Principal AI-Native Engineer

appliedis; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

AIS is seeking a Principal AI-Native Engineer to lead hands-on software architecture, cloud engineering, and AI-native development across enterprise solutions. You will mentor teams, shape engineering standards, and drive adoption of modern Azure and GitHub ecosystems.

Responsibilities include setting architecture direction, ensuring secure, observable, and maintainable systems while accelerating delivery with AI-powered workflows.

Qualifications

• Leads as a multi-domain subject-matter expert (e.g., Security, Data) with industry depth, defines enterprise patterns, and guides adoption across solutions.
• Plans and directs the most complex, cross-functional, mission-critical initiatives, and evaluates industry standards to drive innovation and intellectual property.
• Acts independently with organization-wide influence, sets visionary bars for quality, reliability, and delivery practices.
• Models company values, mentors across the organization, builds formal networks with decision makers, and serves as an external spokesperson.
• Advises executives on strategy, steers long-range planning and new lines of business, and delivers thought-leading presentations at the highest technical level.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, design, and implementation of complex software solutions.
• Translate business requirements into scalable technical specifications and solution designs.
• Drive engineering practices across development, testing, deployment, observability, and operations.
• Provide technical leadership for engineering teams and serve as a trusted advisor for solution strategy and delivery.
• Leverage AI-assisted development tools and AI-native engineering methodologies to accelerate software delivery.
• Define and implement effective guardrails, review mechanisms, and quality controls for AI-generated code.

Skills

Architectural leadership

AI-Native engineering

Cloud engineering

GitHub & CI/CD

Tools

Azure

GitHub

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Why AIS?

When you join AIS, you're joining a mission-driven team that's passionate about making a difference. You'll work on projects that matter, alongside industry-leading experts, in an environment that fosters innovation, driving client success, and empowering our team to make a lasting impact. As an employee-owned company, we value collaboration, inclusivity, continuous growth, and shared success.

Employee Ownership: Your contributions directly impact the company's success, and you share in its achievements.

Continuous Learning: Access to resources, training, and mentorship to support your professional growth.

Inclusive Culture: A workplace where diversity is celebrated, and everyone's voice is valued.

Mission-Driven Work: Engage in projects that make a meaningful difference for our clients and communities.

What are we looking for?

At AIS, we're looking for more than just skills -- we're looking for driven individuals who are passionate about making a difference, eager to grow, and aligned with our core principles.

Working@AIS

At AIS, we are dedicated to providing our employees with diverse opportunities to grow their careers while supporting a variety of impactful projects. For this position, we are seeking a talented individual to join AIS as a Senior Software Architect.

Core Knowledge & Skills: Operates as a multi-domain subject-matter expert (e.g., Security, Data) with industry depth, defines enterprise patterns, and guides adoption across solutions.

Work & Complexity: Plans and directs the most complex, cross-functional, mission-critical initiatives, and evaluates industry standards to drive innovation and intellectual property.

Quality & Independence: Acts independently with organization-wide influence, sets visionary bars for quality, reliability, and delivery practices.

Teamwork & Communication: Models company values, mentors across the organization, builds formal networks with decision makers, and serves as an external spokesperson.

Consulting & Engagement: Advises executives on strategy, steers long-range planning and new lines of business, and delivers thought-leading presentations at the highest technical level.

As your initial project assignment, you will support the unique needs of our client as a Principal AI-Native Engineer.

Project Summary

The Principal AI-Native Engineer serves as the organization's highest-level hands-on engineering leader for AI-enabled software delivery. This role combines deep expertise in software architecture, cloud engineering, AI-native development practices, platform engineering, and technical leadership. The individual will design and deliver scalable enterprise solutions, establish AI-first engineering standards, mentor engineering teams, and drive adoption of modern Azure and GitHub development ecosystems. The role requires a unique blend of visionary thinking and hands-on execution, with accountability for delivering secure, observable, testable, and maintainable solutions throughout the software lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

Lead the architecture, design, and implementation of complex software solutions.

Translate business requirements into scalable technical specifications and solution designs.

Drive engineering practices across development, testing, deployment, observability, and operations.

Provide technical leadership for engineering teams and serve as a trusted advisor for solution strategy and delivery.

AI-Native Software Engineering

Leverage AI-assisted development tools and AI-native engineering methodologies to accelerate software delivery.

Define and implement effective guardrails, review mechanisms, and quality controls for AI-generated code.

Establish engineering workflows that maximize developer productivity through intelligent automation.

Evaluate emerging AI engineering capabilities and continuously evolve development practices.

Software Design Excellence

Design maintainable, extensible, and resilient systems with long-term sustainability in mind.

Apply test-driven and quality-driven engineering methodologies.

Ensure solutions are secure, observable, scalable, and operationally efficient.

Make architecture and design decisions based on product lifecycle thinking and operational outcomes.

Engineering Quality & Verification

Lead code review practices and engineering quality initiatives.

Define and implement comprehensive testing strategies, including automated testing and acceptance testing methodologies.

Establish standards for deployment validation, monitoring, and production readiness.

Promote engineering accountability throughout the software lifecycle.

Platform & Technology Enablement

Drive adoption of modern development and cloud platforms.

Guide teams in leveraging GitHub, CI/CD pipelines, automation frameworks, and cloud engineering capabilities.

Collaborate with platform teams to optimize developer experience, security, governance, and operational efficiency.

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