Principal AI Engineer
100% REMOTE
Overview
We are seeking a highly experienced AI Developer IV (Principal AI Engineer) to provide technical vision, architectural leadership, and hands-on development expertise for enterprise-scale AI initiatives. This role serves as a strategic technical leader responsible for defining AI architecture, establishing technical standards, and leading complex AI transformations while remaining actively involved in solution design and software development.
The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in software engineering, cloud-native architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and distributed systems with strong leadership and communication skills. This individual will partner closely with engineering, product, research, and executive stakeholders to drive the organization's AI-first software development strategy.
Position Summary
The AI Developer IV is a principal-level expert responsible for defining and owning enterprise-wide AI technical architecture while remaining hands-on in writing production code. This role provides organizational leadership for AI initiatives, leads highly complex and high-impact AI transformations, and serves as a trusted technical advisor to executive leadership.
The successful candidate will establish AI governance frameworks, influence long-term technology strategy, mentor senior engineering talent, and guide the adoption of emerging AI technologies across the organization. This position plays a critical role in advancing an AI-first engineering culture and driving innovation through modern software development practices.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and lead the organization's enterprise AI architecture strategy.
- Design, build, and deploy scalable AI-powered applications and distributed systems.
- Provide technical leadership for large-scale AI transformation initiatives.
- Develop production-quality software and remain hands-on with coding and solution implementation.
- Partner with engineering, product management, research scientists, and business stakeholders to deliver strategic objectives.
- Establish AI governance, best practices, security standards, and ethical AI frameworks.
- Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend strategic investments.
- Mentor senior engineers and cultivate future technical leaders.
- Drive adoption of AI-assisted development tools and modern engineering practices.
- Guide teams through architectural decisions involving cloud platforms, AI services, and data ecosystems.
- Lead technical design reviews and influence enterprise-wide engineering standards.
- Support multiple project teams operating in quarterly delivery cycles.
Team Environment
Cross-functional teams consisting of:
- Software Engineers
- Research Scientists
- Product Managers
- AI/ML Engineers
Typical project teams range from 1–5 engineers
Agile delivery model with quarterly planning and execution cycles
Strong focus on AI-first software engineering practices
Active use of AI-assisted development tooling
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
- 15+ years of software engineering experience
- Extensive experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale AI solutions
- Expert-level Python development experience
- Proven experience building scalable distributed systems
- Strong understanding of AI/ML technologies and modern software architecture
- Experience designing cloud-native applications within AWS and/or Google Cloud Platform environments
- Strong expertise in infrastructure automation and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
- Experience leading large technical programs and influencing organizational strategy
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
Required Technical Skills
- Backend Development
- Python (required)
- Strong backend engineering experience
- API and microservices design
- Frontend Development
- Vue.js (preferred)
- React or Angular acceptable
- Cloud & Infrastructure
- AWS and/or Google Cloud Platform (Google Cloud Platform)
- Terraform
- Cloud-native architecture
- Distributed systems
- DevOps & Development Tools
- GitLab
- CI/CD pipelines
- Infrastructure automation
- Artificial Intelligence
- Generative AI technologies
- AI application architecture
- AI-assisted development tools
- Experience with tools such as:
- Claude
- Codex
- GitHub Copilot
- Similar AI engineering platforms
Preferred Qualifications
- Recognized subject matter expert in AI/ML with enterprise-scale impact
- Experience establishing AI governance frameworks
- Experience leading AI transformation programs
- Strong background in data platforms and data ecosystems
- Advanced understanding of AI strategy and emerging technology trends
- Demonstrated success mentoring senior engineers and technical leaders
