At the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), it is our
engineers and technicians who drive the breakthroughs that define
our success. The members of our technical staff collaborate closely
with leadership and multidisciplinary teams to design, build, and
deploy sophisticated robotic solutions that address complex
challenges in industrial, commercial and government sectors. Each
project benefits from their expertise, creativity, and hands-on
problem-solving, fueling progress and innovation across the
organization.
As part of our dedicated team, you will work alongside world-class
robotics professionals committed to pushing the boundaries of
technology and redefining ideas into solutions for real-world
applications. We foster a culture of professionalism, respect, and
collaboration, offering a flexible and encouraging environment
where you can sharpen your skills, lead impactful projects, and
take control of your career development.
We are seeking a dynamic Senior Applied AI Infrastructure Engineer
to lead and contribute to the evaluation, deployment, and
integration of secure generative and agentic AI tools, LLMs, and
support of self-hosted infrastructure across engineering workflows.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who thrives in a
fast-paced and innovative setting. In this role, you will be
instrumental in advancing internal AI-assisted workflows,
infrastructure reliability, and secure multi-GPU model serving,
ensuring our team delivers exceptional and groundbreaking
results.
Your primary responsibilities include:
- Evaluating generative and agentic AI tools and recommending
practical approaches to engineering leadership.
Supporting cloud-hosted AI tools where appropriate and locally
hosted tools where project confidentiality or data-handling
requirements prohibit cloud use.
Designing, implementing, documenting, testing, and maintaining
internally hosted AI services and supporting infrastructure.
Deploying and operating large language models on shared GPU
systems and smaller project- or team-specific platforms.
Integrating AI tools with engineering systems such as
source-code repositories, Jira, Confluence, Jenkins, internal
documentation, and test infrastructure.
Developing secure tool interfaces, APIs, Model Context Protocol
servers, and sandboxed environments that allow AI agents to perform
useful engineering tasks.
Prototyping and evaluating AI-assisted workflows for software
development, testing, documentation, requirements analysis, and
other engineering activities.
Helping engineers use supported AI tools effectively across
software, embedded, FPGA, mechanical, electrical, and other
technical workflows.
Developing internal documentation, examples, training
materials, and reusable configurations for recommended tools and
practices.
Measuring the reliability and usefulness of AI-assisted
workflows, including the quality of generated code, test results,
review effort, and failure modes.
Surveying emerging tools and techniques and implementing
promising approaches where they provide practical value.
Following best practices for team software development,
including peer review, automated testing, version control, issue
tracking, security review, and integrated documentation.
Required Qualifications:
- B.S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical
Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent
experience.
- 5+ years of professional software engineering, machine-learning
infrastructure, DevOps, platform engineering, or developer-tools
experience.
- Strong Python programming skills.
- Linux development and system-administration experience.
- Familiarity with large language models, retrieval-augmented
generation, tool-using agents, or AI-assisted software-development
workflows.
- Strong technical communication and documentation skills.
- 3 or more of the following:
- Experience deploying and maintaining software services.
- Experience with containers and reproducible deployment tools
such as Docker.
- Experience integrating software systems through APIs,
command-line tools, authentication mechanisms, or similar
interfaces.
- Experience with modern software engineering practices,
including version control, code review, testing, CI/CD, logging,
and troubleshooting.
- Ability to evaluate new technologies, communicate technical
tradeoffs, and make practical recommendations.
We especially want to hear from you if you have experience or
qualifications in ANY of the following areas:
- Self-hosted LLM inference frameworks such as vLLM,
TensorRT-LLM, llama.cpp, Ollama, NVIDIA NIM, or similar tools
- Multi-GPU systems, model serving, resource scheduling, or
inference performance optimization
- Model Context Protocol servers or other structured interfaces
for AI tool use
- Integration with Jira, Confluence, Jenkins, Git-based
repositories, artifact repositories, or internal knowledge
systems
- Coding agents that can modify code, run builds and tests, and
prepare pull requests
- Sandboxed code execution, container isolation, secrets
management, access control, or audit logging
- Evaluation of LLM applications, coding assistants, agents, or
retrieval systems
- Retrieval-augmented generation, document ingestion, embeddings,
reranking, or code indexing
- Cloud AI services and data-sensitive or disconnected AI
deployments
- Embedded software, FPGA development, robotics, simulation, or
hardware-in-the-loop testing
- GPU-based machine learning infrastructure
- Developing internal technical documentation, training,
examples, or reusable engineering workflows
- Machine learning, computer vision, or robotics
applications
Other Requirements:
- Successful pre-employment background check
This position will require work on a variety of projects,
including projects that involve military/defense applications
and/or are funded by military/defense sponsors.
Are you interested in joining our versatile team at NREC where you
will have a direct impact on operations and meaningful
projects?
Join a collaborative environment where your hands-on skills,
leadership, and mentorship will directly influence operations and
inspire the next generation of innovators.
Why NREC?
At NREC, you will shape the robotics revolution by tackling
real-world challenges in agriculture, manufacturing, defense,
energy, and much more. You will work alongside top robotics
experts, develop ground breaking technologies, and see your
solutions deployed in the field.
NREC at a Glance:
- Located in Pittsburgh or “Roboburgh”, a hub for over 120+
robotics companies
- 30+ years of pioneering robotics research
- 150+ professionals driving innovation and real-world
impact
- Part of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute,
a global leader in robotics
NREC also leads in educational outreach through its
Robotics
Academy , which develops curricula and software for K–12 and
college-level students. You will also have opportunities to engage
with these student groups through outreach activities.
As part of our team, you will have the flexibility to grow your
career - whether becoming a technical expert, leading projects,
mentoring others, or exploring new pathways and making an impact in
developing technologies that drive progress, improve safety and
transform industries.
Joining the CMU team opens the door to an array of exceptional
benefits.
Benefits eligible employees enjoy a wide array of
benefits including comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and
vision insurance as well as a generous retirement savings program with employer
contributions. Unlock your potential with tuition benefits , take well-deserved breaks with
ample paid time off and observed holidays , and rest easy with life and accidental
death and disability insurance.
Additional perks include a free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus
pass, access to our Family Concierge Team to help navigate
childcare needs, fitness center access , and much more!
For a comprehensive overview of the benefits available, explore
our Benefits page .
At Carnegie Mellon, we value the whole package when extending
offers of employment. Beyond credentials, we evaluate the role and
responsibilities, your valuable work experience, and the knowledge
gained through education and training. We appreciate your unique
skills and the perspective you bring. Your journey with us is about
more than just a job; it’s about finding the perfect fit for your
professional growth and personal aspirations.
Are you interested in an exciting opportunity with an
exceptional organization?! Apply today!
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Job Function
Software/Applications Development/Engineering
Position Type
Staff – Regular
Full Time/Part time
Full time
Pay Basis
Salary
More Information:
- Please visit “ Why Carnegie Mellon ” to learn more about
becoming part of an institution inspiring innovations that change
the world.
- Click here to view a listing of employee benefits
- Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity
Employer/Disability/Veteran .
- Statement of Assurance
