Job DescriptionThe Sr. Engineer, AI Application Development is a hands-on technical role responsible for the design, development, and deployment of AI-integrated enterprise applications across the Firm. This position bridges traditional software engineering and modern AI capabilities, delivering intelligent, production-ready solutions within our Microsoft and Azure ecosystem. The Sr. Engineer will work closely with the Manager of AI Application Development and other team members to build, evaluate, and maintain AI-powered tools that support attorneys and legal professionals - translating complex AI capabilities into reliable, secure, and scalable applications that align with the Firm's governance and compliance requirements.
Primary Responsibilities and/or Essential Functions:AI Application Development- Design, develop, and maintain AI-integrated applications using modern development frameworks, primarily C#/.NET and Python, and including ASP.NET Core Web APIs, background services, and lightweight Flask/FastAPI services as appropriate.
- Integrate large language model APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) leveraging structured outputs, tool/function calling, streaming responses, retry and fallback logic, and token/cost management.
- Build clean, functional front-end interfaces for internal tools using React or Vue, ensuring usability for non-technical users such as attorneys and legal professionals.
- Implement telemetry, usage tracking, and user feedback instrumentation to support monitoring, adoption measurement, and iterative improvement of AI features.
Azure & Cloud Infrastructure- Maintain and enhance CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, following source control best practices with Git.
- Configure and manage Azure SQL and SQL Server databases to support application data needs, including schema design and query optimization.
Security, Governance & Handoff Discipline- Implement authentication and authorization patterns aligned with firm standards, including Windows Authentication and Azure Active Directory / Entra ID integration.
- Apply secure secrets management practices, audit logging, and appropriate handling of sensitive firm and client data throughout the development lifecycle.
- Produce clear API specifications, data schemas, and deployment guides to support smooth handoffs and long-term maintainability.
- Evaluate AI prototypes built by others for security, scalability, and supportability prior to productionalization into enterprise environments.
Collaboration & Communication- Partner with the AI Development Manager to align technical work with team priorities and firm objectives.
- Work directly with the LASER team to understand workflow needs, gather requirements, and communicate technical concepts accessibly/clearly.
- Participate in architecture reviews, code reviews, and sprint planning as an active and constructive contributor.
- Maintain documentation of AI integrations, system behaviors, and configuration decisions to support team knowledge sharing.
Knowledge, Skills and Ability: - 5+ years of software development experience, with demonstrated proficiency in C#/.NET (ASP.NET Core, Web API, background services) and comfort working in Python (Flask or FastAPI).
- Hands-on experience integrating LLM APIs from providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, et. al., including structured outputs, function/tool calling, streaming, and cost management.
- Experience building functional front-end interfaces using React or Vue for internal tooling or business applications.
- Solid working knowledge of SQL Server and/or Azure SQL, including data modeling, query writing, and integration with .NET applications.
- Working knowledge of authentication and security patterns in Azure environments, including managed identity and secrets management.
- Experience deploying and managing AI applications on Azure, leveraging App Service, etc., as appropriate to the workload.
- Familiarity with Azure AI Services (e.g., Cognitive Services, Azure AI Foundry) to accelerate development of intelligent features.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to work effectively alongside non-technical stakeholders, including attorneys and other legal professionals.
- A pragmatic, security-conscious mindset with experience handling sensitive or regulated data.
- Ability to take ownership of a feature from design through deployment and ongoing support.
- Comfort working in an enterprise environment with governance, compliance, and change management requirements.
Preferred Qualifications: Advanced AI Capabilities- Experience building a multi-model abstraction or routing layer that spans providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, including fallback logic, model selection criteria, and cost controls.
- Practical experience with an agent orchestration framework such as Anthropic Agent SDK, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, or LangChain, including designing multi-step agentic workflows.
- Hands-on experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), including document parsing and chunking strategies, embedding pipelines, hybrid keyword/vector search, and integration with Azure AI Search or comparable infrastructure.
- Experience developing or consuming Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and clients, enabling internal tools and data sources to be exposed as standard, reusable capabilities for agent frameworks and model platforms.
Legal & Enterprise Context- Familiarity with legal industry workflows, document management systems, or information governance practices in a law firm or similarly regulated environment.
- Experience with Microsoft 365 ecosystem integrations, including Microsoft Graph API, Exchange, SharePoint, or Office Add-ins.
Education/Certifications:- Bachelor's degree preferred.
Estimated salary range is $170,000 - $190,000. This position is bonus eligible. Compensation decisions within the range are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case including but not limited to the individual's skills, experience, and qualifications.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP offers a competitive compensation package comprised of base pay and discretionary year-end bonus for eligible employees. Benefits include, but are not limited to medical, dental, vision, disability coverage, life insurance, flexible spending plan and a 401K plan. Weil also offers generous paid time off and holidays.
