Principal Software Engineer - AI
About the role
New Balance is seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to join our Enterprise AI Solutions team. This team researches and delivers AI-based solutions across the company to improve internal workflows, decision-making, and operational efficiency.
Responsibilities
Architect Agentic Systems: Define the architectural blueprint for autonomous and semi-autonomous agents that execute multi-step business processes across disparate enterprise systems.
Strategic Collaboration: Partner with leadership in Finance, Supply Chain, and Product to identify high-value automation opportunities and translate them into scalable AI solutions.
AI Platform Development: Lead the selection and implementation of models, tools, frameworks, and SDKs across Open Source and Microsoft AI ecosystem (Microsoft Foundry and Copilot Studio) ensuring all solutions meet enterprise standards for security, privacy, and cost-efficiency.
System Design & Guardrails: Design robust "human-in-the-loop" systems and technical guardrails to ensure AI agents operate reliably and safely within a complex corporate environment.
Prototype to Production: Oversee the full lifecycle of AI deployments—from initial Proof of Concept (PoC) to production-grade integration with internal APIs and databases.
Technical Mentorship: Act as a subject matter expert on Large Language Model (LLM) orchestration, guiding other engineers on best practices for RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and agentic reasoning.
Requirements
10+ years of experience in software development, with at least 4 years focused on AI/Machine Learning and Large Language Models.
Proven Experience in Agentic Frameworks: Hands-on experience building with frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, or Semantic Kernel.
Mastery of the Microsoft AI Ecosystem: Experience with Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, Microsoft Copilot Studio and related areas
Advanced Python: Expert-level Python skills, with a focus on building scalable, highly concurrent, maintainable enterprise backends.
Comfortable with Front End development using React or similar
Strong background in designing RESTful APIs and integrating AI agents with legacy and modern enterprise systems (ERPs, CRMs, and SQL/NoSQL databases).
Ability to distinguish between "hype" and "utility," choosing the right AI approach (RAG vs. Fine-tuning vs. Prompt Engineering) for the specific business problem.
Effective Communicator: Ability to explain complex AI logic and agentic workflows to non-technical business stakeholders using clear, visual communication.
Qualifications
Education: Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a closely related field.
Preferred Qualifications: Vector Database Proficiency, Agentic Memory & State, DevOps for AI, Frontend Basics, Security Background.
Benefits
Regular Associate Benefits: Comprehensive traditional benefits package including medical insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, and 401K. More nontraditional perks like online learning and development courses, tuition reimbursement, student loan support, and mentorship programs encourage personal growth alongside professional development. Lifestyle reimbursement, vacation days, holidays, parental leave, and flexible work schedule contribute to a balanced work-life environment.
Pay
$120,000.00 - $150,000.00 - $180,000.00 Annual (actual base pay varying based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in role, internal equity, geographic location, and more.)
Schedule
Based in our Brighton, MA corporate office with occasional travel to Lawrence, MA.