Duke Energy
Lead Software Engineer - AI Agent
Duke Energy, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, 28245
Important Application Submission Information
In order to ensure your application is successfully received before the job posting expires, please submit your application by 11:59 PM on Friday, December 19, 2025.
More than a career - a chance to make a difference in people's lives. Build an exciting, rewarding career with us - help us make a difference for millions of people every day. Consider joining the Duke Energy team, where you'll find a friendly work environment, opportunities for growth and development, recognition for your work, and competitive pay and benefits.
Position Summary We are one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States, providing electricity to 7.7 million retail customers in six states. We have approximately 51,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Carolinas, the Midwest and Florida - and natural gas distribution services serving more than 1.6 million customers in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
We are transforming our customers' experience, modernizing our energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding our natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for our customers.
As part of the Digital Transformation organization, you will be part of a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, energetic, and high performing team helping to design cloud native applications and services to enhance the Customer experience. This group is nimble and creative and will shape our technology roadmap. You will be focused on developing well-designed, efficient code that adheres to the latest industry standards and assist in coding, testing, and debugging new software or making enhancements to existing software for customers. You will be working with designers, developers, and product owners in a small team setting to integrate software components into fully functional software systems spanning multiple business areas.
The Digital Transformation team is located at the Duke Energy Innovation Center at Optimist Hall with product teams delivering a wide range of leading-edge solutions. Read more about the Innovation Center at Optimist Hall.
An
AWS Lead AI Agent Engineer
is responsible for designing and implementing highly complex agentic/prompt engineering solutions.
Responsibilities
Design and implement agentic AI solutions using AWS Bedrock, including Agents, Knowledge Bases, and Guardrails
Build serverless architectures using AWS Lambda, Step Functions, and EventBridge to orchestrate AI agent workflows
Design and engineer sophisticated prompts for agentic AI systems that can plan, reason, and execute multi-step workflows
Develop prompt architectures that enable AI agents to use tools, APIs, and external resources effectively
Create and refine chain-of-thought, tree-of-thought, and ReAct (Reasoning + Acting) prompting strategies
Build evaluation frameworks to measure agent performance, reliability, and safety
Collaborate with ML and software engineers to integrate prompt strategies with agent frameworks (LangChain, Bedrock AgentCore) and leveraging Bedrock agents/services/foundational models.
Optimize prompts for accuracy, efficiency, cost, and latency in production environments
Implement guardrails and safety measures to ensure responsible agent behavior
Document prompt patterns, best practices, and design principles for the broader team
Stay current with the latest research in agentic AI, prompt engineering, and LLM capabilities
Design and build highly complex software solutions (specifically 2+ years of experience with AWS serverless development and 4+ years of experience on a programming language such as Java or Python)
Program well-designed, efficient code independently.
Collaborate with designers, developers, and product owners to build solutions.
Clearly communicate team wide progress and identify blocking processes/patterns that hold a team back.
Participate in paired programming and code reviews with juniors to expand the team's collective knowledge and understanding of software engineering.
Complete independent research to refine best practices and present work to peers.
Turn complex ideas into manageable pieces of work to complete as part of a product team.
Coach and mentor prompt engineers.
Provide technical guidance to leadership so that solutions are built with innovation and sustainability in mind.
Learn the business drivers of a product and help drive the technical direction of a product to fulfill the desired vision.
Required/Basic Qualifications
Associate's degree in Information Technology or Other Related Degree
Minimum of 7 years required related work experience
In lieu of Associate's degree AND 7 years of related work experience listed above, High School/GED AND 9 years of related work experience
Desired Qualifications
LLM, RAG, Bedrock Gen AI, Co-pilot, Model Fine Tuning, Prompt Engineering, Voice Transcript Analysis, LangChain, AWS SageMaker, FAISS, Pinecone Vector DB, Image Analysis/Detecon
3+ years of experience in prompt engineering, AI/ML, or related fields
Deep understanding of large language models (e.g. Claude) and their capabilities
Proven experience designing prompts for autonomous agents and multi-step reasoning tasks
Strong knowledge of agentic frameworks and patterns (ReAct, Plan-and-Execute, Reflection, etc.)
Strong experience with AWS Bedrock (Agents, Knowledge Bases, Guardrails, and foundational models)
Proficiency with AWS serverless services: Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, DynamoDB, S3
Knowledge of AWS security best practices including IAM, KMS, and VPC configurations
Familiar with Terraform and HCP
Proficiency in Python and experience with AI agent frameworks (e.g LangChain)
Experience with API integration and tool-use patterns for AI agents
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
A breadth of experience building software solutions (through a strong mix of independent research/projects and industry expertise).
5-9 years' previous experience in software development. (Either 9 years of experience specifically in software development or seven years of experience in software development in combination with 2 years alternative experience in a related field). Ideally has a portfolio of work - code samples, etc.
Deep and solid understanding of APIs. Have been involved in designing/building/implementing/consuming APIs.
Familiarity with several frameworks. Resulting code is concise and easy-to-follow.
Experience with automation and optimization. Looks for ways to create repeatable patterns that increase the efficiency of the team.
Experience and ability to manage and optimize databases.
Understanding of functional programming and how to apply functional concepts in any language. Quick to picking up a new language or adopting a more recent version of a language.
Familiarity and able to comfortably work with multiple platforms.
Experience turning complex ideas into user stories. From that, can turn user stories into workable solutions, providing estimates to complete that work, and breaking down complex work into smaller components.
Previous experience collaborating on a cross-functional team.
Deep understanding of development cycle.
Ability to debug and avoid future problems by building more robust solutions.
Ability to look at previous personal or team experience and use this to analyze mistakes/successes, draw conclusions, and design future solutions. Resulting solutions have few bugs and quick remediation times.
Experience building solutions with the larger team in mind. Solutions have the goal of improving software engineering at the team level.
Experience with teaching and mentoring team members at various levels.
A deep and solid understanding of cyber security principles such as authentication, authorization and encryption.
Experience working with one or more CI/CD stacks and associated best practices. Ability to setup CI/CD for new products with no guidance. Recommends and implements modifications to CI/CD processes when continuous improvement opportunities are identified.
Additional Preferred Qualifications
Knowledge of programming languages, operating systems and computer networks
Full-stack development experience
Familiarity with Angular (or other JavaScript based framework), Java, Python and private and/or public cloud (Pivotal Cloud Foundry, Azure, AWS, etc.) environments
Experience with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Working Conditions
Hybrid Mobility Classification - Work will be performed from both remote and onsite locations after the onboarding period. However, hybrid employees should live within a reasonable daily commute to a Duke Energy facility.
Office Environment
Specific Requirements
Associate's Degree + 7 yrs work experience
Bachelor's + 5 yrs work experience
Master's + 3 yr work experience
Travel Requirements Not required
Additional Details Relocation Assistance Provided (as applicable): No
Represented/Union Position: No
Visa Sponsored Position: No
Please note that in order to be considered for this position, you must possess all of the basic/required qualifications.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
In order to ensure your application is successfully received before the job posting expires, please submit your application by 11:59 PM on Friday, December 19, 2025.
More than a career - a chance to make a difference in people's lives. Build an exciting, rewarding career with us - help us make a difference for millions of people every day. Consider joining the Duke Energy team, where you'll find a friendly work environment, opportunities for growth and development, recognition for your work, and competitive pay and benefits.
Position Summary We are one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States, providing electricity to 7.7 million retail customers in six states. We have approximately 51,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Carolinas, the Midwest and Florida - and natural gas distribution services serving more than 1.6 million customers in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
We are transforming our customers' experience, modernizing our energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding our natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for our customers.
As part of the Digital Transformation organization, you will be part of a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, energetic, and high performing team helping to design cloud native applications and services to enhance the Customer experience. This group is nimble and creative and will shape our technology roadmap. You will be focused on developing well-designed, efficient code that adheres to the latest industry standards and assist in coding, testing, and debugging new software or making enhancements to existing software for customers. You will be working with designers, developers, and product owners in a small team setting to integrate software components into fully functional software systems spanning multiple business areas.
The Digital Transformation team is located at the Duke Energy Innovation Center at Optimist Hall with product teams delivering a wide range of leading-edge solutions. Read more about the Innovation Center at Optimist Hall.
An
AWS Lead AI Agent Engineer
is responsible for designing and implementing highly complex agentic/prompt engineering solutions.
Responsibilities
Design and implement agentic AI solutions using AWS Bedrock, including Agents, Knowledge Bases, and Guardrails
Build serverless architectures using AWS Lambda, Step Functions, and EventBridge to orchestrate AI agent workflows
Design and engineer sophisticated prompts for agentic AI systems that can plan, reason, and execute multi-step workflows
Develop prompt architectures that enable AI agents to use tools, APIs, and external resources effectively
Create and refine chain-of-thought, tree-of-thought, and ReAct (Reasoning + Acting) prompting strategies
Build evaluation frameworks to measure agent performance, reliability, and safety
Collaborate with ML and software engineers to integrate prompt strategies with agent frameworks (LangChain, Bedrock AgentCore) and leveraging Bedrock agents/services/foundational models.
Optimize prompts for accuracy, efficiency, cost, and latency in production environments
Implement guardrails and safety measures to ensure responsible agent behavior
Document prompt patterns, best practices, and design principles for the broader team
Stay current with the latest research in agentic AI, prompt engineering, and LLM capabilities
Design and build highly complex software solutions (specifically 2+ years of experience with AWS serverless development and 4+ years of experience on a programming language such as Java or Python)
Program well-designed, efficient code independently.
Collaborate with designers, developers, and product owners to build solutions.
Clearly communicate team wide progress and identify blocking processes/patterns that hold a team back.
Participate in paired programming and code reviews with juniors to expand the team's collective knowledge and understanding of software engineering.
Complete independent research to refine best practices and present work to peers.
Turn complex ideas into manageable pieces of work to complete as part of a product team.
Coach and mentor prompt engineers.
Provide technical guidance to leadership so that solutions are built with innovation and sustainability in mind.
Learn the business drivers of a product and help drive the technical direction of a product to fulfill the desired vision.
Required/Basic Qualifications
Associate's degree in Information Technology or Other Related Degree
Minimum of 7 years required related work experience
In lieu of Associate's degree AND 7 years of related work experience listed above, High School/GED AND 9 years of related work experience
Desired Qualifications
LLM, RAG, Bedrock Gen AI, Co-pilot, Model Fine Tuning, Prompt Engineering, Voice Transcript Analysis, LangChain, AWS SageMaker, FAISS, Pinecone Vector DB, Image Analysis/Detecon
3+ years of experience in prompt engineering, AI/ML, or related fields
Deep understanding of large language models (e.g. Claude) and their capabilities
Proven experience designing prompts for autonomous agents and multi-step reasoning tasks
Strong knowledge of agentic frameworks and patterns (ReAct, Plan-and-Execute, Reflection, etc.)
Strong experience with AWS Bedrock (Agents, Knowledge Bases, Guardrails, and foundational models)
Proficiency with AWS serverless services: Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, DynamoDB, S3
Knowledge of AWS security best practices including IAM, KMS, and VPC configurations
Familiar with Terraform and HCP
Proficiency in Python and experience with AI agent frameworks (e.g LangChain)
Experience with API integration and tool-use patterns for AI agents
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
A breadth of experience building software solutions (through a strong mix of independent research/projects and industry expertise).
5-9 years' previous experience in software development. (Either 9 years of experience specifically in software development or seven years of experience in software development in combination with 2 years alternative experience in a related field). Ideally has a portfolio of work - code samples, etc.
Deep and solid understanding of APIs. Have been involved in designing/building/implementing/consuming APIs.
Familiarity with several frameworks. Resulting code is concise and easy-to-follow.
Experience with automation and optimization. Looks for ways to create repeatable patterns that increase the efficiency of the team.
Experience and ability to manage and optimize databases.
Understanding of functional programming and how to apply functional concepts in any language. Quick to picking up a new language or adopting a more recent version of a language.
Familiarity and able to comfortably work with multiple platforms.
Experience turning complex ideas into user stories. From that, can turn user stories into workable solutions, providing estimates to complete that work, and breaking down complex work into smaller components.
Previous experience collaborating on a cross-functional team.
Deep understanding of development cycle.
Ability to debug and avoid future problems by building more robust solutions.
Ability to look at previous personal or team experience and use this to analyze mistakes/successes, draw conclusions, and design future solutions. Resulting solutions have few bugs and quick remediation times.
Experience building solutions with the larger team in mind. Solutions have the goal of improving software engineering at the team level.
Experience with teaching and mentoring team members at various levels.
A deep and solid understanding of cyber security principles such as authentication, authorization and encryption.
Experience working with one or more CI/CD stacks and associated best practices. Ability to setup CI/CD for new products with no guidance. Recommends and implements modifications to CI/CD processes when continuous improvement opportunities are identified.
Additional Preferred Qualifications
Knowledge of programming languages, operating systems and computer networks
Full-stack development experience
Familiarity with Angular (or other JavaScript based framework), Java, Python and private and/or public cloud (Pivotal Cloud Foundry, Azure, AWS, etc.) environments
Experience with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Working Conditions
Hybrid Mobility Classification - Work will be performed from both remote and onsite locations after the onboarding period. However, hybrid employees should live within a reasonable daily commute to a Duke Energy facility.
Office Environment
Specific Requirements
Associate's Degree + 7 yrs work experience
Bachelor's + 5 yrs work experience
Master's + 3 yr work experience
Travel Requirements Not required
Additional Details Relocation Assistance Provided (as applicable): No
Represented/Union Position: No
Visa Sponsored Position: No
Please note that in order to be considered for this position, you must possess all of the basic/required qualifications.
#J-18808-Ljbffr