Sr. Principal Software Architect (AI)

OpenText; Southwestern Ontario; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Thoughtfully designed benefits package

Diversity and inclusion commitment

Opportunities for personal growth

Job summary

A leading information management company is seeking a Sr. Principal Software Architect (AI) to define AI architecture and evolve solutions. Candidates need at least 12 years' experience in software engineering specifically in architect roles. The role emphasizes hands-on leadership, requiring proficiency in Python, Java, and modern AI frameworks. Candidates will work on enterprise AI solutions and drive innovation through collaboration, ensuring best practices are implemented across AI lifecycles. This position is located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, with significant time in principal or architect-level roles.
• Proven experience building and evolving enterprise AI solutions.
• Strong ability to evaluate and improve AI systems based on quality.

Responsibilities

• Shape AI solutions design, build, evaluation, and evolution.
• Work closely with teams to adopt best practices across AI lifecycle.
• Create hands-on prototypes and proof-of-concepts.

Skills

Python

JavaScript / TypeScript

Java

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

Prompt engineering

Cloud-native AI deployments

Microservices

Observability

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science or related field

Tools

LangGraph

Google Vertex AI

AWS

Azure AI services

Job description

Overview

OpenText is a global leader in information management, where innovation, creativity, and collaboration are the key components of our corporate culture. As a member of our team, you will have the opportunity to partner with highly regarded companies, tackle complex issues, and contribute to projects that shape the future of digital transformation.

AI-First. Future-Driven. Human-Centered. At OpenText, AI is at the heart of everything we do—powering innovation, transforming work, and empowering digital knowledge workers. We are hiring talent AI can\'t replace to help us shape the future of information management. Join us.

Job Title & Location

Job Title: Sr. Principal Software Architect (AI)

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

The Opportunity

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. This organization partners closely with engineering, product, and architecture teams to establish modern AI patterns, reference architectures, and best practices that accelerate adoption while maintaining reliability, security, and governance.

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

One Last Thing

OpenText is more than just a corporation—it's a global community where trust is foundational, the bar is raised, and outcomes are owned. Join us on our mission to drive positive change through privacy, technology, and collaboration. We don\'t just have a culture; we have character. OpenText is committed to diversity and inclusion and maintains an Equal Employment Opportunity Statement of Policy promoting a respectful and empowering environment for employees of all backgrounds, cultures, national origins, races, colors, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, family statuses, ages, veteran statuses, disabilities, religions, or other protected bases. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation during the application or recruiting process, please submit a ticket at Ask HR. Our proactive approach fosters collaboration, innovation, and personal growth, enriching OpenText\'s workplace.

Compensation: OpenText offers a thoughtfully designed benefits package that supports your physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing. As you move through the hiring process, more details about compensation programs, including variable and commission opportunities for eligible roles, vacation entitlement, and paid time off, can be provided.

AI Usage Disclosure: As part of our commitment to transparency, we use 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 hiring decisions are made by qualified human professionals, and we continuously monitor our AI systems to ensure fairness and compliance with applicable regulations.