AI Principal Architect

Fusion5; Sydney; On-site; AUD 250,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

Fusion5 is seeking a rare technologist to architect enterprise AI systems, lead from the front, and earn trust with client CTOs in ANZ. You’ll own the technical direction of agentic AI engineering on the Microsoft platform, with Azure Foundry at the core and the full Azure stack as the execution surface for reliable production systems.

You’ll stay hands-on across the lifecycle—design, delivery, and implementation—while setting standards, guiding teams, and partnering with client executives to

Qualifications

• Proven track record as a senior technical decision authority on complex enterprise engagements.
• Hands-on expertise with Azure AI Foundry (Agent Service, orchestration, grounding, governance).
• Production experience with Azure stack components (Durable Functions, Logic Apps, App Service).
• Able to name failure modes and design for reliability and governance.

Responsibilities

• Make and defend critical architecture decisions across orchestration models and data flow.
• Lead design of agent orchestration, grounding, and evaluation strategies.
• Provide hands-on leadership across the Azure application stack in production environments.
• Engage directly with client CTO/CIO level to scope, discover, and co-design solutions.
• Build trust through transparent communication on feasibility, scope, and trade-offs.
• Develop reusable reference architectures and accelerators to scale the practice.

Skills

Technical leadership

Executive stakeholder management

Hands-on engineering

Communication with CTO/CIO

Architectural design

Reliability engineering

Tools

Azure AI Foundry

Functions

Logic Apps

App Service

Container Apps

API Management

Cosmos DB

Service Bus

Job description

• Own the hardest AI problems in ANZ. Enterprise agentic systems that actually ship - not endless pilots.
• Stay hands-on. Technical escalation point on real complexity, not a manager watching from the sidelines.
• Build lasting IP. Your architectures and accelerators will define how Fusion5 delivers AI for years.

We're looking for a rare kind of technologist - someone who can architect enterprise AI systems at depth, lead from the front, and earn the trust of a client CTO before the second cup of coffee.

At Fusion5, we're building the most capable Microsoft AI practice in the ANZ market. That means agentic systems in production, not in pilot. Real reliability, not demos. Business outcomes, not benchmarks.

The role

You’ll own the technical direction of Fusion5's agentic AI engineering on the Microsoft platform - Azure AI Foundry at the core, with the full Azure application stack (Function Apps, Logic Apps, Container Apps, API Management) as the engineering substrate that makes agents reliable in production.

This is not an advisory role. You’ll stay hands‑on across the full lifecycle: design, delivery, and implementation. You’ll be the escalation point when an engagement hits its hardest problem - and the standard‑setter the team builds around.

What you’ll do

• Technical Authority - Make and stand behind critical architecture decisions across orchestration models, memory/state design, and tool integration patterns. Provide clear, defensible rationale that aligns teams and stakeholders.
• Azure AI Foundry - Lead the design of agent orchestration, grounding strategies, and evaluation approaches. Define patterns for multi‑agent coordination and establish governance frameworks through the Foundry Control Plane.
• Azure Application Stack - Provide hands‑on technical leadership across Functions (including Durable Functions), Logic Apps, App Service, Container Apps, API Management, Service Bus, and Cosmos DB.
• Customer Engagement - Partner directly with client technical leaders at CTO/CIO level. Lead technical discovery, consultation, and co‑design. Build trust through honest communication on feasibility, scope, and trade‑offs.
• AgentOps & Reliability - Design AI systems with observability, evaluation frameworks, guardrails, and confidence scoring built in. Enterprise‑grade security and compliance from day one.
• Capability & IP - Develop reusable reference architectures, accelerators, and frameworks. Lift practice maturity through assets that scale beyond individual projects.

What you’ll Bring

• A sustained track record as the senior technical decision authority on complex enterprise engagements - ideally multi‑year programs where you owned the architecture and the outcome.
• Deep, current, hands‑on expertise in Azure AI Foundry (Agent Service, orchestration, grounding, governance).
• Production experience with the Azure application stack: Durable Functions, Logic Apps, App Service, Container Apps, API Management.
• The ability to name the failure modes you engineered around - not just the happy path.
• Proven leadership of engineering teams: setting standards, mentoring, and owning technical quality.
• Strong customer‑facing presence at CTO/CIO level.
• Solid grounding in reliability engineering, evaluation, observability, and enterprise governance.
• Relevant Microsoft/AI certifications (Azure Solutions Architect Expert preferred).
• Experience in a Microsoft partner or SI environment, ideally ANZ enterprise or public sector.

Why Fusion5

Fusion5 is a technology transformation partner operating across Australia and New Zealand. We're not technology implementers - we're partners who use technology to help customers go beyond problems, beyond yesterday, and beyond what they thought was possible.

This is a role where the complexity is real, the clients are enterprise, and the impact is measurable. You’ll shape the technical direction of a high-growth AI practice, work with a team that values engineering rigour, and build the kind of career‑defining IP that follows you for years.

We'd love to hear from technically exceptional people, even if the timing isn't perfect