Principal Engineer, AI

Principal Software Engineer, AI

📍Hybrid in NYC, Toronto, ON or Dallas, TX

We’re partnering with a rapidly growing AI organization backed by one of the largest software companies in the world. Following the acquisition of a high-growth AI startup, they are building next-generation AI products that are already being used by professionals in real-world, high-stakes workflows every day.

They are hiring a Principal Software Engineer, AI to help architect and scale the backend systems, orchestration frameworks, and AI infrastructure powering a suite of agentic AI products.

This is a hands-on principal-level IC role designed for engineers who want broad technical ownership, influence across multiple product lines, and the opportunity to shape how AI-native software is built at scale.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the architecture and development of AI-powered backend platforms and services
• Design orchestration systems for agents, workflows, tool calling, retrieval, and knowledge management
• Build scalable infrastructure supporting high-volume AI interactions and document processing
• Drive technical strategy across multiple teams and products
• Partner closely with AI researchers, ML engineers, product leaders, and designers
• Mentor senior engineers and establish engineering best practices
• Own large, cross-functional initiatives from architecture through production rollout
• Improve system reliability, observability, performance, and operational excellence

What They’re Looking For

• 8–10+ years of software engineering experience building large-scale backend systems
• Deep expertise in Python and modern backend frameworks (FastAPI or similar)
• Strong experience with distributed systems, APIs, databases, and cloud infrastructure
• Experience architecting and owning complex technical systems end-to-end
• Hands-on exposure to LLMs, AI applications, agent frameworks, or retrieval systems
• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence technical direction across teams

Nice to Have

• Production experience integrating OpenAI, Anthropic, or other foundation models
• Experience with RAG systems, vector databases, semantic search, or retrieval infrastructure
• Familiarity with AI orchestration, MCP servers, tool calling, and multi-agent workflows
• Background in regulated or high-accuracy environments where trust, auditability, and reliability matter