Principal AI Developer, VP

State Street; Burlington (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

State Street's CRD Engineering seeks an AI Developer – VP to design and scale production-grade AI systems embedded in investment workflows. You will own AI-powered services, from copilots to agent-based patterns, across front-office and back-office processes.

Leading-edge AI architectures, cloud-native solutions, and secure, scalable production practices are central to this role; collaboration with product, architecture, and data teams is expected to deliver measurable client value.

Qualifications

• 5-8+ years of software engineering experience, focusing on scalable systems.
• Experience delivering AI/ML-powered applications into production.
• Strong understanding of modern AI architectures (LLMs, RAG, APIs, orchestration layers).
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP).
• Experience with AI agent frameworks, MCP servers, or advanced orchestration patterns.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum with modern SDLC practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered services, including copilots and agent-based workflows.
• Build and integrate LLM-based solutions using orchestration frameworks and tool-calling patterns.
• Implement RAG pipelines using enterprise data sources and vector databases.
• Develop and integrate multi-agent systems using MCP servers, APIs, and A2A tooling.
• Embed AI capabilities into core CRD and Alpha workflows across front, middle, and back-office processes.
• Create reusable AI enablement platforms, SDKs, and shared services for product teams.
• Integrate AI services with cloud platforms and enterprise systems.
• Expose AI capabilities through API Management layers and event-driven architectures.
• Ensure performance, scalability, and reliability of AI systems in production.
• Implement monitoring, evaluation, and observability for AI models and pipelines.
• Apply responsible AI practices (security, explainability, governance).
• Collaborate with product, architecture, data science, and UX teams to deliver end-to-end solutions.
• Participate in agile development, including sprint planning and code reviews.

Skills

LLMs

AI orchestration

Distributed systems

RAG pipelines

Multi-agent systems

API integration

Cloud platforms (Azure)

Education

B.S./M.S. in CS/Engineering

Tools

Kafka

Snowflake

Azure

Job description

AI Developer - VP

Who we are looking for

The AI Engineer will play a key role in advancing AI-enabled capabilities across the Charles River Investment Management Solution and Alpha Platform. This individual will design, build, and scale production-grade AI systems, including copilots, agentic workflows, and automation services embedded directly into investment management processes.

To be successful, the candidate must be a hands-on engineer with strong experience in LLMs, AI orchestration, and distributed systems, capable of translating emerging AI patterns (e.g., RAG, agent frameworks, MCP integration) into secure, scalable enterprise solutions. This role requires close collaboration with product owners, architects, and domain teams to operationalize AI across client-facing and internal workflows.

Why this role is important to us

• Enables Scalable AI Adoption: Builds reusable platforms and services that allow product teams to rapidly integrate AI without fragmentation
• Drives Business Impact: Embeds AI into front-to-back workflows, improving productivity, automation, and decision-making for clients
• Bridges Innovation and Production: Converts emerging AI technologies into secure, governed, production-ready capabilities
• Accelerates Time-to-Market: Enables faster delivery of high-value AI use cases through standard architecture and tooling

What you will be responsible for

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered services, including copilots, agent-based workflows, and automation tools
• Build and integrate LLM-based solutions using orchestration frameworks and tool-calling patterns
• Implement RAG pipelines using enterprise data sources and vector databases
• Develop and integrate multi-agent systems using MCP servers, APIs, and A2A based tooling
• Embed AI capabilities into core CRD and Alpha workflows across front, middle, and back-office processes
• Build reusable AI enablement platforms, SDKs, and shared services for product teams
• Integrate AI services with cloud platforms and enterprise systems
• Expose AI capabilities through API Management layers and event-driven architectures
• Ensure performance, scalability, and reliability of AI systems in production environments
• Implement monitoring, evaluation, and observability for AI models and pipelines
• Apply responsible AI practices (security, explainability, compliance, governance)
• Collaborate with product, architecture, data science, and UX teams to deliver end-to-end solutions
• Participate in agile development processes including sprint planning, code reviews, and retrospectives

What we value

• Strong expertise in LLMs, prompt engineering, and AI system design
• Experience building AI copilots, conversational interfaces, or agent-based systems
• Hands-on experience with RAG architectures, embeddings, and vector databases
• Familiarity with MCP frameworks, tool-calling patterns, and agent orchestration
• Experience with cloud-native AI services (Azure preferred) and distributed architectures
• Proficiency in Python and at least one additional language (Java, C#, or TypeScript)
• Experience with API-driven architectures, microservices, and event streaming (Kafka, Event Hub)
• Knowledge of distributed caching (Redis, Hazelcast) and performance optimization patterns
• Strong software engineering fundamentals: testing, CI/CD, code quality, and design patterns
• Familiarity with AI governance, model risk management, and security best practices
• Ability to work across strategic and hands-on engineering tasks
• Strong collaboration and communication skills in cross-functional environments

Education & Preferred Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field
• 5-8+ years of software engineering experience, with a focus on building scalable systems
• Experience delivering AI/ML-powered applications into production
• Strong understanding of modern AI architectures (LLMs, RAG, APIs, orchestration layers)
• Experience working with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
• Preferred:
• Experience in investment management, trading systems, or financial data platforms
• Experience with AI agent frameworks, MCP servers, or advanced orchestration patterns
• Experience working within Agile/Scrum teams following modern SDLC practices, including secure coding standards, CI/CD

About CRD

Charles River Development (CRD) is the FinTech division of State Street. Together with State Street’s middle- and back-office services, Charles River’s cloud-based front-office technology forms the foundation of the State Street Alpha® Platform - the first front-to-back solution in the industry.

Our vision is to be the world’s leading investment platform, driving innovation, resiliency, and growth for investment firms globally. CRD Engineering is transforming the platform into a modern, cloud-native ecosystem leveraging Microsoft Azure, Kafka, Snowflake, and advanced AI technologies.

As part of this transformation, AI Enablement is a strategic priority - bringing together data, engineering, and intelligent automation to redefine investment workflows and deliver measurable client value.

About State Street

What we do. State Street is one of the largest custodian banks, asset managers and asset intelligence companies in the world. From technology to product innovation we’re making our mark on the financial services industry. For more than two centuries, we’ve been helping our clients safeguard and steward the investments of millions of people. We provide investment servicing, data & analytics, investment research & trading and investment management to institutional clients.

Work, Live and Grow

We make all efforts to create a great work environment. Our benefits packages are competitive and comprehensive. Details vary in locations, but you may expect generous medical care, insurance and savings plans among other perks. You’ll have access to flexible Work Program to help you match your needs. And our wealth of development programs and educational support will help you reach your full potential.

Inclusion, Diversity and Social Responsibility.

We truly believe our employees’ diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspective are a powerful contributor to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive and reach their maximum potential while adding value to both our organization and our clients. We warmly welcome the candidates of diverse origin, background, ability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and personality. Another fundamental value at State Street is active engagement with our communities around the world, both as a partner and a leader. You will have tools to help balance your professional and personal life, paid volunteer days, matching gift program and access to employee networks that help you stay connected to what matters to you.

State Street is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

Discover more at StateStreet.com/careers

Salary