Applied AI/LLM Engineer, Public Health LLMs, Consultant

The Digital Team at Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) is implementing or helping to implement cutting-edge digital tools such as the Simple app, DHIS2 and Africa Covid Dashboard. We work with national and regional health organizations to accelerate progress and advancing the use of digital technologies to save lives through our approach of simplicity, speed, and scale.

Contract duration: Full-time 12-month consultancy, with possibility of extension based on program needs and mutual interest 

Location: Remote

Job Structure: Independent Contractor

Position Purpose

Resolve to Save Lives is looking for an Applied AI/LLM Engineer Consultant to support our innovative team, focusing on the exciting field of Large Language Models (LLMs) in the context of Public Health. In this role, you will contribute to the design, fine-tuning, deployment, and evaluation of AI/ML systems based on pre-trained models (e.g., LLaMA, Mistral, GPT, Phi) that help ease the lives of healthcare workers and clinicians. You will work closely with back-end and mobile engineers to bring cutting-edge AI capabilities to life.  

The ideal candidate will possess the expertise to leverage existing Large Language Models (LLMs) to train and evaluate models using program-specific clinical data (e.g., patient notes, SMS interactions, training materials or health worker feedback) and deploy within RTSL's digital health tools and global EHRs (e.g., Simple, BP Passport). Additionally, there is a strong likelihood of developing an open-source, locally runnable, adapted LLM to address cost and confidentiality concerns.  

You'll be working at the intersection of cutting-edge AI and grassroots public health. This is an opportunity to shape the future of digital health tools that are open source, impactful, real-world solutions for some of the most underserved populations globally. Our primary use cases for LLMs are anticipated to include (not limited to):  

• Generating patient summaries specifically tailored for healthcare workers.  
• A chatbot for appointment scheduling.  
• Develop a predictive model to enhance and automate existing workflows.  
• Optimized worklists for frontline workers.  
• On-the-job training and ready-reckoner tools for healthcare professionals. 

Core Tasks and Activities

The ideal candidate will perform duties and responsibilities such as, but not limited to, the following: 

• Research, evaluate, and implement state-of-the-art LLMs.  
• Fine-tune pre-trained models for specific tasks and datasets.  
• Develop and deploy AI applications using Python.  
• Perform data manipulation and analysis using Pandas to prepare data for model training and evaluation.  
• Design and evaluate prompt engineering strategies for optimizing LLM outputs in specific public health contexts.  
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate AI solutions into existing products and workflows.  
• Stay up to date with the latest advancements in AI, particularly in the LLM space. 
• Apply responsible AI principles, including fairness, privacy, and transparency, especially in clinical and community health settings.  
• Support the implementation of AI pilots/projects at RTSL. 
• Train and upskill other engineers on the team. 

Contract Deliverables

Models 

• Optimized models for predicting patient behavior (propensity to miss a visit, propensity to come back on their own after missing a visit, propensity to come back after missing a visit if we call them ... 
• Clear technical documentation allowing the team to reproduce and maintain models 
• Train the team to reproduce and maintain models 

LLM 

• Generate conversational AI Agents to automate patient interaction 
• Technical documentation and process flows to allow internal teams to adapt similar LLM based use cases 
• Training on generating LLM

Contract Management 

The Independent Contractor will submit all deliverables to the Senior Engineering Manager, who will manage this contract and monitor progress towards deliverables. 

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Machine Learning or a related field OR equivalent software development experience  
• 5+ years of experience in training and using AI models 
• Demonstrated experience using Large Language Models (LLMs) and building Predictive Models to meet user requirements  
• Experience in developing and deploying AI applications in production environments 
• Delivered LLM-based solutions in resource-constrained environments  
• Hands-on experience with pre-trained AI models. 

Skills & Abilities 

• Advanced proficiency in Python programming 
• Strong experience in data manipulation using Pandas, NumPy, and data preprocessing techniques  
• Skilled in machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch) 
• Familiarity with AI Tools (Hugging Face, LangChain, ONNX, etc.)  
• Strong understanding of AI ethics, data privacy, and bias mitigation techniques  
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills  
• Ability to communicate complex technical ideas clearly to non-technical stakeholders  
• Ability to prototype and iterate quickly  
• Experience working with and mentoring agile, interdisciplinary teams across geographies 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience working in healthcare or public health settings 
• Contributed to or maintained open-source AI/ML projects 
• Familiarity with MLOps, including model serving, performance monitoring, and lifecycle management, particularly in low-bandwidth or edge environments

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit their CV and a cover letter detailing their suitability for the role.