Principal Engineer, Generative & Agentic AI

Zip Co Limited; United States; Remote; USD 215,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

A digital financial services company is seeking a Principal Engineer for Generative & Agentic AI. This role is pivotal in designing and delivering intelligent systems in a fast-paced fintech environment. Candidates must have over 15 years of software engineering experience, with a strong focus on LLMs and generative AI. The company offers competitive compensation with an annual base salary range of $215,000 - $270,000 and a remote-first working model.

Benefits

Incentive programs

20 days PTO per year

Generous paid parental leave

100% employer covered insurance

Casual dress code office

Learning and wellness stipend

Company-sponsored 401k match

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience required.
• 5+ years hands-on with LLMs, Agentic AI, and generative AI systems.
• Experience leading production-grade AI/ML systems.

Responsibilities

• Design and build intelligent, autonomous systems.
• Prototype quickly and scale deliberately.
• Collaborate across teams to deliver resilient systems.
• Architect the AI foundation with the right tools.
• Mentor and inspire engineers for growth.

Skills

Software engineering

Large Language Models (LLMs)

Generative AI systems

Backend systems and distributed architecture

Cloud-native development

Education

BS and MS in Computer Science

PhD in AI, ML, or related domain

Tools

Python

C#

C++

Go

Rust

Job description

Principal Engineer, Generative & Agentic AI

United States

• Visionary systems thinker with a proven ability to design and deliver Agentic AI-native architectures that scale across ambiguity, evolving data, and dynamic user needs
• Track record of translating frontier ideas like autonomous agents and adaptive workflows into resilient production systems that drive measurable product value
• Remote-first opportunity for US-based employees with the option to work in-person out of our NYC office

Overview

ZIP is entering a new chapter—one where software is no longer static, reactive, or manually tuned. We’re reimagining our platform with Generative AI and Agentic systems at its core, enabling autonomous, adaptive capabilities across our products and operations. To lead this charge, we’re hiring our first Principal Engineer for Generative and Agentic AI. This isn’t a support role. It’s a foundational seat on the team and a key member of our in-house innovation group. If you’ve spent your career at the frontier of AI, this is your opportunity to build from the ground up in a greenfield environment with enterprise-grade ambition.

You’ll collaborate across engineering, product, design, and applied research to transform emerging agentic AI patterns into resilient, production-grade systems. This isn’t about chasing trends, we’re focused on delivering intelligent, self-improving solutions that drive real outcomes.

If you’re energized by the opportunity to help define the future of autonomous, AI-native software, we’d love to connect.

Interesting problems you’ll get to solve

• Design and build intelligent, autonomous systems that directly enhance the customer experience, enabling AI-powered interactions, personalized repayment journeys, intelligent support agents, and the foundation for a new generation of AI-first products in a dynamic, regulated fintech environment.
• Prototype quickly, scale deliberately, evaluating emerging frameworks and models, running experiments, and hardening the most promising approaches for production deployment in real-world financial systems.
• Collaborate across engineering, product, design, compliance, and applied research to identify high-impact use cases and deliver intelligent systems that are resilient, secure, and deeply aligned with user needs.
• Architect the AI foundation, selecting and integrating the right mix of LLMs, orchestration frameworks, vector databases, memory strategies, and tooling to give our agentic systems both intelligence and structure.
• Champion and evangelize AI-powered engineering, establish and uphold best practices across performance, observability, scalability, and responsible AI, ensuring that everything we build operates with trust, regulatory compliance, and enterprise-grade reliability at scale.
• Mentor and inspire engineers, cultivating a culture of technical depth, curiosity, and bold innovation as we grow ZIP’s AI capabilities from team-level efforts to a core pillar of our platform strategy.
• Build fast and learn faster, operating with urgency, deploying frequently, and using real feedback from customers and stakeholders to iterate and improve continuously.
• Stay at the frontier of agentic AI, tracking new developments across academia and industry, and selectively introducing promising techniques that align with our mission to deliver intelligent, adaptive, and customer-centric fintech experiences.

What you’ll bring to the team

Minimum Qualifications

• BS and MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field; PhD in AI, ML, or a related domain strongly preferred.
• 15+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years of focused, hands-on work with Large Language Models (LLMs), Agentic AI, and generative AI systems.
• Demonstrated success leading the design, development, and deployment of production-grade AI/ML systems, including large-scale inference, context management, and continuous learning.

Technical Expertise

• Deep expertise in backend systems and distributed architecture; Python required; additional fluency in languages such as C#, C++, Go, or Rust are a plus.
• Extensive experience with agent frameworks, memory/contextual planning systems, and orchestration of long-running, stateful agents
• Strong command of cloud-native development, microservices, and MLOps pipelines (e.g., with Azure, GCP, AWS).
• Architect-level skill in breaking down complex, emergent problems into scalable, modular, and maintainable systems.
• Applied experience integrating RLHF, embedding models, RAG (retrieval-augmented generation), and vector databases into modern applications.

Leadership and Influence

• Exceptional ability to mentor, influence, and align cross-functional engineering teams without formal authority.
• Strong collaborator across product, design, data science, and security; experience in regulated domains (e.g., fintech, healthcare) is a plus.
• High emotional intelligence and low-ego leadership style; comfortable driving alignment in ambiguous and high-stakes environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical topics to executive stakeholders and non-technical teams.

Mindset and Impact

• You are a builder at heart, driven by intellectual curiosity and a desire to push boundaries in how machines learn and operate.
• You care deeply about system resilience, ethical AI, data privacy, and customer trust.
• You thrive in early-stage initiatives, and are energized by ambiguity, iteration, and bold goals.
• Clear communicator and thoughtful builder—able to mentor, align, and influence without ego
• High intellectual curiosity, ownership mindset, and a passion for building systems that learn, adapt, and improve

What you’ll get in return

Zip is a place where you’ll get out what you put in. The newness of our sector means we need to move at pace and embrace change, and our promise to you when you join the team is that you’ll feel empowered and trusted to make big things happen quickly.

We want you to feel welcome and as though you have the support to be yourself, and care for yourself at work. Because it’s important to us that you make the most of the opportunities you’ll get to grow your skills and your career, and be surrounded by smart, friendly people and leaders that have your back.

We think these are just some of the best things about being a Zipster. We will also offer you:

• Incentive programs
• 20 days PTO every year
• Generous paid parental leave
• Leading family support policies
• 100% employer covered insurance
• Beautiful Union Square office with a casual dress code
• Learning and wellness subscription stipend
• Company-sponsored 401k match

Zip is committed to a straightforward and transparent pay structure. The actual base salary will be determined by various individualized factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, experience, location, internal equity, as well as other objective business considerations.

The annual base Pay Range for this position is $215,000 - $270,000. This range reflects our US national compensation (USN). Additional premium percentages may apply based on our tiered premium strategy.

Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.

If hired, employees will be in an at-will position and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

Be a part of a team that reflects the diversity of our customers

We pride ourselves on being a workplace that provides equal opportunities to people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, veteran status, and everything else that makes you unique.

Equally, we’re committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive. Please let us know if there are any adjustments that need to be made to ensure you have a fair and equitable experience.

And finally…get to know us

Zip Co Limited (ASX: ZIP) is a digital financial services company, offering innovative, people-centered products.

Operating in two core markets - Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and the US, Zip offers access to point-of-sale credit and digital payment services, connecting millions of customers with its global network of tens of thousands of merchants.

We’re proud to be a values-led business and our values - Customer First, Own it, Stronger Together and Change the Game - guide us in everything we do.

EEO and Privacy We are an equal opportunity employer. Zip is committed to a straightforward and transparent pay structure. The Zip Applicant and Candidate Privacy Notice is available for review. Zip participates in the federal government’s E-Verify program where applicable.