AI-Native Architect

Carnegie-Mellon-University; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Carnegie Mellon University seeks an AI-Native Architect to drive architecture-scale solutions with AI. You will assess challenges, design modernization strategies, and prototype agentic workflows across domains. You will coach teams and advance our AI-Native Software Engineering strategy.

Responsibilities include reviewing systems, drafting reference architectures, and guiding junior engineers. Travel up to 25% to SEI offices and sponsor sites may be required.

Qualifications

• Comprehensive knowledge of software architecture and software engineering fundamentals.
• Broad knowledge of architecture principles, practices, and tools.
• Ability to quickly learn new problem domains and technologies.
• A track record of architecting or rearchitecting systems at scale.
• A track record of aligning development activities with planned architectures.
• Ability to keep up with and adapt to rapidly changing technical advances.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; convey complex ideas to diverse stakeholders.
• Proficiency developing task plans or roadmaps to solve complex problems.
• Strong collaboration skills for working with colleagues and sponsors.
• Willingness and ability to guide and mentor junior team members.

Responsibilities

• Assesses customer system challenges and recommends technical solutions.
• Reviews existing systems and designs modernization strategies.
• Architects and prototypes systems and agentic workflows.
• Coaches engineering teams to achieve architecture-scale changes.
• Identifies opportunities to apply AI to architecture challenges.
• Shares experiences and improvements with the technical community via publications.

Skills

Software architecture

Architecture principles

Learning new domains

System scale design

Development alignment

Adapt to change

Technical communication

Roadmap planning

Collaboration

Mentoring juniors

Education

Bachelor's in CS or software engineering

MS in CS or related field

PhD with experience

Job description

AI-Native Architect

AI-Native Architect As an AI-Native Architect, you will focus on helping organizations solve architecture-scale challenges with the assistance of AI. Common challenges include modernizing legacy systems, rearchitecting systems to enable insertion of new technologies, and creating new architectures and reference architectures across different domains. New challenges include creation and evolution of agentic workflows, both for business processes and software engineering activities. You will help advance our AI-Native Software Engineering strategy by solving challenges such as: assessing customer system challenges and recommending technical solutions reviewing existing systems against today's challenges and designing modernization strategies creating novel architectures and reference architectures to address customer challenges coaching engineering teams in achieving architecture-scale changes architecting and prototyping systems and agentic workflows identifying opportunities to apply AI to diverse architecture challenges sharing experiences, solutions, and practice improvements with the technical community through publications and presentations

• assessing customer system challenges and recommending technical solutions
• reviewing existing systems against today's challenges and designing modernization strategies
• creating novel architectures and reference architectures to address customer challenges
• coaching engineering teams in achieving architecture-scale changes
• architecting and prototyping systems and agentic workflows
• identifying opportunities to apply AI to diverse architecture challenges
• sharing experiences, solutions, and practice improvements with the technical community through publications and presentations

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Comprehensive knowledge of software architecture and software engineering fundamentals
• Broad knowledge of architecture principles, practices, and tools
• Ability to quickly learn new problem domains and technologies
• A track record of architecting or rearchitecting systems at scale
• A track record of aligning development activities with planned architectures
• Ability to keep up with and adapt to rapidly changing technical advances
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to convey complex technical ideas in a layperson’s terms to stakeholders with different backgrounds
• Proficiency developing task plans or roadmaps to solve complex problems
• Strong collaboration skills for working with colleagues and sponsors
• Willingness and ability to guide and mentor junior team members

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or related discipline with eight (8) years of experience;
• OR MS in the same fields with five (5) years of experience;
• OR PhD with two (2) years of experience.
• You will be subject to a background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.
• Willing to travel up to 25% of the time to locations outside of your home location.
• Travel sites include SEI offices in Washington, D.C., sponsor sites, and conferences.

Desired Experience

• Experience leading engineering teams to produce successful outcomes for industry or government projects
• Successful application of AI to improve software engineering activities
• Experience working with leadership to plan, develop, and deliver an overall technical strategy
• Experience drafting work proposals

Job Details

Location Pittsburgh, PA

Job Function Software/Applications Development/Engineering

Position Type Staff – Regular Full time/Part time Full time

Pay Basis Salary

Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran.

Statement of Assurance Always focused on the future, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) advances software as a strategic advantage for national security. We lead research and direct transition of software engineering, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence technologies at the intersection of academia, industry, and government. We serve the nation as a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and are based at Carnegie Mellon University, a global research university annually rated among the best for its programs in computer science and engineering. Our people apply special knowledge and skills and are part of an elite research university. We perform research and apply our expertise every day to foresee problems and exploit opportunities in software engineering, AI engineering, and cybersecurity. Quality software that is secure will control the future. At CMU SEI, we are engineering that ever-greater software-fueled future.

Need Help? For technical assistance, email [e-mail] or call 412-268-5072. We are committed to providing an accessible experience throughout our recruitment process. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the application, interview, or hiring process, please contact Equal Opportunity Services by email at [e-mail] or by phone at 412-268-3930.