Principal AI Software Engineer

Job DescriptionAre you a collaborative Principal AI Engineering Lead looking to work for a mission driven global organization?About the role - As a Principal AI Engineer— This position serves as a subject matter expert for a specific team of Software Engineers. In addition to writing code on complex systems and applications, this position provides direction on project plans, schedules, and methodologies.About the team, This team supports CK AI Service team. The new Lead Engineer will have six direct reports and will own the technical strategy and execution for the CK AI Service, including the design and governance of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) workflows and API expansion. This role will improve delivery velocity, reduce bottlenecks and single points of failure, drive standardization, mentoring, and cross-functional alignment as the platform matures, and establish a sustainable leadership model to support the planned division and growth of the team.RequirementsProven ability to mentor, and grow engineering teams, including managing performance, career development, and team healthEstablished track record of creating high-performing, collaborative team environments and reducing knowledge silosAbility to remove blockers, manage priorities, and improve delivery velocity across a teamExperience establishing scalable team structures and leadership models to support growthDeep expertise in designing and delivering distributed systems and APIs at scaleAbility to define and execute technical strategies, balancing short-term delivery with long-term platform sustainabilityExperience with microservices architecture, API design, and system integrationProven ability to identify and eliminate single points of failure and improve system resilienceHands-on experience designing and implementing retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) workflowsUnderstanding of:LLM integration and orchestrationEmbeddings and vector searchRetrieval pipelines and ranking strategiesExperience building AI-powered APIs and services for production environmentsAbility to govern and standardize AI patterns, including evaluation, observability, and performance optimizationResponsibilitiesMentoring of six direct reports.Driving and owning the technical strategy and execution for the CK AI Service, including the design and governance of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) workflows and API expansion.Improving the delivery velocity, reducing bottlenecks and single points of failure, driving standardization, mentoring, and cross-functional alignment as the platform matures.Establishing a sustainable leadership model to support the planned division and growth of the team.Collaborating with our Data Science team to help drive product roadmap and feature design forward.U.S. National Base Pay Range: $115,400 - $192,300. Geographic differentials may apply in some locations to better reflect local market rates.If performed in New Jersey, the base pay range is $130,284 - $208,116.This job is eligible for an annual incentive bonus.We are an equal opportunity employer: qualified applicants are considered for and treated during employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, disability status, protected veteran status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.J-18808-Ljbffr