[Remote] Lead Applied AI Engineer

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Quility Insurance is an established Insurtech company focused on innovation and technology in the insurance sector. They are seeking a Lead Applied AI Engineer to build and ship AI MVPs that address real business problems, collaborating closely with data scientists and business leads to validate and iterate on prototypes.ResponsibilitiesBuild and ship . You are the technical lead. You personally write, deploy, and iterate working software, not specs for others to build. You are practiced in using AI-native tooling (Cursor, Claude, Codex, Copilot) as a force multiplier, and you set the technical standard for your contract resource. You review their output at code depth, provide precise feedback, and translate ambiguous business hypotheses into granular, executable engineering prompts they can act onIntegrate data science . Your data scientists wield statistics, ML, and SQL. They help with data ingestion. You're the connective tissue that builds the scaffolding that lets their models plug into real products, so their output ships instead of sitting in an unused dashboard. While software prototypes are the primary output, some MVPs may be analytical or BI-oriented, so you should be comfortable working across both modesPartner on product . You partner with the business lead on the end-to-end user feedback loop. You help conduct direct discovery interviews with opt-in agents and internal SMEs to validate whether a prototype is actually solving core friction. You help maintain the backlog, protect it from scope creep, and contribute to the team decision when a prototype isn't generating signal worth chasingEvaluate the opportunity . Before a project consumes capacity, you work with the business lead to rough out its financial impact: OPEX reduction, close rate improvement, projected headcount avoidance, etc. at a level of precision that makes prioritization defensible. You help screen the backlog so the right bets get resourcedDevelop the team . You manage two data scientists and are accountable for their output and growth. That means keeping them unblocked, pointing their skills at problems worth solving, and building their capacity to contribute to live prototypes, not just modelsSkillsHands-on AI MVP builderBusiness-minded technical leader who builds and shipsExperience shipping working MVPs using LLMs and AI-native tooling (Cursor, Claude, Codex)Experience managing data scientistsAbility to evaluate whether an idea is worth buildingExperience conducting discovery interviews with agents and internal SMEsAbility to maintain the backlog and protect it from scope creepExperience in evaluating financial impact of projectsExperience managing and developing a teamStrong practitioner with a portfolio of workAbility to provide a link to personal work (live URL, portfolio, GitHub repo)Founded or been a founding engineer at an early-stage companyPortfolio of apps developed with AI assistanceSourced, onboarded, and directed contract technical resourcesOperated inside a corporate innovation, venture studio, or embedded startup contextExperience in insurance, fintech, or high-volume sales or distribution environmentsExperience with/knowledge of data scienceBenefitsMedicalDentalVision401(k) matchAnd much more!Company OverviewUS Fintech's InsurTech of the Year award winner. It was founded in 2020, and is headquartered in Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA, with a workforce of 201-500 employees. Its website is https://quility.com/.Company H1B SponsorshipQuility Insurance has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships, with 1 in 2025. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role.