Principal AI Engineer

Able; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Payments in USD

18 days PTO per year

Wellness + Remote Stipend

AI Voucher

Job summary

Able is seeking a Principal AI Engineer to lead the design and implementation of production AI systems. You will shape Able's AI engineering model, set technical standards, and drive strategy while mentoring teams and partnering with executives.

This role is 100% remote within LatAm and requires extensive AI/ML leadership and hands-on capability. You will oversee AI initiatives, liaise with partners, and explore cutting-edge frameworks to deliver real business value.

Qualifications

• 12+ years building AI/ML systems with production experience shipping and operating them.
• Fluency with the modern LLM stack: frontier models, RAG, vector databases, agentic frameworks and evals/guardrails in production.
• Experience leading large and complex AI/ML projects.
• Proven experience integrating ML and generative models with web/mobile apps.
• Excellent English verbal and written communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of production AI systems for partners.
• Set technical bar for AI across Able and partner orgs.
• Drive AI strategy and evaluate cutting-edge AI technologies and tools.
• Consult with partners to identify AI opportunities that improve performance.
• Provide coaching and mentorship to teams and partner teams.

Skills

AI/ML systems

LLM stack

Agentic tools

Technical leadership

Stakeholder communication

English fluency

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in CS/Engineering

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

Vector databases

Generative AI frameworks

Job description

Back in 2012, we were a group of engineers and designers who decided we wanted to build things - so we did. Able started as an engineering and product hub building for a portfolio of early-stage startups. We built many relationships while developing products that were thoughtful, effective, and genuinely useful. But, since then, we’ve grown… and so has our ambition.

Now, we're entering our next chapter - defined by applied AI. AI is a powerful force in the end-to-end software development cycle, and we're creating practices that allow us to deliver software fast and more effectively than traditional approaches, creating meaningful value for our partners. Today, our builder mindset is driving us to become an AI-native organization across every function. We're still evolving, and that's part of the opportunity. If you want to build, learn, and tackle challenges alongside an ambitious team, let's build together.

This position is 100% remote within LatAm.

About The Role

As our Principal AI Engineer, you will lead the design and implementation of production AI systems that solve real business problems for our partners and shape how Able builds. You were a Technical Founder, Co-founder, or founding engineer at an AI company. You have the scar tissue of taking something to market and learning why product-market fit is hard. You will set the technical bar for AI at Able, working at the spec and acceptance layer of an AI-native engineering model, and play a key role in establishing Able as a leader in the AI space.

What We're Looking For

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: you will lead technical conversations, be hands-on in building applications or proofs of concepts, and establish AI/ML guidelines and standards for our partners, prospects, and across the organization.
• Entrepreneurship: you will spot market opportunities to match technology with business outcomes, bringing a builder's instinct for what will and won't land commercially.
• AI Thought Leadership and Innovation: you will drive Able's AI strategy forward by constantly exploring and implementing cutting-edge AI technologies, frameworks, and tools.
• Consulting/Business Development: you will work with partners and prospects to understand their business and conceive of opportunities to introduce technology (AI specifically) to improve performance.
• AI Enablement: you will provide coaching and mentorship, continuously enhancing our team's and partner teams AI capabilities through knowledge sharing and training on the latest technology and best practices.

Required Skills & Experience

• 12+ years building AI/ML systems, with production experience shipping and operating them
• Fluency with the modern LLM stack: frontier models, RAG, vector databases, agentic frameworks, and the evals and guardrails that make them trustworthy in production
• You operate in the spec-and-harness model, leveraging agentic coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.,) at the spec and acceptance layer
• Demonstrated experience leading large and complex projects
• Proven experience integrating ML and generative models with existing web and mobile applications
• Innate ability to effectively interact and inspire our partners and executive stakeholders on new AI ideas
• Demonstrated skill in connecting business challenges to the potential benefits of AI, and effectively communicating those opportunities to non-technical audiences
• Excellent English verbal and written communication

Nice to Have

• Master's or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, with a strong focus on AI and Machine Learning
• Experience with MCP, graph-based retrieval, or multimodal pipelines

Able is powered by curious, thoughtful people who care about what they build and how they build it. We're actively investing in our team through AI training, knowledge-sharing, and hands-on experimentation to ensure everyone grows alongside the technology.

Skills

This position is 100% remote within LatAm. Strong verbal and written communication skills in English are a requirement.

As a team member, you can expect:

• To work 40 hours per week, and be available during normal business hours as needed.
• Payments made in USD.
• 18 days of PTO per year, observance of local holidays, and an annual break between Christmas and New Years.
• Wellness + Remote Stipend
• AI Voucher

About Able

Able builds technology products in a portfolio model. We believe that people, teams, and processes are more important than the ideas themselves, so we've focused on bringing great people together, and investing in their growth.

We've built products in a variety of industries. Everything from media to finance to toys to healthcare. Sometimes we work with management teams to help their businesses grow faster or unlock value using technology. Other times we start or buy businesses outright. Each time, we look for opportunities to leverage technology built at the portfolio-level to drive value faster.

Able is committed to inclusion and diversity and is an equal-opportunity employer. All applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

This is but the beginning of a conversation we'd love to have with you.