Sr. Principal Software Architect (AI)

OpenText; Richmond Hill; On-site; CAD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Thoughtfully designed benefits package

Variable compensation opportunities

Vacation entitlement and paid time off

Job summary

OpenText in York Region seeks a Sr. Principal Software Architect (AI) to lead AI solutions design and evolution. This role requires a hands-on technical leader with over 12 years in software engineering, shaping enterprise AI projects, ensuring adherence to best practices, and guiding development teams. Ideal candidates are proficient in Python, JavaScript, and AI frameworks like LangGraph. The position offers a comprehensive benefits package supporting wellbeing and fosters a diverse inclusive environment.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience in architect roles.
• Hands-on experience building enterprise AI solutions.
• Deep understanding of the AI lifecycle from experimentation to production.

Responsibilities

• Shape AI solutions' design, evaluations, and evolution.
• Work closely with teams to improve AI lifecycle practices.
• Guide teams through architectural AI challenges.

Skills

Designing modern RAG pipelines

Building agent orchestration solutions

Creating prototypes and POCs

Advising on prompt engineering

Identifying architectural gaps

Translating AI patterns to production designs

Staying current with AI frameworks

Explaining AI architecture decisions

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science

Tools

Python

JavaScript / TypeScript

Java

LangGraph

Google Vertex AI

Job description

Job Title: Sr. Principal Software Architect (AI)

Job Location: Waterloo/ Ottawa/ Richmond Hill, ON, Canada

The AI Engineering and Enablement organization defines and evolves OpenText’s AI architecture and technical foundations, enabling teams to build secure, scalable, and production-grade AI solutions across the enterprise. We operate at the intersection of platform engineering, applied AI, and product innovation, translating emerging AI capabilities into real-world enterprise solutions.

The Opportunity

As Sr. Principal Software Architect (AI), you will be a hands‑on technical leader and architectural partner responsible for shaping how AI solutions are designed, built, evaluated, and evolved at OpenText. You will work closely with architects and development teams to design, review, and improve modern RAG and agentic solutions, both new and existing. This role is intentionally very hands‑on; you are expected to prototype, build proof‑of‑concepts, create starter projects, and validate architectural approaches in code. You will help teams adopt best practices across the full AI lifecycle, including prompt design, evaluation, observability, and continuous improvement. This role requires deep technical credibility, strong enterprise experience, and the ability to guide teams through practical, real‑world AI architecture challenges.

You Are Great At

• Designing and reviewing modern RAG pipelines and agentic systems for enterprise use cases.
• Building and evolving agent orchestration and agent‑to‑agent solutions, including task delegation and tool calling.
• Creating hands‑on prototypes, POCs, and starter templates to guide development teams.
• Advising teams on prompt engineering best practices, evaluation strategies, and observability patterns.
• Identifying architectural gaps and helping teams refactor or improve existing AI solutions.
• Working closely with architects and developers to translate AI patterns into production‑ready designs.
• Staying current with AI frameworks, tools, and research, and applying them pragmatically.
• Explaining complex AI architecture decisions clearly and effectively.
• Technology Stack & Focus Areas
• Strong experience in the following areas is highly preferred:
• Primary Languages: Python (primary), JavaScript / TypeScript, Java
• AI & Agentic Frameworks: LangGraph (highly preferred), Google ADK (highly preferred)
• LLM‑based agent frameworks and orchestration patterns
• AI Techniques & Practices: Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG), Prompt engineering and prompt management, Evaluation frameworks and quality measurement, Observability, tracing, and debugging of AI systems
• Cloud & Platforms: Google Vertex AI (strong preference), Experience with AWS or Azure AI services, Containerized and cloud‑native AI deployments
• Application & Platform Architecture: FastAPI and modern backend frameworks, Microservices and API‑driven architectures, Event‑driven and scalable runtime systems

What It Takes

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, with significant time in principal or architect‑level roles.
• Proven, hands‑on experience building and evolving enterprise AI solutions.
• Deep understanding of the end‑to‑end AI lifecycle, from experimentation to production and optimization.
• Strong ability to evaluate, adjust, and improve AI systems based on quality, performance, and reliability.
• Experience guiding multiple teams through architectural decisions without direct authority.
• A practical, builder mindset with the ability to move from theory to working code quickly.
• Curiosity, strong learning instincts, and a passion for continuous improvement.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

Compensation

At OpenText, we offer a thoughtfully designed benefits package that supports your physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing. As you move through the hiring process, we’re happy to provide more details about our compensation programs, including variable and commission compensation opportunities for eligible roles, vacation entitlement, and paid time off.

AI Usage Disclosure

As part of our commitment to transparency, we use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in various stages of our recruitment process, including resume screening, candidate matching, interview scheduling, and communications. These tools are designed to improve efficiency, reduce bias, and enhance candidate experience. All decisions regarding hiring are made by qualified human professionals, and we continuously monitor our AI systems to ensure fairness and compliance with applicable regulations.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

OpenText’s commitment to diversity and inclusion surpasses legal requirements, evident in our Equal Employment Opportunity Statement of Policy which promotes a respectful and empowering environment for employees of all backgrounds, culture, national origin, race, color, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, family status, age, veteran status, disability, religion, or other basis protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please submit a ticket at Ask HR.