Lead Applied AI Architect
Tampa General Hospital
Summary
The Lead Applied AI Architect is the enterprise design authority for applied AI at Tampa General Hospital and is accountable for the architectural decisions that govern how AI agents and large language model (LLM)-based solutions are designed, built, integrated, and operated across the health system. Working within the Office of the Chief Medical Informatics and AI Strategy Officer and in partnership with the other IT divisions, the architect sets the reference architecture, engineering standards, and technical roadmap that internal AI development follows, and gives final technical sign-off before solutions enter independent validation and governance review.
Job description
The role combines enterprise architecture accountability with hands-on engineering. The architect directs the technical work of Applied AI Engineers, serves as technical reviewer for vendor and third-party AI, and moves AI capabilities from prototype to governed production in partnership with data science, informatics, cybersecurity, and clinical leaders.
Essential Functions
- Lead the design, development, and optimization of AI agent architectures tailored for innovative and scalable solutions.
- Drive full-cycle machine learning model deployment, including data preprocessing, training, testing, and integration into production systems.
- Oversee the development and implementation of algorithms for natural language understanding (NLU), decision-making, and contextual reasoning.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration between AI platforms and existing enterprise systems.
- Mentor and guide a team of engineers and data scientists to enhance their technical skills and operational efficiency.
- Lead efforts in continuous improvement, including model retraining, A/B testing, and performance evaluation.
- Stay ahead of emerging trends in AI and machine learning to adapt and innovate in alignment with business needs.
- Establish and enforce best practices in code quality, documentation, and version control within AI projects.
- Conduct regular reviews and present findings or developments to stakeholders and senior leadership.
- Manage resources and prioritize tasks to meet project deadlines and alignment with strategic objectives.
- Ensure compliance with ethical AI practices and applicable legal standards in all development and deployment activities.
- Identify opportunities for leveraging AI to solve complex business challenges and drive operational efficiencies.
Education Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field.
Licenses and Certifications
At least one relevant cloud, machine learning, or software engineering certification.
Experience Qualifications
Ten (10) years of professional engineering experience, including at least four (4) years designing and building AI/ML systems and at least two (2) years architecting, deploying, and operating LLM-based or agentic applications in production. Prior experience as a technical lead or architect with design authority across multiple teams, including code review and mentorship, required. Enterprise data/development platform (e.g. Palantir Foundry or similar) experience.
Skills and Abilities
- Architecture and platform leadership - ability to define enterprise reference architectures, reusable patterns, engineering standards, technical roadmaps, and build-versus-buy recommendations.
- Software and AI engineering - advanced proficiency in Python, SQL, APIs, distributed application design, automated testing, version control, and production AI application development.
- Responsible and secure AI - deep knowledge of evaluation, guardrails, privacy, security, threat modeling, access control, auditability, and human-in-the-loop design.
- Technical leadership and judgment - ability to make and defend enterprise architectural decisions, explain tradeoffs to executive and clinical leaders, direct and mentor engineers, and balance innovation, safety, value, and delivery.
- Production operations - experience with CI/CD, MLOps/LLMOps, observability, incident response, rollback, reliability, lifecycle management, and cost optimization.
- Workflow orchestration and automation - ability to design end-to-end automated workflows spanning enterprise applications, APIs, document repositories, and human approval steps.
- Collaboration: communicates effectively across technical and clinical audiences.
- Healthcare integration - working knowledge of clinical workflows, PHI handling, APIs, enterprise data platforms, and healthcare interoperability standards such as HL7/FHIR.
Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field
- At least one relevant cloud, machine learning, or software engineering certification
- Ten (10) years of professional engineering experience
- At least four (4) years designing and building AI/ML systems
- At least two (2) years architecting, deploying, and operating LLM-based or agentic applications in production
- Prior experience as a technical lead or architect with design authority across multiple teams, including code review and mentorship
- Enterprise data/development platform (e.g. Palantir Foundry or similar) experience
- Advanced proficiency in Python, SQL, APIs, distributed application design, automated testing, and version control
- Deep knowledge of responsible and secure AI: evaluation, guardrails, privacy, security, threat modeling, access control, auditability, human-in-the-loop design
- Experience with CI/CD, MLOps/LLMOps, observability, incident response, rollback, reliability, lifecycle management, and cost optimization
- Ability to design end-to-end automated workflows spanning enterprise applications, APIs, document repositories, and human approval steps
- Working knowledge of clinical workflows, PHI handling, APIs, enterprise data platforms, and healthcare interoperability standards such as HL7/FHIR
Company overview
Tampa General Hospital is a leading academic medical center and regional healthcare system located in Tampa, Florida. As one of the largest hospitals in Florida, it serves as the primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. The hospital operates a comprehensive Level I trauma center, providing the highest level of trauma care available. Tampa General Hospital is nationally recognized for its expertise in organ transplantation, with one of the busiest transplant programs in the United States. The institution offers a wide range of specialized services including cancer care, cardiovascular medicine, neurosciences, women's health, and pediatric services. With its commitment to medical education and research, Tampa General Hospital plays a crucial role in advancing healthcare through clinical trials and innovative treatments. The hospital system includes multiple specialty centers and outpatient facilities throughout the Tampa Bay region, serving as a vital healthcare resource for millions of residents in West Central Florida.