Principal AI Developer

Energy Transfer Partners is seeking a hands-on Principal AI Developer based in Houston, TX (onsite) to lead production AI initiatives within the Enterprise AI team. You will design, build, deploy, and iterate AI solutions using Python or .NET, Azure, and modern data tooling, partnering with AI engineers and business analysts to turn experiments into production systems that scale.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, deploy, and maintain AI solutions using Python and/or .NET.
• Create AI agents via Microsoft Copilot Studio or the Semantic Kernel Agent Framework.
• Develop and optimize cloud-native applications on Azure.
• Work with large-scale data in Databricks.
• Collaborate with AI engineers and business analysts to translate ideas into production systems.
• Apply critical thinking to evaluate model performance, troubleshoot complex issues, and improve system efficiency.
• Communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Prototype quickly, test rigorously, and iterate often.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, with level-appropriate experience commensurate with the job level.
• Professional experience building production systems with Python or .NET (proficiency in both is a strong plus).
• Solid working knowledge of cloud services and architecture patterns, with Azure preferred (or equivalent AWS/GCP experience and willingness to ramp on Azure).
• Hands-on experience building Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines.
• Hands-on experience building AI agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio, Semantic Kernel Agent Framework, or an equivalent agent framework (e.g., LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI).
• Hands-on experience with at least two of the following: Azure AI Search (or equivalent vector/semantic search platform), vector databases, semantic search, agentic AI systems.
• Comfort working with SQL and large-scale data platforms; Databricks experience is a plus, with approachable SQL syntax.
• Excellent communication and critical-thinking skills.
• Background in a smaller company or startup environment with substantial ownership of technical work.

Experience levels

• Senior Specialist: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 5-8 years of relevant job-related experience.
• Lead Specialist: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 8+ years of relevant job-related experience.
• Principal Specialist: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 10+ years of relevant job-related experience.

Technologies

• Python
• .NET
• Azure (including Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry, Azure AI Search)
• Databricks
• Microsoft Copilot Studio
• Semantic Kernel
• Vector databases and semantic search (Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector, Elasticsearch with vector, etc.)
• RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
• Agentic AI concepts and tool orchestration
• MCP (Model Context Protocol) and related agent tooling
• LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI
• SQL; experience with Databricks is a plus

Benefits

• Industry leading compensation
• Comprehensive benefits
• 401(k) match with additional profit sharing
• PTO
• Abundant career opportunities

Working Conditions

• On-site role in the office five days per week during business hours.
• Must be able to remain in a stationary position for roughly 50% of the time due to prolonged periods of sitting or standing.
• Occasional overnight travel to other company locations may be required.