Principal AI Engineer
Netcompany is hiring a Principal AI Engineer in Athens, Greece. Level rates it ; you can apply on Netcompany.
Level's read on this job
- Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this AI engineer role: the job is building AI systems.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include Claude, Gemini and LlamaIndex.
- Level classifies it as a lead role.
- Level lists 165 other open roles at Netcompany.
AI in this role
Are you ready to shape the future technological landscape in Europe?
We are dedicated to responsible digitalisation, building innovative, inclusive solutions that drive meaningful impact. With over 8,900 professionals across Europe, we help EU institutions, public and private organisations thrive in a rapidly evolving digital world. Are you ready to shape the future through technology? Your journey starts here. Take a look at some of our impactful projects here: https://netcompany.com/cases/
So, what are the main responsibilities of the Principal AI Engineer in Netcompany’s Enterprise Solutions?
Joining us as a Principal AI Engineer, you will lead the design, delivery, and scaling of advanced GenAI, LLM, and Machine Learning (ML) solutions for enterprise clients across both public and private sectors. In this role, you will operate at the intersection of technical leadership, people management, and client engagement, driving impactful AI initiatives from concept to production.
You will act as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, translating complex AI capabilities into clear business value, while leading and mentoring a high-performing team of AI/ML engineers. As a Principal (Manager-level role), you will be accountable not only for technical excellence but also for team growth, delivery quality, and client success.
This is a highly client-facing leadership role. Your ability to navigate complex stakeholder landscapes, align business and technology priorities, and communicate effectively with both technical teams and executive leadership will be key to success. You will represent the AI function in strategic discussions, lead workshops, and shape enterprise AI adoption roadmaps.
You will focus on the architecture and delivery of scalable, production-grade AI systems, ensuring solutions are reusable, extensible, and aligned with best practices, while pushing the boundaries of innovation beyond off-the-shelf tools.
As the Principal AI Engineer, you will:
- Serve as the primary AI and ML advisor to enterprise clients, translating business challenges into scalable AI-driven solutions with measurable impact.
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of AI/ML engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.
- Drive the end-to-end architecture and delivery of ML and GenAI pipelines, from ideation and prototyping to production deployment.
- Collaborate closely with MLOps, DevOps, and data engineering teams to ensure robust, scalable, and maintainable solutions.
- Manage stakeholder relationships across multiple projects, including executive communication, reporting, and risk management.
- Lead client workshops, discovery sessions, and technical presentations to define AI strategies and accelerate adoption.
- Oversee delivery quality, ensuring solutions meet performance, scalability, security, and governance standards.
- Contribute to practice development, including methodology, tooling, reusable assets, and pre-sales activities.
What would make you a fit for the role:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in AI, Data Science, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Engineering, Operational Research, or a related field (PhD is a plus).
- 8+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, with a strong track record of delivering enterprise-grade AI solutions from concept to production.
- Proven experience in a leadership or management role, including team leadership, mentoring, and performance management.
- Strong experience in client-facing environments, including leading workshops and presenting to senior stakeholders (C-level, board members).
- Deep expertise in Machine Learning and GenAI, including LLMs (e.g., GPT, Claude, Gemini), RAG architectures and prompt engineering, Agentic AI systems and orchestration frameworks.
- Solid understanding of MLOps practices, model lifecycle management, and production deployment patterns.
- Experience working with cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
- Hands-on experience with modern AI/ML frameworks and tooling, including open-source ecosystems.
It would also be a plus if you match some of the following:
- Experience in consulting, systems integration, or professional services environments.
- Familiarity with AI governance, responsible AI, and LLM monitoring frameworks.
- Experience with advanced GenAI frameworks (e.g., LlamaIndex, LangGraph) and evaluation tools.
- Exposure to AIOps practices and production AI observability.
- Experience supporting pre-sales, proposals, or business development in AI/data domains.
Being a part of the Netcompany team, you will be provided with:
- The opportunity to work in a modern environment & in a hybrid working model
- A seamless onboarding experience and a buddy to support you on your first steps
- A competitive compensation & benefits package
- Health and life insurance program
- Meal and commuting allowance
- Well-being activities (on premises)
- Continuous learning opportunities using the most modern methods (unlimited access to Udemy for Business, ad-hoc trainings)
- A personalized development plan for targeted career growth
If you are looking forward to be part of a diverse environment, and have the opportunity to work alongside well-experienced professionals, on challenging, large-scale projects that directly impact millions of citizens around the globe, then this is the place to be!
By joining Netcompany in Athens, you will be part of a vivid team of 2,300+ tech professionals. When at the office, you'll have the flexibility to work from our three modern, sustainable, and state-of-the-art offices!
Please upload your CV in English via the Apply button. All applications will be treated as strictly confidential.
We ensure equal opportunities, treatment, and consideration to all candidates. Discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or marital status, physical or mental disability, or any other factor protected by applicable laws and regulations is prohibited. As part of the Netcompany culture, we respect human rights and focus on creating a positive workplace, where all employees are valued, and where diversity and inclusion are a vital part of our everyday working experience.
In the following link you may find our CV Submission privacy notice: https://netcompany.com/cv-submission-privacy-notice/
How we rate this
Principal AI Engineer at Netcompany rates 89 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Pay
- Typical AI engineer job
- $184k
This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical AI engineer figure when pay comes up. See AI engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- How do you structure and test a prompt to get consistent output from a language model?
- How would you design a retrieval step so the model answers from real data instead of guessing?
- How do you monitor a model once it's live, and how do you know it needs retraining?
- How do you think about the risk of an AI system in this kind of role failing silently?
- Walk me through how you've used Claude in your day-to-day work.
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Prompt engineering, RAG, ML Ops, AI Safety, and Claude. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.
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