AI Architect

icwgroup; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

ICW Group in San Diego is seeking an AI Architect II to lead architectural direction for cloud and AI initiatives, combining thought leadership with hands-on delivery. This senior role emphasizes establishing standards, guiding MLOps, and shaping the company’s AI transformation.

The role requires 5–7 years with cloud tech and 2–3 years in hands-on AI/ML, including practical use of LLMs, agentic frameworks, and enterprise-scale designs. Strong collaboration with stakeholders is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field.
• Minimum 5-7 years with cloud technologies and IT systems, with demonstrated expertise in enterprise-scale solution design and delivery.
• Minimum 2-3 years hands-on with AI/ML technologies including practical application of LLMs, agentic frameworks, or AI/ML services in a cloud environment.

Responsibilities

• Establish architectural standards, patterns, and reference architectures for AI solutions - covering RAG pipelines, agentic workflows, model serving, and AI gateway design.
• Lead the evaluation, selection, and integration of AI/ML services and frameworks including LLMs, AI agents, and multi-agent systems using protocols such as MCP and A2A.
• Establish and enforce responsible AI practices including model risk management, content filtering, and data privacy guardrails across AI initiatives.
• Define and oversee MLOps practices to ensure reliable model deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management across the enterprise.
• Design enterprise AI patterns including AI gateway architecture, knowledge bases, and integration of AI capabilities into existing business systems and workflows.
• Design and implement scalable cloud architectures on AWS, leveraging serverless technologies and design patterns.
• Define and enforce cloud architecture standards, patterns, and guardrails across development teams to ensure consistency, security, and cost optimization.
• Collaborate with business and technology stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical architecture solutions aligned with enterprise strategy.
• Lead systems design efforts including microservices architecture, API design, event-driven systems, and integration patterns across cloud-native and hybrid environments.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and provide recommendations on adoption strategies, including generative AI, agentic workflows, and intelligent automation.
• Develop and maintain architecture documentation, reference architectures, and technology roadmaps guiding the organization’s cloud and AI transformation.
• Provide technical mentorship and guidance to engineering teams on cloud best practices, AI implementation patterns, and modern software design principles.
• Conduct architecture reviews, risk assessments, and proof-of-concept initiatives to validate technology decisions and drive innovation.
• Lead application rationalization initiatives to assess, consolidate, and modernize the application portfolio, reducing technical debt and aligning technology investments with business priorities.

Skills

LLMs

Agentic frameworks

MCP

Agent-to-Agent

Prompt engineering

AWS AI/ML services

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field

Tools

AWS Bedrock

SageMaker

Kendra

Amazon Q

Job description

Are you looking to make an impactful difference in your work, yourself, and your community? Why settle for just a job when you can land a career? At ICW Group, we are hiring team members who are ready to use their skills, curiosity, and drive to be part of our journey as we strive to transform the insurance carrier space. We're proud to be in business for over 50 years, and its change agents like yourself that will help us continue to deliver our mission to create the best insurance experience possible.

Headquartered in San Diego with regional offices located throughout the United States, ICW Group has been named for the twelfth consecutive year in a row and for the 20th time overall as a Top 50 performing P&C organization offering the stability of a large, profitable and growing company combined with a focus on all things people. It's our team members who make us an employer of choice and the vibrant company we are today. We strive to make both our internal and external communities better everyday! Learn more about why you want to be here!

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The AI Architect II is a senior technical leadership role working to modernizing the company's technology platform. This position will provide both thought and technical leadership, influencing cloud and AI strategy while working hands-on to deliver solutions that matter. This role will make architectural decisions that have real business impact and utilize expertise to help shape the direction of a rapidly evolving organization.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish architectural standards, patterns, and reference architectures for AI solutions - covering RAG pipelines, agentic workflows, model serving, and AI gateway design.
• Lead the evaluation, selection, and integration of AI/ML services and frameworks including LLMs, AI agents, and multi-agent systems using protocols such as MCP and A2A.
• Establish and enforce responsible AI practices including model risk management, content filtering, and data privacy guardrails across AI initiatives.
• Define and oversee MLOps practices to ensure reliable model deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management across the enterprise.
• Design enterprise AI patterns including AI gateway architecture, knowledge bases, and integration of AI capabilities into existing business systems and workflows.
• Design and implement scalable cloud architectures on AWS, leveraging serverless technologies and design patterns.
• Define and enforce cloud architecture standards, patterns, and guardrails across development teams to ensure consistency, security, and cost optimization.
• Collaborate with business and technology stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical architecture solutions aligned with enterprise strategy.
• Lead systems design efforts including microservices architecture, API design, event-driven systems, and integration patterns across cloud-native and hybrid environments.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and provide recommendations on adoption strategies, including generative AI, agentic workflows, and intelligent automation.
• Develop and maintain architecture documentation, reference architectures, and technology roadmaps guiding the organization’s cloud and AI transformation.
• Provide technical mentorship and guidance to engineering teams on cloud best practices, AI implementation patterns, and modern software design principles.
• Conduct architecture reviews, risk assessments, and proof-of-concept initiatives to validate technology decisions and drive innovation.
• Lead application rationalization initiatives to assess, consolidate, and modernize the application portfolio, reducing technical debt and aligning technology investments with business priorities.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position has no supervisory responsibility.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree required in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field.
• Minimum 5-7 years with cloud technologies and IT systems, with demonstrated expertise in enterprise-scale solution design and delivery.
• Minimum 2-3 years hands-on with AI/ML technologies including practical application of LLMs, agentic frameworks, or AI/ML services in a cloud environment.

PREFERRED CERTIFICATIONS

• TOGAF, Zachman Framework, FEAF
• Solutions Architect Associate, Solutions Architect Professional, Machine Learning - Specialty, Data Engineer
• SnowPro Core, SnowPro Advanced Architect
• AI/ML, Data Engineering, DevOps, Security

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Strong understanding of AI concepts including LLMs, AI agents, agentic frameworks, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent-to-Agent (A2A) communication, and prompt engineering.
• Hands-on experience with AWS AI/ML services: Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker, Kendra, and Amazon Q Business for building and deploying intelligent applications.
• Familiarity with LLM fine-tuning, embedding models, vector stores, and chunking strategies for RAG pipelines.
• Experience with AI orchestration frameworks such as L