Principal AI Architect for Real-Time Workflows

Outsiders Fund; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance-based annual bonus

Meaningful equity awards

Medical, dental & vision

401k plan

Unlimited PTO

Seattle office with gym, sauna, bike停车

Free lunch three days a week

AI infrastructure

Job summary

Gradial is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to drive the architecture and technical vision behind AI-native systems that transform how creative teams build and update websites. You will lead the technical backbone, shape the product direction, and mentor engineers in a fast-growing, high-agency environment.

You’ll work with product and design leaders to redefine interfaces, ensure performance and reliability, and push the boundaries of how language and software intersect with creativity.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with leadership of complex initiatives.
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, algorithms, and scalable software design.
• Proven track record architecting and shipping systems in fast-moving, high-ambiguity environments.
• Hands-on experience with LLM integration, generative AI frameworks, or AI-native applications.
• Strong communication and cross-functional leadership with ability to influence both technical and non-technical audiences.
• High-agency, ownership-driven mindset with passion for solving real-world problems at scale.
• Background in CS/math/physics/systems engineering.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the technical architecture for AI-native systems.
• Lead design, implementation, and scaling of LLM agents for real-time inference, prompting, memory management, and tool orchestration.
• Set engineering standards and influence system design for performance, reliability, and extensibility.
• Design learning systems that evolve from customer feedback and data.
• Mentor senior engineers, fostering technical excellence and ownership.
• Collaborate with product/design to ensure interfaces adapt to user intent.
• Champion testing, observability, deployment, and operations for scale.
• Own ambiguous problem spaces end-to-end, driving tech and product innovation.

Skills

Distributed systems

Algorithms

Scalable software design

Leadership

LLM integration

Generative AI frameworks

Communication

Cross-functional leadership

Ownership mindset

Problem solving

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or Systems Engineering

Tools

LLM tooling

AI frameworks

Job description

Gradial is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to drive the architecture and technical vision behind AI-native systems that transform how creative teams build and update websites. You will lead the technical backbone, shape the product direction, and mentor engineers in a fast-growing, high-agency environment.

You’ll work with product and design leaders to redefine interfaces, ensure performance and reliability, and push the boundaries of how language and software intersect with creativity.