AI Engineer (Conversational AI)

• Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on site
• Employment type: Full time, permanent
• Experience: Three years or more building software, with at least one year on LLM based applications that reached real users
• Reports to: Chief Technology Officer

Job Summary

As the AI Engineer (Conversational AI) at SentraAI you will design and deliver conversational systems that reach real users, owning the engineering of LLM-based features, retrieval pipelines and conversation flows.

You will work onsite with client teams, operate inside existing codebases and cloud accounts, and translate technical tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders.

About SentraAI

SentraAI is a specialist enterprise AI firm, focused on helping large, regulated organisations move AI and data platforms from experimentation into production safely and sustainably.

We work inside enterprise run-states, where governance, operational risk, change control, and long-term ownership are integral to delivery. Our teams are trusted to design and deliver systems, platforms, and operating models that can be run, audited, and evolved, not just launched.

We prioritise engineering discipline, architectural clarity, and delivery quality over speed theatre or hype.

Key Responsibilities

Design and build conversational systems

• Design production conversation flows including error and failure paths
• Implement LLM based features and retrieval over enterprise content
• Integrate and operate components inside existing codebases and cloud accounts

Ensure production quality and measurement

• Define and measure key performance indicators for conversational features
• Diagnose retrieval quality failures and iteratively improve relevance
• Run experiments and A/B tests that measure user impact

Collaborate and explain

• Work onsite with client teams to gather requirements and feedback
• Explain technical decisions clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Document designs, runbooks and handover materials

Also in the role

• Evidence of measuring an AI system rather than demonstrating it

Required Qualifications

Minimum qualifications

• Three years or more building software, including at least one year on LLM-based applications that reached real users
• Production experience with retrieval over enterprise content and an understanding of why retrieval quality can fail
• Strong Python and experience working inside another team’s codebase and cloud account

Also required

• Three years or more building software, with at least one year on LLM based applications that reached real users
• Production experience with retrieval over enterprise content, and a clear view on why retrieval quality fails
• Strong Python, and comfort working inside someone else's codebase and cloud account
• Experience designing conversation flows, including failure paths, not only the ideal path
• Able to work onsite with client teams and explain technical decisions to non technical stakeholders

Advantageous but Not Mandatory

• Experience with Databricks or similar enterprise data platforms
• Experience with retrieval augmentation pipelines and vector stores
• Background in applied evaluation of conversational systems and user metrics

Why Work for SentraAI

Enterprise AI, done properly. We exist to take AI and data out of experimentation and into production environments that are regulated, scrutinised, and expected to work every day.

Quality is not optional. SentraAI is built on the belief that engineering discipline, governance by design, and delivery rigour are competitive advantages, not overhead.

Clear ownership and accountability. You will be trusted with real responsibility, clear mandates, and meaningful outcomes, not diluted roles or performative activity.

Work that survives contact with reality. We design systems, operating models, and decisions that still stand up months and years after go-live, not just at demo time.

Run-state matters as much as build-state. We optimise for operability, auditability, and change control from day one, because that is where enterprise value is won or lost.

Substance over hype. We deliberately avoid delivery theatre, buzzwords, and novelty for novelty sake. Credibility is earned through execution.

Learn from experienced practitioners. You will work alongside people who have built, broken, fixed, and run enterprise systems, and who care deeply about doing the work properly.

A firm with a point of view. SentraAI is opinionated by design. We stand for doing fewer things better, and we expect our people to take pride in that standard.