Job Description

General Description

The AI Platform Engineering Lead is responsible for building and leading the Bank's AI Platform Engineering function, enabling the secure, scalable, and responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence across the enterprise technology ecosystem.

This role combines technical leadership, people leadership, and hands-on platform engineering expertise. The selected candidate will establish and lead a team of AI Platform Engineers responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting enterprise AI capabilities that enhance software delivery, developer productivity, automation, observability, and platform operations.

The AI Platform Engineering Lead will partner with Engineering, Architecture, Cybersecurity, Product, and Technology leaders to deliver innovative AI-enabled solutions while ensuring compliance with security, governance, risk, and regulatory requirements. The ideal candidate is a strong engineering leader with experience building cloud-native platforms, enabling modern software delivery practices, and implementing enterprise AI technologies in complex and regulated environments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Development

• Build, develop, and lead a high-performing AI Platform Engineering team.
• Establish team objectives, delivery standards, performance expectations, and career development plans.
• Provide technical coaching, mentorship, and guidance to engineers supporting AI platform initiatives.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, continuous learning, and operational excellence.
• Partner with senior technology leaders to define and execute the vision, roadmap, and strategy for AI platform services.

AI Platform Engineering

• Design, implement, and support enterprise AI platform capabilities that accelerate adoption of Artificial Intelligence across the organization.
• Lead the integration, configuration, and operational management of AI platforms and services, including large language model (LLM) technologies and managed AI services.
• Develop reusable platform components, automation frameworks, and engineering standards that enable secure and scalable AI adoption.
• Implement and maintain AI-enabled developer productivity solutions and engineering automation capabilities.
• Ensure platform reliability, scalability, availability, performance, and operational excellence.
• Collaborate with cross-functional technology teams to deliver enterprise-ready AI capabilities aligned with business objectives.

Cloud, Automation & Platform Architecture

• Design and implement cloud-native solutions leveraging modern engineering and platform practices.
• Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar technologies.
• Integrate AI capabilities into software development, DevSecOps, testing, automation, and cloud platform workflows.
• Contribute to reference architectures, engineering standards, and reusable technology frameworks.
• Drive adoption of modern software engineering practices and platform automation strategies.

Security, Governance & Risk Management

• Ensure AI platform capabilities comply with enterprise security, governance, risk, privacy, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with Cybersecurity teams to implement secure deployment practices, monitoring controls, access management, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Support threat modeling, vulnerability management, security reviews, and audit readiness efforts.
• Maintain documentation, technical standards, operational procedures, and governance controls supporting AI platform services.
• Promote responsible AI practices and secure software development methodologies.

FinOps, Observability & Operational Excellence

• Establish monitoring, observability, reporting, and operational metrics for AI platform services.
• Develop dashboards and reporting capabilities to measure platform health, adoption, utilization, reliability, and performance.
• Partner with technology and finance stakeholders to support cloud financial management and optimization initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, resource utilization, cost management, and platform effectiveness.
• Drive continuous improvement through data-driven decision making and operational insights.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a related field required.

Master's Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related discipline is preferred.

Experience

• Eight (8) years or more of experience in Software Engineering, Platform Engineering, Cloud Engineering, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering, or related technology disciplines.
• Two (2) years or more of experience working with Artificial Intelligence platforms, Machine Learning infrastructure, Generative AI technologies, Large Language Models (LLMs), or related solutions.
• Experience designing, deploying, and supporting cloud-native solutions within AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform environments.
• Experience leading technical teams and driving complex cross-functional technology initiatives.
• Demonstrated success delivering technology solutions in regulated or highly controlled environments.
• Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC), CI/CD pipelines, cloud automation frameworks, and modern software delivery practices.
• Experience working with secure software development methodologies and DevSecOps practices.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong understanding of AI platforms, Generative AI technologies, Large Language Models (LLMs), and enterprise AI adoption strategies.
• Knowledge of AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Vertex AI, or comparable enterprise AI platforms.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native architectures, APIs, distributed systems, automation frameworks, and platform engineering practices.
• Experience implementing modern DevOps, DevSecOps, and CI/CD methodologies.
• Familiarity with AI orchestration frameworks, agent-based systems, and emerging AI platform technologies.
• Knowledge of Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar tools).
• Understanding of cybersecurity principles, identity and access management, secure design, and risk management practices.
• Experience with observability, monitoring, logging, analytics, and operational reporting solutions.
• Knowledge of cloud financial management and technology cost optimization practices.
• Excellent communication, leadership, collaboration, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on execution in a fast-paced environment.

Certifications

Preferred certifications include:

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect
• AWS Certified Developer
• AWS Certified Security Specialty
• FinOps Certified Practitioner
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• CISSP or equivalent cybersecurity certification

Important: The candidate must provide evidence of academic preparation or courses related to the job posting, if necessary.

Our hybrid work model benefit applies to certain positions and is subject to changes based on the organizational needs.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States. This position is not open to applicants who need visa sponsorship or transfer of visa sponsorship at this time.

ABOUT US

Popular is Puerto Rico’s leading financial institution and have been evolving since it was founded over a century ago. From a small bank it has developed into a large corporation that offer a wide variety of services and financial solutions to our customers, with presence in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America.

As employees, we are dedicated to making our customers dreams come true by offering financial solutions in each stage of their life. Our extensive trajectory demonstrates the resiliency and determination of our employees to innovate, reach for the right solutions and strongly support the communities we serve; therefore, we value their diverse skills, experiences and backgrounds.

We reaffirm our commitment to always offer essential financial services and solutions for our customers and communities, including during emergency situations and/or natural disasters. Popular’s employees are considered essential workers, whose role is critical in the continuity of these important services even under such circumstances. By applying to this position, you acknowledge that Popular may require your services during and immediately after any such events.

If you have a disability or need more information about requesting an accommodation, please contact us at asesorialaboral@popular.com. This email inbox is monitored for such types of requests only. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed exemptions or reasonable accommodations. Any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Are you ready for a rewarding career?

Popular is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disability/Vets

Learn more about us at www.popular.com and keep updated with our latest job postings at www.jobs.popular.com.

Connect with us!

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

If you are a California resident, please click here to learn more about your privacy rights.