Senior AI / ML Engineer, Bengaluru, India

Bengaluru

Janaagraha is a non-profit trust, established in 2001, working towards the mission of transforming quality of life in India's cities and towns. It works with citizens to catalyse active citizenship in city neighbourhoods and with governments to institute reforms to city governance (what we call "City-Systems"). Janaagraha is part of the JANA Group - one of India's best-known groups of not-for-profit institutions working towards the mission of fixing India's cities. Swati Ramanathan and Ramesh Ramanathan co-founded Jana Group in 2001 and it presently works across citizen participation and city governance reforms (through Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy), city planning and design (through Jana Urban Space Foundation), banking and financial services for the urban poor (through Jana Small Finance Bank) and affordable housing for the urban poor (through Janaadhar).

Janaagraha is building its AI and machine learning capability as part of its long-term organisational technology roadmap. The Senior AI/ML Engineer will lead the design and implementation of AI-powered tools that make information within Janaagraha more searchable, intelligent, and accessible.

This includes deploying a Knowledge Management System (KMS), creating natural language search and retrieval systems, and building AI-assisted workflows that help staff find, summarise, and use knowledge effectively. The role focuses on applying AI responsibly and practically to strengthen institutional learning, collaboration, and efficiency.

KEY RESPONSIBILITES

• Lead the design and integration of AI systems that enhance knowledge discovery, document understanding, and search relevance.
• Work closely with an external AI vendor to implement a secure, enterprise-grade KMS that indexes and connects internal documents, emails, and data sources.
• Build and fine-tune AI models for tasks such as semantic search, summarisation, entity extraction, and text classification.
• Develop and maintain APIs and services that integrate AI capabilities into existing systems and workflows.
• Collaborate with program and research teams to identify and prioritise high-impact AI use cases across the organisation.
• Establish guidelines for responsible AI use, transparency, and data privacy.
• Document workflows, train staff, and build internal capacity for sustainable AI adoption.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• 2-3 years of experience in applied AI/ML engineering or data science, including 1+ years in a senior or lead role.
• Strong programming skills in Python and familiarity with AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, and HuggingFace.
• Practical experience building or deploying retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), semantic search, or document intelligence systems.
• Proficiency in vector databases (e.g., FAISS, Pinecone, Weaviate) and LLM orchestration tools (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex).
• Experience with API design, containerisation, and cloud environments (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Strong grounding in data privacy, governance, and ethical AI principles.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders.
• enjoy translating emerging AI capabilities into real, usable tools that make complex information simple, searchable, and actionable
• Curious about how organisations learn and share knowledge
• Excellent communication and documentation skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Creative thinking and a passion for social change.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

What Janaagraha offers

At Janaagraha, you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and passionate citizens who apply cutting-edge technologies and practices aimed at social change in India's cities. We offer a dynamic, driven and vibrant work environment for professionals who are passionate about investing their time, skill sets and energy to transform quality of life in India's cities. At work, you will be exposed to a unique combination of policy, practice and platforms and will have abundant opportunities to learn and apply professional skills to social challenges.

Remuneration

Janaagraha is an equal opportunity employer and offers a highly dynamic and enabling work environment. We provide competitive remuneration commensurate with relevant experience, skill-sets and background.