Principal Software Engineer – AI & Automation (Contract)

Principal Software Engineer – AI & Automation (Contract)

Location: Fully Remote (U.S.)
Duration: 8-month W2 contract (with possible extension)
Pay Rate: $70–$82/hour (depending on experience)

 

About the Opportunity

Russell Tobin is supporting a major, nationally recognized enterprise organization in the travel and transportation industry in hiring a Principal Software Engineer – AI & Automation.

This is a high-impact role where you will lead the design and implementation of AI-driven and automation solutions across enterprise systems. You’ll work at the intersection of full-stack engineering, cloud platforms, and low/no-code technologies to transform business processes and deliver scalable, intelligent applications.

 

Role Overview

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will serve as a technical leader and subject matter expert in AI-enabled software development and automation. This is a hands-on individual contributor role with significant influence on architecture, strategy, and engineering best practices.

 

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and delivery of AI-powered, full-stack applications and automation solutions
• Define and influence AI, automation, and low/no-code strategy across teams
• Partner with business stakeholders to identify and implement high-value automation opportunities
• Architect scalable solutions using custom APIs, cloud services, and automation platforms
• Build and support applications across the full lifecycle, from concept to deployment
• Ensure high-quality delivery through clean code, TDD, CI/CD, and code reviews
• Integrate AI/ML and LLM-based services into enterprise workflows
• Mentor engineers and promote best practices in modern software design and architecture
• Drive adoption of responsible AI, governance, and scalable automation frameworks
• Participate in on-call rotation for critical applications

 

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering or related field
• Strong experience in full-stack development using object-oriented languages (e.g., C#, Java)
• Proven expertise building scalable, distributed systems in cloud environments
• Hands-on experience implementing AI/ML or LLM-based solutions in production
• Experience with cloud AI services (e.g., Azure AI, Cognitive Services, or similar)
• Experience with low/no-code platforms (preferably Microsoft Power Platform – Power Apps, Power Automate)
• Strong understanding of design patterns, SOLID principles, and modern engineering practices
• Experience mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction
• Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Microsoft stack (.NET, .NET Core, Azure, SQL Server)
• Frontend experience with modern Angular (v10+)
• Experience with containers and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift)
• Familiarity with DevOps and CI/CD tools (Azure DevOps preferred)
• Experience with AI system design, evaluation, and monitoring in production
• Background in Agile/Lean development environments
• Experience leading technical initiatives or projects
• Exposure to Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices

 

Why This Role?

• Work on cutting-edge AI and automation initiatives at enterprise scale
• High visibility and influence across engineering and business teams
• Opportunity to shape modern engineering and AI strategy
• Fully remote flexibility

Russell Tobin offers eligible employee’s comprehensive healthcare coverage (medical, dental, and vision plans), supplemental coverage (accident insurance, critical illness insurance and hospital indemnity), 401(k)-retirement savings, life & disability insurance, an employee assistance program, legal support, auto, home insurance, pet insurance and employee discounts with preferred vendors.

Equal Employment Opportunity
Russell Tobin is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, reproductive health decision making, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
 
Fair Chance Employment
Russell Tobin is a Fair Chance employer. We consider all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable state and local Fair Chance laws and ordinances, including, the California Fair Chance Act and all applicable local Fair Chance ordinances.
 
Accommodations
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, or to perform the essential functions of this role, please contact us. 
 
Only applicable for San Francisco Candidates: Under the San Francisco Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance, we will provide written notice of lactation accommodation rights, and this notice will automatically be given upon hiring, any inquiry of parental leave or lactation accommodation.
 
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