Midlevel Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Job Posting Organization:
The position is offered by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which is a regional arm of the United Nations. ESCWA was established in 1973 and aims to promote economic and social development in the Arab region. The organization focuses on various areas including sustainable development, social justice, and economic integration. ESCWA operates in multiple countries across the Arab region and employs a diverse workforce dedicated to addressing regional challenges through collaborative efforts and innovative solutions.

Job Overview:
The role of the Midlevel Artificial Intelligence Engineer is crucial in supporting the Arab Development Portal and the broader innovation mandate of the Decision-Support and Data Science Division (DSDSD) within ESCWA. The consultant will be tasked with designing, developing, and deploying production-grade agentic AI systems and solutions powered by large language models (LLMs). This position requires staying updated with the rapidly evolving AI landscape and translating the latest research advances into practical organizational capabilities. The consultant will work remotely and is expected to contribute to the modernization and innovation efforts of ESCWA by leveraging data-driven insights and emerging technologies to inform policymaking and operations effectively.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Consultant will be responsible for a variety of tasks including:

• Designing and developing agentic AI systems by architecting multi-agent systems using frameworks such as LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, or similar. This includes implementing complex reasoning, retrieval, and action pipelines.
• Deploying Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems with advanced retrieval strategies for knowledge-intensive tasks.
• Implementing tool-use and function-calling patterns that enable agents to interact with external APIs and databases.
• Developing evaluation frameworks for agents, including automated benchmarking and failure analysis.
• Integrating and optimizing state-of-the-art LLMs for various use cases, applying prompt engineering and fine-tuning strategies as necessary.
• Designing RESTful and streaming APIs to expose AI capabilities and containerizing AI services using Docker.
• Collaborating with data engineers and ML engineers to integrate AI capabilities into data products and preparing technical reports and presentations for stakeholders.

Required Qualifications:
Candidates must possess a bachelor's degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, data science, or a related field. A master's degree is desirable. A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in AI/ML engineering or software engineering with a focus on AI is required. Hands-on experience with multi-agent frameworks and proficiency in Python is essential. Knowledge of the current LLM and AI landscape, including benchmarks and limitations, is also required. Familiarity with RAG architectures and vector databases is desirable, along with knowledge of Arabic NLP and multilingual model handling.

Educational Background:
A bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as computer science, artificial intelligence, or data science is mandatory. A master's degree in a related area is preferred. All candidates must submit a copy of their educational degree as part of the application process, as incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Experience:
The position requires a minimum of 5 years of professional experience in AI/ML engineering or software engineering, with a demonstrated focus on AI. Candidates should have hands-on experience in designing and deploying agentic systems using multi-agent frameworks, as well as proficiency in Python and experience with LLM APIs.

Languages:
Fluency in English is required for this position, which means a rating of 'fluent' in all four areas: speaking, reading, writing, and understanding. Knowledge of French is beneficial as it is one of the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Arabic is also a working language of ESCWA, and knowledge of Arabic NLP is desirable.

Additional Notes:
The position is remote and expected to last for 6 months. The United Nations does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, ensuring that applicants are not required to provide any financial information or bank account details.