Principal LLM Engineer

Job Purpose:
As a Principal LLM Engineer at Tarjama&, you will take on a critical role in shaping the AI landscape at Tarjama&. You’ll guide the development and deployment of small, specialized LLMs while driving research initiatives and collaborating with cross-functional teams to align AI solutions with business objectives. You will also be responsible for overseeing the end-to-end lifecycle of AI models, from conceptualization to deployment, and ensuring the continuous enhancement of AI infrastructure.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Advanced Model Development & Deployment:

• Lead the design, fine-tuning, and deployment of small language models (LLMs) for specific industries

(e.g., legal, finance, consultancies), ensuring optimal performance, scalability, and accuracy.

• Oversee the end-to-end lifecycle of AI models, including development, testing, and production

maintenance, to support critical business functions

Research & Innovation Leadership:

• Lead research initiatives to explore the latest advancements in NLP and AI, applying findings to

Tarjama&’s product roadmap and driving forward-thinking AI strategies.

• Actively contribute to building future AI tools by identifying opportunities to integrate AI across various

verticals.
Technical Architecture & Infrastructure:

• Define and optimize the AI/ML technology stack, ensuring that the models and tools align with

Tarjama&’s long-term technical vision.

• Ensure proprietary AI models are secure, compliant, and uniquely suited to the company’s business

needs, emphasizing high standards in quality and performance

Optimization & Continuous Improvement:

• Regularly review and optimize the performance of deployed models, implementing improvements and

ensuring scalability.

• Take initiative to continuously improve AI infrastructure, ensuring Tarjama& stays at the forefront of AI

innovation.

Cross Functional Collaboration & Leadership:

• Partner with product, business, and technical teams to define and deliver AI solutions that meet

industry-specific needs and drive innovation.

• Mentor junior LLM engineers and guide them in adopting best practices in AI model development and

deployment.

Education, Experience & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or a related field.

• Approximately 7 years of hands-on experience in machine learning, with a specific focus on NLP, LLMs,

or applied AI in industry-specific contexts.

• Strong expertise in machine learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch, with proven

experience in deploying and maintaining models in production environments.

• Proficiency in Python; familiarity with additional AI/ML tools and stacks is a plus.

• Proven track record of research and development in the AI/ML space, with the ability to drive

innovation and create proprietary solutions.

• Solid business acumen and the ability to deeply understand and address industry-specific challenges

(e.g., legal, finance).

• Experience leading AI/ML initiatives and working with small LLMs for specialized tasks in real-world

applications.

• Demonstrated ability to mentor junior engineers and collaborate with cross-functional teams, including

product and business units.

• Strong leadership skills with a self-driven mindset, capable of working independently, while also

providing technical guidance to teams.

Behavioral Competencies:

• Team Building & Management

• Conflict Management

• Time Management

• Results Orientation

• Influencing others

Technical Competencies:

• Machine Learning Expertise: NLP, LLMs, and

applied AI.

• Langchain and langraph

• Vectorization, vector store and word embedding

• Programming Skills (Python).

• Research & Development in AI/ML.