[Hiring] AI Engineer @Alta Genetics

Role Description

Turn decades of data into intelligence that helps feed the world. VAS has decades of longitudinal data from some of the most productive dairy operations in the world. Our next challenge is turning that data into actionable intelligence that helps producers make better decisions.

We're looking for an AI Engineer to help build the next generation of intelligent capabilities within our products. You'll work at the intersection of data, machine learning, software engineering and product to turn complex, real-world data into production AI solutions.

This isn't about AI for AI's sake. Sometimes the right answer is machine learning. Sometimes it's optimization, classical statistics or generative AI. We want someone with the technical depth and judgment to know the difference.

What You'll Do

• Build and deploy production-grade AI/ML solutions that turn complex farm data into actionable intelligence.
• Explore large, distributed and legacy datasets to uncover patterns and opportunities for new product capabilities.
• Engineer features, select modeling approaches and design experiments to evaluate outcomes.
• Move models from exploration into scalable, real-time production applications.
• Integrate, deploy, fine-tune and monitor models using cloud infrastructure, including AWS and Databricks.
• Build testing and observability for AI systems, including behavioral testing, trace analysis and agent debugging.
• Evaluate emerging technologies such as agentic AI, MCP and orchestration frameworks.
• Partner with product, engineering and dairy science teams to turn ambiguous customer problems into working solutions.
• Help advance the tools, standards and practices that will support AI development at VAS.
• Collaborate on user-facing AI experiences using React and TypeScript when needed.

Qualifications

• Significant experience building production software and AI/ML solutions, with demonstrated depth in data, machine learning and model deployment.
• Experience working with complex, distributed or legacy data, including inconsistent schemas and incomplete records.
• Strong experience with feature engineering, model selection, experimentation and evaluation.
• The ability to work across approaches, from classical statistics and machine learning to modern generative AI, choosing the right solution for the problem.
• Experience taking models from experimentation through production deployment and monitoring.
• Experience with deep learning frameworks and cloud-based AI services.
• Experience with AWS and/or Databricks.
• Exposure to agentic architectures, MCP or modern AI orchestration frameworks.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and a pragmatic approach to solving problems.
• The ability to translate ambiguous requirements into working systems and communicate technical tradeoffs across engineering, product and domain teams.
• A bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, AI/ML or a related field is preferred.

Benefits

• Opportunity to help shape what comes next in the dairy industry.
• Ability to turn rich data into intelligent, customer-facing solutions that create real-world value.
• Support for those that never stop feeding the world.
• Standard for farm management solutions with a focus on raising the bar to meet the next generation of expectations.

Company Description

VAS is the operating system of the modern dairy, with a leading U.S. market position and growing global reach. Our highly customizable systems have created an incredibly rich and complex data environment.

VAS has deep roots in the industry through its origin within the URUS family of companies.

• URUS is a family of businesses at the heart of the dairy and beef industry – Alta Genetics, GENEX, Genetics Australia, Leachman Cattle, Jetstream, PEAK, SCCL, Trans Ova Genetics and VAS.
• Each organization has its unique identity, products, and services.
• These companies work globally to provide cutting-edge dairy and beef genetics, customized reproductive services to maximize conceptions, and dairy management information.
• URUS has 9 brands in 17 retail countries and employs nearly 2,800 people globally.