AI Architect Principal - AI Foundation

About the role

The AI Architect is responsible for defining the overarching strategy and architecture for artificial intelligence across the enterprise. This role establishes the principles, standards, and technology roadmap that will guide the development of all AI initiatives, creating a cohesive and future-proof AI ecosystem that enables innovation while ensuring alignment with business strategy, data governance, and enterprise architecture. The AI Architect provides thought leadership and technical guidance to teams and senior leadership on the strategic application of AI.

The AI Foundation Engineering Team focuses on AI engineering modernization by architecting agentic AI frameworks and building an AI experience workbench to support high-scale, enterprise-ready intelligent solutions.

Responsibilities

• Define the strategy, vision, roadmap, and reference architectures for AI Foundation platforms, ensuring alignment with business and technology objectives.
• Architect reusable AI capabilities leveraging Generative AI, LLMs, RAG, Agentic AI, and cloud-native technologies to enable secure, scalable, and reliable enterprise AI solutions.
• Establish Responsible AI standards, governance frameworks, and best practices while mentoring engineering teams and evaluating emerging AI technologies to accelerate enterprise AI adoption.
• Develop and maintain the enterprise AI architecture, including reference architectures and design patterns.
• Define the strategy for the company's AI platforms, tools, and infrastructure.
• Lead the evaluation and selection of foundational AI technologies and partners.
• Provide expert consultation to business units and project teams on the art of the possible with AI.
• Mentor technical talent and act as a thought leader both internally and externally.
• Stay up to date with the progression of the overall AI landscape and provide inputs to ensure adoption of relevant architecture patterns.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related field preferred.
• 8+ years of experience with a proven track record of solving ambiguous business problems with novel system architectures.
• Experience designing reference architectures or reusable platforms that have been adopted by multiple teams.

Skills

• Strategic AI Leadership: Proven experience in a leadership capacity, defining enterprise-level AI strategy and enterprise architecture, including developing comprehensive architecture roadmaps and governance frameworks.
• Executive Communication & Influence: Exceptional strategic thinking and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to influence C-level executives and guide technical teams.
• Technical Architecture Expertise: Deep expertise in designing and architecting complex, scalable AI and machine learning systems, grounded in a strong understanding of data architecture, data engineering, and MLOps principles.
• Broad AI/ML Proficiency: In-depth knowledge of the AI/ML technology landscape, including major cloud platforms (GCP, Azure), industry trends, and proficiency in key domains such as LLMs, prompt engineering, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Model Context Protocol (MCP), AI Agents, data management, LLM integration, DevOps, computer vision, and predictive analytics.
• Data Governance & Security: A strong command of data strategy, governance, and security principles as they apply to the development and deployment of enterprise AI solutions.

Location

This is a hybrid position with preferred locations in Memphis, Pittsburgh, or Plano (corporate offices). Candidates based elsewhere within the United States (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories) will also be considered.

Pay

• USA: $12,476.52/mo - $29,111.88/mo
• Colorado: $12,476.52/mo - $27,898.88/mo
• California: $13,169.66/mo - $22,873.62/mo
• New Jersey: $13,169.66/mo - $21,071.45/mo
• Maine, Ohio, Vermont: $13,169.66/mo - $24,259.90/mo
• Minnesota: $13,169.66/mo - $26,685.89/mo
• Illinois, Nevada: $13,169.66/mo - $27,898.88/mo
• Maryland, New York, Virginia, Washington: $13,169.66/mo - $29,111.88/mo
• Massachusetts: $13,862.80/mo - $29,111.88/mo
• Rhode Island: $15,249.08/mo - $26,685.89/mo
• Connecticut: $15,249.08/mo - $27,898.88/mo
• District of Columbia, Hawaii: $15,942.22/mo - $27,898.88/mo
• New York City: $15,942.22/mo - $29,111.88/mo