Principal Software Engineer - AI

Harnham; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health, dental, and vision

Retirement plan

Generous paid time off

Hybrid/Remote options

Job summary

Harnham is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to shape an AI-powered enterprise platform and engineering culture. You will guide a multidisciplinary team, design cutting-edge LLM solutions, and build scalable Python services integrated with cloud data platforms.

You will lead architectural decisions, drive security and observability, and partner with leadership to advance the platform roadmap in a fast-growing environment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience at senior levels.
• Strong Python development for production-grade apps and data pipelines.
• Hands-on with cloud platforms (GCP/AWS/Azure), data services, infra & security.
• Strong SQL and data modeling for large-scale analytics workloads.
• Proven ability to lead projects and make architectural decisions.
• Excellent communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience building deploying production LLM apps with multiple providers.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical vision, architecture, and strategy of an AI-powered platform.
• Mentor and develop a multidisciplinary engineering team through design reviews.
• Design and experiment with LLM solutions for production use cases.
• Architect and build scalable Python services with modern AI orchestration.
• Collaborate with data, engineering, and leadership to optimize cloud data platforms.
• Develop cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, security controls, deployment processes.
• Translate business requirements into scalable tech solutions.
• Drive engineering excellence with tests, observability, and best practices.
• Evaluate emerging AI tech to inform platform roadmap.

Skills

Python

Cloud platforms

SQL & data modeling

Architecture leadership

Communication

LLM production apps

Tools

Docker

CI/CD

Infrastructure as Code

Job description

Our client is a high-growth AI and technology business focused on helping organizations unlock value through advanced analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence. Working at the intersection of AI, business transformation, and enterprise technology, the company develops proprietary platforms that enable organizations to better understand, optimize, and improve their operations.

Backed by leadership and talent from leading technology, analytics, and consulting firms, the organization is building innovative solutions that help businesses adopt AI with confidence, delivering measurable outcomes through data-driven transformation.

As the business continues its next phase of growth, it is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to play a key role in shaping both its technology platform and engineering culture.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the technical vision, architecture, and strategic direction of a sophisticated AI-powered enterprise platform.
• Mentor and develop a multidisciplinary engineering team through code reviews, design reviews, and hands‑on collaboration.
• Design and experiment with cutting-edge large language model (LLM) solutions and AI capabilities for production use cases.
• Architect and build scalable services using Python and modern AI orchestration frameworks.
• Partner closely with engineering, data, and leadership teams to design and optimize cloud-based data platforms and services.
• Build and maintain cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, security controls, and deployment processes.
• Translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions.
• Drive engineering excellence through testing, documentation, observability, monitoring, and best-practice development standards.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and identify opportunities to incorporate them into the platform roadmap.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Required

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including experience operating at Technical Lead, Staff Engineer, or Principal Engineer level.
• Strong Python development experience, including production‑grade applications, analytics platforms, and data pipelines.
• Hands‑on experience with cloud platforms such as GCP, AWS, or Azure, including data services, infrastructure, and security management.
• Strong SQL and data modeling expertise for large-scale analytical workloads.
• Proven ability to lead projects and make architectural decisions in fast‑paced, evolving environments.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Experience building and deploying production LLM applications using modern orchestration frameworks and multiple model providers.

Preferred

• Experience with Docker, CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Familiarity with AI observability, monitoring, and evaluation frameworks.
• Previous experience in consulting, private equity‑backed organizations, or high‑growth technology environments.
• Background working on AI, machine learning, analytics, or enterprise transformation initiatives.

BENEFITS

• Meaningful early‑stage equity participation.
• Health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Retirement savings plan.
• Generous paid time off.
• Flexible hybrid or remote working options.