashboards; iterate models based on attorney feedback.
• Lead cross-functional workshops to evangelize prompt best practices, develop AI usage guidelines, and mentor development teams.
• Partner closely with the LLM Solutions Designer and Product Owner to translate complex business requirements into effective solutions.

Competencies

• Expert knowledge of LLM architectures, embeddings, vector search, retrieval caching, and agent orchestration patterns.
• Proficiency in .NET or Python, plus strong command of T-SQL.
• Familiarity with Azure services (AI Services, Cognitive Search, Machine Learning, Synapse/Fabric, Functions, Key Vault, Monitor).
• Ability to translate complex AI concepts into clear, actionable guidance for attorneys and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong project management skills with an emphasis on iterative delivery, measurable outcomes, and documentation quality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of professional software development experience, with strong preferences for .NET, MSQL Dev and MS Data Fabric in data rich environments.
• Experience delivering AI/ML solutions on Azure, including at least one year of experience with production LLM or RAG deployment.
• Demonstrated experience with agent frameworks such as Semantic Kernel or LangChain and deployment of containerized microservices on Azure.
• Hands-on experience integrating and securing data sources from SQL Server and SharePoint.
• Preferred: prior work in legal technology, e-discovery, or contract analytics.
• Preferred certifications: AZ-305 (Solutions Architect), DP-600 (Fabric Analytics Engineer), AI-102 (Azure AI Engineer).