Principal Engineer

Allstate; United States; Hybrid; USD 199,000 - 274,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Laptop and peripherals provided

Remote connectivity stipend

Job summary

Allstate is seeking a Principal Software Engineering Director who leads the discovery and delivery of AI-based solutions aligned with enterprise architectures. The role oversees senior teams, sets strategic direction, and ensures production systems meet KPIs.

The ideal candidate has 12+ years of experience, deep expertise in LLMs and agentic AI, and a proven track record in leading large, distributed teams while shaping organizational strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 12+ years experience preferred.
• Deep technical expertise in LLMs and agentic AI.
• Experience securing AI systems and multi-agent architectures.
• Strong leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery and delivery of innovative AI-based solutions.
• Direct groups responsible for architecture and production software.
• Establish relationships across technology, product, and vendors.
• Drive alignment to enterprise targets and KPI achievement.

Skills

Executive Communications

Generative AI

Large Language Models

People Leadership

Software Development

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

LLM security

Job description

At Allstate, great things happen when our people work together to protect families and their belongings from life’s uncertainties. And for more than 90 years, our innovative drive has kept us a step ahead of our customers’ evolving needs. From advocating for seat belts, air bags and graduated driving laws, to being an industry leader in pricing sophistication, telematics, and, more recently, device and identity protection. Job Description As AI explodes in use cases it drives a parabolic increase in the amount of safeguarding required to leverage the technologies with integrity. This role will have to partner closely with the delivery organizations leveraging agentic solutions to ensure the appropriate safeguarding and controls are in place. This organization builds product alongside delivery teams to ensure adoption of controls is organic with the way digital product teams deliver solutions on behalf of our customers. Focal areas in this space navigate around use cases for frontier models like identifying toxic combinations of vulnerabilities that could pose imminent threat, the ability to automatically remediate those vulnerabilities, how we leverage open weight models, the way we want to scrutinize token consumption, building of small language models, and even recommending which models to use in which situations. The role will continue to evolve as agentic solutions evolve, so this role must be focused on emerging trends and have the ability to shape the organization as the industry changes. As a Principal Engineer, this role will have leadership for all engineered solutions for how we think of AI based control implementation across the enterprise. As a Director, you won’t just deliver results – you drive our culture and shared purpose. You can work remotely and will commute to a nearby office and/or travel for meaningful connection opportunities.

Job Summary

The Principal Software Engineering Director has accountability for leading the discovery and delivery of innovative technical solutions that enable business outcomes in compliance with enterprise target state architectures. The incumbent has direct leadership over critical groups with significant Allstate technology responsibilities. Directs groups that are more heavily resourced with more senior staff and are responsible for more technically complex or strategically important parts of Allstate’s technology. The Software Engineering Director is expected to build relationships throughout the organization to ensure whole-company alignment support Allstate technologies. They apply a systematic application of scientific and technological knowledge, methods, and experience to lead in the design, implementation, testing, and documentation of software. They own and manage the running of Allstate technology applications in production and ultimately are accountable for the success of Allstate technologies that include digital products through achieving KPIs. The Director leads an outcome-based delivery organization, highly matrixed, and globally dispersed.

Key Responsibilities

Frequently advise others on complex engineering matters. Integrate business plans by building foundation to translate strategy into challenging and meaningful goals. Accountable for leading the evolution of scalable strategic visions. Achieving organization financial targets and ensuring viability of decisions are financially grounded. Achieves results through the management of teams that are responsible for strategic and critical pieces of architecture or provide functions that are of key strategic value to the business. Act as an authority in software best practices and be relied upon to propagate these in the broader organization, beyond their individual team. Accountable for leading the solutioning and technology implementations of outcomes driven by enterprise commitments and strategic roadmaps. Determines and establishes and leverages strong/trust-based relationships across technology, product stakeholders, vendors, and other partner organizations. Integrate by leading cross-shore product teams to deliver modern technology solutions that enable business opportunities and/or solve problems.

Education

• Education 4 year Bachelors Degree (Required)

Experience

• Experience 12 or more years of experience (Preferred)

Deep Technical Expertise

• Deep technical expertise securing LLMs, generative AI, machine learning systems, and agentic AI.
• Expertise designing and securing AI agents, multi-agent architectures, autonomous workflows, tool/function calling, and orchestration.
• Experience applying AI to vulnerability discovery, attack-path analysis, threat detection, prioritization, and remediation.
• Experience technically testing AI systems for vulnerabilities and unintended behaviors.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This job has supervisory duties.

Education & Experience (in lieu)

In lieu of the above education requirements, an equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

People Leadership & Talent Development

Track record of building, developing, and leading high‑performing large organizations; establishes clear decision rights, accountability, and operating cadence while developing future leaders and succession pipelines.

Operational Expertise

Brings strong operational expertise, with a proven ability to optimize processes, drive execution against strategic outcomes, and deliver consistent, high-quality results across complex environments.

Strategic Thinking & Innovation

Demonstrates strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess complex business challenges, identify innovative solutions, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Applies forward-looking insights and analytical rigor to optimize processes, enhance performance, and support long-term organizational objectives.

Business Acumen & Analytical Rigor

Advanced business acumen with strong analytical skills; uses data, insights, and technology fluency to inform decisions and foster a culture of disciplined execution.

Innovation & Process Orientation

Natural process innovator with strong learning agility and a continuous‑improvement mindset.

Influence

Proven capability to successfully influence decision-makers and collaborators at all levels - upward, downward, and laterally. Able to build alignment, negotiate effectively, and drive outcomes without relying solely on positional authority.

Change Leadership

Proven ability to lead large, multi‑location teams through significant changes, including business transformations, systems implementations, and organizational integrations.

Skills

Executive Communications, Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), People Leadership, Software Development

Compensation

Compensation offered for this role is 199,000.00 - 274,000.00 annually and is based on experience and qualifications. The candidate(s) offered this position will be required to submit to a background investigation.

Why Join Us

Joining our team isn’t just a job — it’s an opportunity. One that takes your skills and pushes them to the next level. One that encourages you to challenge the status quo. One where you can shape the future of protection while supporting causes that mean the most to you. Joining our team means being part of something bigger – a winning team making a meaningful impact.

Allstate generally does not sponsor individuals for employment-based visas for this position. Effective July 1, 2014, under Indiana House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1242, it is against public policy of the State of Indiana and a discriminatory practice for an employer to discriminate against a prospective employee on the basis of status as a veteran by refusing to employ an applicant on the basis that they are a veteran of the armed forces of the United States, a member of the Indiana National Guard or a reserve component. For jobs in SanFrancisco, please click “here” for information regarding the SanFrancisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For jobs in LosAngeles, please click “here” for information regarding the LosAngeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. To view the “EEO Know Your Rights” poster click “here”. This poster provides information concerning the laws and procedures for filing complaints of violations of the laws with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. To view the FMLA poster, click “here”. This poster summarizing the major provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and telling employees how to file a complaint. It is the Company’s policy to employ the best qualified individuals available for all jobs. Therefore, any discriminatory action taken on account of an employee’s ancestry, age, color, disability, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual and reproductive health decision, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, race (include traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles), religion (including religious dress), sex, or sexual orientation that adversely affects an employee's terms or conditions of employment is prohibited. This policy applies to all aspects of the employment relationship, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, salary administration, promotion, job assignment, benefits, discipline, and separation of employment.

Benefits

• Allstate provides a comprehensive technology setup, including a laptop, monitors, headset, keyboard, and mouse.
• Employees eligible to work from home also receive a monthly connectivity reimbursement to help offset internet costs.

Remote Work Requirements

Employees eligible to work from home also receive a monthly connectivity reimbursement to help offset internet costs. When working from home, you must have a dedicated, private workspace free from distractions, along with appropriate desk and seating. Reliable internet is required, with minimum speeds of 50MB download and 5MB upload. To help create a more personal and engaging experience, we ask that you join with your camera on if your interview is virtual. Please also have a Valid Photo Identification available at the start of your interview. Note: Internal candidates are only asked to join on video; a Valid Photo Identification is not needed for the interview.

About Us

At Allstate, we work hard to help people live a good life every day. Allstaters are dedicated to serving clients, customers, and communities, which allows employees to find meaning and value in their work. Allstate offers an environment that fosters innovative thinking where you’ll be able to explore your ideas and feel proud of the work you do. Allstate helps protect nearly 16 million households with auto, home, life, and retirement products. We want every professional connected to Allstate to be committed to giving our customers the best and that means finding the best talent. We want you to be our next great addition.