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Smith & Associates · 2 days ago

AI/ML Engineer

Houston, TX

Full-time

Onsite

New Grad, Entry Level

0+ years exp

Smith & Associates is focused on building and shipping AI features end-to-end. The AI/ML Engineer will contribute to the development of LLM-powered features and collaborate with the engineering team to implement and evaluate machine-learning models, ensuring high-quality production systems.

Electrical DistributionManufacturingSemiconductorSupply Chain ManagementWholesale

Comp. & Benefits

H1B Sponsor Likely

Hiring Manager

Avery Kumpas SPHR MHRIR

Responsibilities

Build LLM-powered features (prompt design, RAG pipelines, tools/plug-ins, evaluations, guardrails)

Experiment with agentic AI patterns (tool use, planning/re-planning, multi-agent workflows) and ship reliable agents

Implement and evaluate machine-learning models (classification, regression, clustering, NLP, CV) from prototype to production

Write clean, well-tested Python code for data processing, modeling, and service APIs

Package and deploy models/services on AWS (e.g., S3, Lambda, ECS/EKS, SageMaker) with basic CI/CD

Design simple, efficient data pipelines and integrate with databases (SQL/NoSQL) and vector stores

Monitor models in production (latency, drift, quality) and iterate based on telemetry and user feedback

Read papers/blogs/specs and quickly translate ideas into working prototypes

Qualification

Machine LearningPythonAWSData StructuresAlgorithmsLLMsSQLVersion ControlCollaborationAdaptability

Required

Bachelor's or master's in computer science, Data Science, EE, or related field (or equivalent projects/internships)

0–2 years of professional experience; internships, open-source, or notable personal projects count

Strong foundation in algorithms and data structures; able to analyze time/space complexity and choose the right approach

Solid understanding of core ML principles: bias/variance, feature engineering, cross-validation, regularization, evaluation metrics

Familiarity with LLMs: tokenization basics, model families, fine-tuning concepts, RAG patterns, and LLM evaluations

Exposure to agentic AI concepts: tool calling, planning, memory, and simple multi-agent orchestration

Knowledge of Model Context Protocol (MCP) for context sharing, secure integrations, and tool orchestration

Proficiency in Python and common libraries (NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn; plus, PyTorch or TensorFlow preferred)

Comfort with AWS fundamentals (IAM, S3, compute/container runtimes) or equivalent cloud experience

Experience with databases: writing efficient SQL, understanding normalization/indices; basic NoSQL (e.g., DynamoDB) awareness

Version control (Git) and basic software craftsmanship (testing, linting, code reviews)

Strong ability to adapt to new technologies and rapidly learn by reading docs/papers and implementing new ideas

Bias for action: iterate quickly, measure results, and improve based on evidence

Clear communication and collaborative mindset; comfortable receiving and giving feedback

Preferred

Familiarity with vector databases (e.g., FAISS, Pinecone, Milvus) is a plus

Data engineering basics: Airflow/Prefect, message queues, data validation

API development (FastAPI/Flask) and simple observability (logs/metrics/traces)

Security, privacy, and responsible-AI awareness (PII handling, prompt injection basics, red-teaming mindset)

Math comfort: linear algebra, probability, calculus

Company

Smith & Associates

Glassdoor3.9

Smith & Associates is a global distributor of electronic components and semiconductor company.

Founded in 1984

Houston, Texas, USA

501-1000 employees

http://www.smithweb.com

H1B Sponsorship

Smith & Associates has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)

Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship

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Trends of Total Sponsorships

2020 (1)