Artificial Intelligence Engineer II

About Kirkland & Ellis

At Kirkland & Ellis, we are united in our ambition and drive to move forward. We share core values that help us achieve excellence: collaboration, talent empowerment, service, inclusion, respect and gratitude. Our people are our greatest asset, and we invest in the brightest talent and encourage a diversity of perspectives and strengths to create dynamic teams that operate at the pinnacle of their field. Our talented professionals show up every day knowing they will engage in meaningful work, continuous learning and professional development.
 
As one of the world’s leading law firms, we serve a broad range of clients with market-leading practices in private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions; investment fund formation and management; restructurings; high-stakes litigation and trials; and government, regulatory and internal investigations. We handle the most complicated and sophisticated legal matters because we don’t just meet industry standards, we create them. We bring innovation and entrepreneurialism to every engagement and, as a result, have long-standing client relationships with leading global corporations and financial sponsors. With 6,500 employees (including 3,500+ lawyers) operating from 19 offices across the United States, Europe and Asia, we are one of the largest law firms in the world and a top financial performer.

Essential Job Functions

• Plays a key role in advancing Kirkland & Ellis's AI initiatives through the development and delivery of machine learning models, data pipelines, and AI solutions.
• Combines excellent engineering skills with foundational AI understanding to drive projects from conceptualization to deployment.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provides technical leadership and oversight to AI solutions, ensuring high-quality standards and scalability
• Design and build infrastructure for serving large ML models
• Designs, develops, and deploys machine learning models integrated with web backends and end-user UI
• Performs code reviews, ensures data integrity, and adherence to architecture and design principles
• Provides guidance on the use of data science libraries such as Pandas, Scikit-learn, and PyTorch
• Oversees the development and maintenance of data pipelines to support machine learning workflows.
• Evaluates and adopts new technologies and frameworks to improve the performance and reliability of AI systems.
• Participates in sprint planning, stand-ups, and reviews, contributing to agile development cycles.
• Leads proof-of-concept initiatives to test the feasibility of new AI applications or features.
• Ensures compliance with data governance and privacy policies.
• Conducts performance testing and monitoring of deployed AI solutions to ensure they meet service level objectives.
• Identifies opportunities for process improvement and proposes new tools and methodologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the team.
• Collaborates closely with stakeholders and other departments to understand their requirements and translate them into AI solutions.
• Documents code, algorithms, and data structures for maintainability and knowledge transfer.
• Supports the team in defining and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact of AI initiatives.

OTHER FUNCTIONS

• Fosters a culture of continuous learning, curiosity, and effective communication within and across teams

Qualifications & Requirements

Education, Work Experience, Skills

• At least 5+ years of relevant working experience, with a focus on delivering value and outcomes in designing and deploying digital solutions. 
• At least 3 years of experience with the full ML development lifecycle using AI and ML frameworks, in public and private clouds.
• 5+ years of hands-on proficiency in Python, web backends, and relevant data science libraries
• Proven strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working in agile delivery, Jira usage or other agile delivery best practices.
• Experience in crafting/leveraging Software architecture and lifecycle processes and best practices.

Technologies/Software

• Experience with Pandas, Scikit-learn; familiarity with PyTorch is a bonus.
• Agile software development experience

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest in Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  To complete an application and submit your resume, please click "Apply Now."

Equal Employment Opportunity

All employment decisions, including the recruiting, hiring, placement, training availability, promotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination of employment (if necessary) are made without regard to the employee’s race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Closing Statement

The www.kirkland.com job postings and recruiting mailbox are for candidates only. If you are a recruiter, search firm or employment agency, and do not have a signed contract with Kirkland & Ellis LLP ("K&E") and have not been asked specifically to submit candidates, you will not be compensated in any way for your referral of a candidate even if K&E hires the candidate. Direct contact with K&E employees in an attempt to present candidates is inappropriate and will be a factor in determining any future professional relationship with the Firm. #LI-Hybrid #LI-LW1