Principal AI Engineer

Surescripts; Gunnison (CO); Hybrid; USD 188,000 - 229,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive healthcare

Paid time off

401(k) with company match

Flexible hybrid work

Job summary

Surescripts is seeking a Principal AI Engineer to lead enterprise AI initiatives with hands-on engineering and architectural leadership. You will ensure technical feasibility, business alignment, and responsible AI practices across platforms, delivering scalable AI for products and internal operations.

This role offers a Flexible Hybrid Work model and requires U.S. work authorization. Base pay ranges from $187,500 to $229,100 per year, with robust benefits and growth opportunities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, CS, or related field or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years in software, data, or AI/ML engineering.
• 4+ years in a lead/senior engineering role mentoring engineers.
• 3+ years hands-on ML/AI engineering.
• Experience architecting APIs, microservices, and data/analytics.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical how and the delivery timeline for AI initiatives, acting as both AI solution architect and principal engineer.
• Architect and build scalable, interoperable, responsible AI solutions, including generative AI, RAG, agentic AI, and predictive models, and guide their deployment into production.
• Serve as a trusted technical partner across groups and projects, providing solution architecture and weighing options on technical feasibility, effort, and performance targets.
• Translate business and customer needs into technical requirements, and frame technical options and trade-offs for decision-making.
• Lead the technical evaluation of new AI technologies and vendors, judging architectural fit and integration approach.
• Prototype and validate advanced AI approaches to prove out direction and de-risk initiatives.
• Run architecture and design reviews across teams, surfacing key trade-offs and keeping decisions transparent.
• Set and evolve AI engineering standards including MLOps, data architecture, and governance.
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar, fostering collaboration and continuous learning.
• Keep current with new AI technologies and translate trends into practical strategies.

Skills

AI/ML engineering

Leadership

Software architecture

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/CS/related

Tools

APIs

Microservices

Data pipelines

Job description

Surescripts serves the nation through simpler, trusted health intelligence sharing, in order to increase patient safety, lower costs and ensure quality care. We deliver insights at critical points of care for better decisions - from streamlining prior authorizations to delivering comprehensive medication histories to facilitating messages between providers.

Job Summary:

The Principal AI Engineer is the most senior individual contributor and technical lead for Surescripts' AI solutions. The role owns the how, the execution, and the by-when for AI initiatives across the enterprise, pairing deep hands‑on engineering with the architecture and business judgment to act as a trusted technical partner to product management, engineering, design, and business stakeholders. The Principal AI Engineer is accountable for technical feasibility, business alignment, and responsible AI practice across Surescripts' platforms. This person designs and delivers AI solutions for both customer-facing products and the internal operations that support Surescripts team members, helping product teams deliver AI that is scalable, reliable, and something they can stand behind.

Responsibilities:

• Own the technical how and the delivery timeline for AI initiatives, acting as both AI solution architect and principal engineer.
• Architect and build scalable, interoperable, responsible AI solutions, including generative AI, RAG, agentic AI, and predictive models, and guide their deployment into production.
• Serve as a trusted technical partner across groups and projects, providing solution architecture and weighing options on technical feasibility, effort, and performance targets.
• Translate business and customer needs into technical requirements, and frame technical options and trade-offs so leaders and stakeholders can make informed decisions that line up with business outcomes.
• Lead the technical evaluation of new AI technologies and vendors, judging architectural fit, capability, and integration approach.
• Prototype and validate advanced AI approaches to prove out architectural direction and de‑risk initiatives before teams commit to them.
• Run architecture and design reviews across teams, surfacing key trade‑offs and keeping decisions transparent and sound.
• Set and evolve AI engineering standards, including model integration, data architecture, LLMOps, AgentOps, and AI development best practices from frameworks such as NIST RMF, CHAI, OWASP, etc.
• Serve as a lead mentor regarding enterprise AI Trust & Safety best practices from: auto‑inherited controls and guardrails based on AI solution type and risk level, to automated evals and testing in CI/CD, to operational monitoring and drift detection, to issue and incident response, to data‑driven continuous improvement of AI solutions. Ensure the necessary technical components are designed‑in and operationally effective to meet anti‑bias, accuracy, transparency, explainability, safety, and regulatory compliance.
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar, building a team culture of collaboration and steady learning.
• Keep current with new AI technologies and frameworks and turn trends into practical strategies for the teams you support.

Surescripts embraces flexibility through its Flexible Hybrid Work model for most positions. This model allows employees to work virtually while still utilizing our offices as collaboration centers. With alignment and agreement from your leadership, you can come and go from the office as needed.

To be considered for employment, applicants must have a valid U.S. work authorization allowing work without restrictions with Surecripts in the U.S. At this time, we are unable to provide support or provide sponsorship for immigration benefits such as work visas. Additionally, we do not participate in academic training programs or work‑study programs through an academic institution that require employer endorsement of F-1/CPT or F-1/STEM.

Qualifications:

Basic Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• 8+ years of related, progressive software, data, or AI/ML engineering experience
• 4+ years in a lead and/or senior engineering role with a focus on leading and mentoring engineers to deliver software products
• 3+ years of hands‑on machine learning / AI engineering experience
• Proven experience architecting and delivering solutions across multiple technical domains, such as APIs and microservices, systems integration and event‑driven architectures, AI/ML engineering, data engineering and analytics, and core software engineering (cloud‑native applications, distributed systems)

Preferred Qualifications:

• 3+ years developing and implementing AI solutions in a healthcare setting
• Experience designing production AI/ML applications using big‑data technologies, cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), and data pipeline orchestration
• Experience working in the SVPG framework or a substantially similar outcomes‑driven product operating model

We're a midsize company. Here, you can build real relationships and feel supported by truly awesome people with diverse backgrounds and talents in an innovative and collaborative work culture. We strive to create an environment where you can be yourself, share your ideas and work your way. We offer opportunities for employee development, as well as competitive compensation packages and extensive benefits.

At Surescripts, base pay is one part of our Total Rewards Package (which may also include bonus, benefits etc.) and is determined within a range. The base pay range for this position is $187,500 - $229,100 per year. Your base pay may vary within or outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including (but not limited to) your qualifications, skills, experience, and location.

Benefits include, but are not limited to, comprehensive healthcare (including infertility coverage), generous paid time off including paid childbirth and parental leave and mental health days, pet insurance, and 401(k) with company match and immediate vesting. To learn more, review the Keep You and Yours Healthy, Balancing Work and Life, and Where Talent Takes Shape links under the Better Benefits. Better Work. Better Life section of our careers site.

Physical and Mental Requirements

While performing duties of this job, an employee may be required to perform any, or all of the following: attend meetings in and out of the office, travel, communicate effectively (both orally and in writing), and be able to effectively use computers and other electronic and standard office equipment with, or without, a reasonable accommodation. Additionally, this job requires certain mental demands, including the ability to use judgement, withstand moderate amounts of stress and maintain attention to detail with, or without, a reasonable accommodation.

Surescripts is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.