Engineering Lead - AI SDK

Syngenta Crop Protection AG seeks an Engineering Lead to architect a centralized AI SDK and infrastructure for a global workforce, defining technical vision and leading specialist teams in Basel.

This position is responsible for defining the technical strategy for integrating large language models and intelligent pipelines across the organization. The lead will build a high-performance, centralized SDK that serves as the backbone for AI development, impacting over 50,000 employees in more than 90 countries. The role involves leading an elite squad of specialists to create core AI infrastructure primitives.

Responsibilities

• Architect and develop a high-accuracy routing engine to classify user intent and dispatch tasks to specialized agents.
• Design a federated memory layer that maintains state during complex, multi-turn interactions while ensuring strict data isolation between business units.
• Implement secure mechanisms for dynamic prompt management and safety guardrails.
• Create robust, reusable abstractions for the data ecosystem, integrating with platforms like Databricks, Snowflake, ServiceNow, and internal SAP systems.
• Optimize the SDK for high performance in both Python and TypeScript, prioritizing an excellent developer experience.
• Lead and mentor a squad of specialized engineers, setting high standards for code quality, documentation, and CI/CD practices.
• Influence tech colleagues across the organization to foster a culture of empowerment and engineering excellence.
• Define the technical vision for how teams integrate LLMs, agent frameworks, and intelligent pipelines.

Requirements

• 8+ years of software engineering experience with a proven track record in building infrastructure, libraries, or large-scale platforms.
• 2+ years of experience leading squads or small teams with a record of outstanding performance.
• Hands-on experience in building or maintaining SDKs, APIs, or developer toolkits.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML concepts, including LLMs, embeddings, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agent frameworks.
• Proficiency in at least one of the following: Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Java, or Go.
• Experience with API design principles, versioning strategies, and ensuring backward compatibility.

Nice to have

• Experience with multi-modal AI applications involving vision, speech, or documents.
• Familiarity with cloud-native platforms such as Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, or Google Vertex AI.
• Background in maintaining open-source developer tools or public SDKs.
• Knowledge of authentication, rate limiting, and enterprise SDK security patterns.

What the company offers

• High autonomy and significant impact within a team that values craftsmanship.
• Opportunity to work at the intersection of AI capability and developer experience.
• A fast-paced environment where new ideas are genuinely welcomed and encouraged.

About the company

Syngenta Crop Protection AG is a global leader in agricultural innovation, operating in more than 90 countries. The company is guided by sustainability priorities, developing technologies that help producers grow healthier plants in revitalized soils to maximize productivity. Technology teams play a central role in building digital, IT, data, and AI solutions that bring this vision to life at scale.

• Global leader in agricultural innovation with a mission to feed a growing world population while preserving the planet.
• Technology teams are central to bringing the company's vision to life through digital and AI solutions.
• Guided by sustainability priorities to help producers grow healthier plants in revitalized soils.