Job DescriptionNordstrom Finance is looking for a Principal AI Architect who can both design and personally build the AI-driven reporting infrastructure that moves the organization toward an "autopilot" model of financial reporting - where routine reporting, reconciliation, variance analysis, and narrative generation are increasingly automated by well-governed AI agents and pipelines, freeing Finance teams to focus on judgment and decision-making. This is a hands-on architecture and engineering role, not a strategy-only position: you're expected to design the system and write the code, prompts, agent orchestration, and data pipelines that bring it to life, while also setting the technical vision and standards other engineers build against.
**This role is Hybrid and does require you to be in office in downtown Seattle, WA 4 days per week.
A Day in the LifeAI Architecture & Engineering
- Architect and build the end-to-end AI infrastructure for automated financial reporting - agent orchestration, data pipelines, model integration, and human-in-the-loop review workflows.
- Design for reliability and auditability: Finance reporting requires traceability, reproducibility, and controls, not just a working demo.
- Personally prototype and ship production-grade AI agents/pipelines (e.g., using LLM APIs, retrieval systems, and workflow orchestration tools) rather than only producing designs for others to implement.
Finance & Data Domain Partnership
- Partner closely with Finance leaders, FP&A, Controllership, and Accounting to understand current reporting workflows, controls, and pain points before automating them.
- Work with Data Platform, Data Governance, and Security teams to ensure financial data used in AI pipelines meets Nordstrom's classification, access, and audit requirements.
- Define what "autopilot" reporting should and shouldn't automate - identifying where human review and sign-off must remain in the loop.
Technical Leadership & Standards
- Set architecture standards and best practices for applied AI within Finance Technology, and mentor engineers building against them.
- Evaluate and select the AI/ML tooling, models, and platforms (build vs. buy) that best fit Nordstrom's Finance use cases and existing tech stack.
- Act as the primary technical expert and thought leader on applied AI for Finance, staying current on the fast-moving AI landscape and translating relevant advances into roadmap decisions.
Governance, Risk & Change Management
- Build in guardrails against model error, hallucination, and drift in a domain where reporting accuracy has real financial and compliance consequences.
- Partner with Risk, Internal Audit, and Compliance as needed to ensure AI-generated reporting meets internal control and regulatory expectations.
- Help Finance teams build trust in AI-assisted reporting through transparent design, clear documentation, and phased rollout.
You Own This If You Have...- 8+ years of software/data engineering or applied AI/ML experience, including production experience building and deploying AI systems (not only research or prototyping).
- Deep, hands-on expertise with modern AI architectures - LLM application design, agent orchestration/workflow frameworks, retrieval-augmented generation, and prompt/context engineering.
- Strong data engineering fundamentals: pipeline design, data quality, and integration with enterprise data platforms (e.g., BigQuery or equivalent cloud data warehouse).
- Direct experience with, or strong ability to quickly learn, financial reporting concepts and controls (close process, reconciliation, variance analysis, GAAP-adjacent reporting requirements).
- A track record of operating as a technical architect and an individual contributor simultaneously - able to set direction and also be the one who builds it.
- Excellent stakeholder communication skills; comfort translating deeply technical AI concepts for Finance leaders and translating Finance/controls requirements back to engineers.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; advanced degree a plus.
Pay Range DetailsThe pay range(s) below has been provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different for other locations.
Pay offers are dependent on the location, as well as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
$87,500.00 - $145,500.00 Annual
We've got you covered...Our employees are our most important asset and that's reflected in our benefits. Nordstrom is proud to offer a variety of benefits to support employees and their families, including:
- Medical/Vision, Dental, Retirement and Paid Time Away
- Life Insurance and Disability
- Merchandise Discount and EAP Resources
This position may be eligible for performance-based incentives/bonuses. Benefits include 401k, medical/vision/dental/life/disability insurance options, PTO accruals, Holidays, and more. Eligibility requirements may apply based on location, job level, classification, and length of employment. Learn more in the Nordstrom Benefits Overview by copying and pasting the following URL into your browser: _Overview_16.pdf
A few more important points...The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive. There may be additional duties, responsibilities and qualifications for this job.
For Los Angeles or San Francisco applicants: Nordstrom is required to inform you that we conduct background checks after conditional offer and consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with legal requirements per Los Angeles, Cal. Muni. Code 189.04 and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For additional state and location specific notices, please refer to the Legal Notices document within the FAQ section of the Nordstrom Careers site.
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