Lead Python Software Engineer - Gen AI Products and Platform - SVP

The Opportunity:

This is your chance to build the foundational backend systems for 'Citi Assist', a Generative AI assistant that will reach every Citi employee globally. You will join us on the ground floor, shaping a high-visibility platform and helping to define the standards for how a global bank adopts this technology safely and at scale.

What You'll Do
• Lead, Code, and Deliver. You will act as the technical anchor for our backend services. This isn't a hands-off role; you'll lead the design and development of robust, scalable Python systems, contribute high-quality code, and set the standard for the rest of the team.
• Own Critical Systems. You will take ownership of core platform capabilities, like the services that run our background jobs and autonomous agents. Your focus will be on building for reliability, performance, and operational excellence.
• Lead on Safety and Security. You will champion a culture of security by design. Building safe, sound, and compliant systems is non-negotiable. This means thinking about everything from technical security to the emerging challenges of AI safety.
• Be a Force Multiplier. You will make the entire team better. We expect you to be a technical mentor, elevating our capabilities through thoughtful guidance, constructive code reviews, and by unblocking others to increase our collective pace.
• Champion Engineering Craftsmanship. You will lead by example. We are a team that believes in engineering craftsmanship -- clean code, meaningful commits, disciplined branching, and rigorous CI/CD are how we work. You won't just follow these principles; you'll live them and inspire others to do the same. You will champion these principles while ensuring the team maintains a bias for action and delivers value consistently.
• Shape Our Technical Direction. You will be a key voice in our technical decisions. You'll partner with the product owner and scrum master to define, estimate, and plan our work, helping to shape our architecture and technical roadmap.
• Communicate with Purpose. You will foster a culture of clear, direct, and proactive communication. In a distributed team, this is non-negotiable. You will model this behaviour, ensuring information about progress, blockers, and decisions flows freely and transparently.

What We're Looking For
• A pragmatic builder who takes pride in their craft and builds software that lasts.
• A bias for action and a focus on shipping. You understand our goal is to deliver value to users, not to chase perfection. You know how to lead a team to make the right trade-offs between speed and long-term quality.
• A solutions-first mindset. You find the best path to solve the problem, whether that's writing new code, improving an old system, or integrating the right tool. The outcome is what matters.
• Proven experience leading technical projects and mentoring other engineers. Your success is measured by the success and growth of your team.
• Deep, hands-on experience building, deploying, and maintaining production-grade Python services.
• A security-conscious mindset. You see security and safety as part of the job, not an afterthought.
• A firm grasp of software design patterns and a belief in writing clean, testable, and maintainable code.
• Comfort with deploying and managing applications in containerised environments (we use OpenShift, but Kubernetes experience is what matters).
• Practical experience with CI/CD pipelines and a belief in automating everything.
• Solid experience working with relational databases like Postgres.

Bonus points for:
• Experience with other languages like TypeScript, Go, or Java. It shows your curiosity and adaptability.
• Direct experience with Generative AI concepts, LLMs, or related personal/professional projects.
• Experience with data pipelines and ETL tools such as Apache Airflow and Dagster.

Our Tech Stack
• Backend: Python
• Databases: Postgres
• Infrastructure: Kubernetes (Red Hat OpenShift), Containers
• DevOps: GitHub, CI/CD (e.g., Tekton, Harness), GitHub Copilot
• Frontend (for context): TypeScript, React, Next.js

Our Team, Mission, and Why You Should Join Us

We are the Common Platform Engineering - Gen AI team, a central group in the Chief Technology Office (CTO). We're a focused agile team that owns our work from idea to production.

Our culture is built on a shared belief in engineering craftsmanship, backed by leadership that understands what that means. We're on a journey to prove what's possible inside a large organization, and that means navigating some legacy while building the future. This isn't a role for someone who wants everything to be perfect on day one. It's for an engineer who wants to be part of the team that gets us there, influencing how we solve problems and raising our collective bar through their work.

We have a dual mission: build 'Citi Assist,' the GenAI digital assistant for our colleagues, and provide the platforms and guidance that enable the entire organisation to adopt GenAI safely and effectively.

This is not a typical banking job. You will build foundational technology that has a direct, positive impact on hundreds of thousands of people. You'll have the executive support to tackle big problems and the autonomy to help shape our solutions. Most importantly, you will join a passionate, collaborative team where we all learn from each other, and we succeed or fail as one.

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Job Family Group:

Technology

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Job Family:

Applications Development

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Time Type:

Full time

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Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

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Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

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Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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