Senior AI Platform Engineer

About OpnLabs: OpnLabs Pty Ltd is an Australian Sovereign AI and cyber security company developing next-generation AI platforms that automate cyber security assessments, continuous assurance and technical documentation. Our flagship platform, DyDox, combines Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), knowledge graphs and cloud-native technologies to help Government and enterprise organisations accelerate cyber security assurance while maintaining full control of sensitive information. Our engineering culture values simplicity, innovation, ownership and continuous learning. We build practical AI solutions that solve real business problems rather than experimental research projects. We are seeking a Senior AI Platform Engineer who enjoys designing robust production systems, solving complex engineering challenges and mentoring junior engineers while working with cutting-edge AI technologies. Apply at https://opnlabs.au About the Role: This role is ideal for an experienced software engineer who enjoys building production-grade AI platforms rather than conducting AI research. You will play a leading role in designing, developing and operating the AI platform that powers DyDox. Working alongside our engineering team, you will help shape the architecture, improve scalability and reliability, optimise AI inference performance and contribute to the ongoing evolution of our Sovereign AI platform. This is a hands-on engineering role covering AI platform development, backend engineering, cloud infrastructure and deployment automation. AI Platform Engineering- Design, develop and maintain production-grade Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines.Build and enhance AI agent orchestration workflows using modern LLM frameworks.Evaluate, integrate and optimise open-source language models.Improve inference performance, scalability and operational efficiency across GPU-based deployments.Design and maintain vector and graph retrieval solutions supporting intelligent document assessment. Backend Engineering- Develop and maintain Python-based backend services using FastAPI and asynchronous programming techniques.Design secure, scalable REST APIs supporting assessment workflows and reporting.Maintain PostgreSQL databases, schema migrations and ORM models.Improve document processing pipelines supporting PDF, DOCX and XLSX generation. About the Role Cloud Platform & Infrastructure- Design and maintain cloud-native deployments on Microsoft Azure.Manage Docker-based multi-service deployments supporting AI inference, databases and web applications.Improve provisioning, deployment and operational automation.Monitor platform reliability, performance and operational health.Support customer deployments, including isolated and air-gapped environments where required. Engineering Leadership- Collaborate with frontend engineers to define efficient API contracts.Work closely with product stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.Explain architectural decisions and technical trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.Review code, mentor junior engineers and technical interns, and contribute to engineering best practices.Promote high-quality software engineering through code reviews, automated testing and continuous improvement. Required Skills & Experience: We're looking for an engineer with strong software engineering fundamentals and practical experience building production AI systems. Essential- Australian Citizenship.Minimum five years' professional software engineering experience.At least two years' experience building or supporting production AI, Machine Learning or LLM-based platforms.Strong Python programming skills.Experience with FastAPI or similar Python web frameworks.Experience developing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) or LLM-based applications.Experience with vector databases such as Chroma, pgvector or FAISS.Experience with relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL.Practical experience with Docker and Linux-based environments.Experience deploying cloud applications, preferably on Microsoft Azure.Good understanding of GPU-based AI inference and production model serving.Excellent analytical, troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.Strong written and verbal communication skills.Ability to mentor junior engineers and work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team. Desirable Skills- Experience in one or more of the following areas would be highly regarded: Neo4j or graph databases.vLLM, Hugging Face Transformers or similar inference frameworks.LangChain, LangGraph or comparable AI orchestration frameworks.GPU optimisation, quantisation and inference performance tuning.Cloud automation and infrastructure provisioning.Multi-tenant SaaS platforms.Secure software delivery and software licensing.Confidential computing technologies.Secure model deployment or model protection techniques.Authentication technologies including JWT and OAuth.React and TypeScript.Microsoft Azure AI services.Air-gapped or sovereign cloud deployments.Experience working with Government or Defence environments. Essential What Success Looks Like- During your first six months you will be expected to: Deliver production-ready AI platform enhancements.Improve platform scalability and reliability.Optimise AI inference performance and GPU utilisation.Enhance deployment automation and operational tooling.Contribute to technical architecture and engineering standards.Mentor junior engineers and support knowledge sharing across the team. What We Offer: Hybrid working arrangement.Flexible working environment.Opportunity to work with cutting-edge AI, cloud and cyber security technologies.Exposure to Large Language Models, knowledge graphs and Sovereign AI platforms.Opportunity to influence the technical direction of an innovative Australian technology company.Ongoing professional development and mentoring.Opportunity to contribute to products supporting Australian Government, Defence and enterprise organisations. Why Join OpnLabs? This is an opportunity to work on meaningful technology at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, cyber security and cloud computing. Rather than focusing solely on AI research, you will build production systems that solve real-world problems and have a measurable impact on Government and enterprise customers. If you enjoy designing robust software, solving challenging engineering problems and helping shape the future of Sovereign AI, we'd welcome your application. If you are passionate about technology, eager to learn, and excited about Artificial Intelligence, we would love to hear from you. Apply at https://opnlabs.au