Principal Software Engineer - AI Control Tower (AICT)

ServiceNow, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 221,000 - 387,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health plans

401(k) with company match

ESPP

Matching donations

Flexible time away

Family leave programs

Job summary

ServiceNow is seeking a Principal Engineer for the AI Control Tower to govern AI models, data sets, and governance infrastructure at scale. You will lead architecture for critical product areas, partnering with product, design, and engineering to drive reliable, observable systems.

You will champion AI-native engineering practices and mentor teams while shaping long-term platform strategy in a fast-growing, enterprise SaaS environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering shipping complex enterprise SaaS products.
• Experience taking 1.0 products from early release to meaningful customer adoption.
• Strong architectural leadership and ability to influence cross-team decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural design of core AICT platform components.
• Drive adoption from 1.0 to production-ready deployments.
• Mentor teams and set technical standards for governance and observability.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, and partner engineering to align dependencies.

Skills

Cloud-native SaaS

Distributed systems

Database design

AI-native engineering

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

MS/PhD in CS/AI

Tools

Kubernetes

REST/gRPC APIs

OpenAPI

AWS/Azure/GCP

Job description

It all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried tears of joy. That moment inspired Fred to build a company that could do that for everyone—freeing people from busywork so they could focus on meaningful work. Today, ServiceNow is the AI control tower for business reinvention. Our ServiceNow AI platform brings together any AI, any data, and any workflow— helping 85% of the Fortune 500 work smarter, faster, and better. We're building an AI-native culture where technology and talent are unstoppable together. And we're just getting started.

Join us to put AI to work for people.

The Role

The AI Control Tower is ServiceNow's central hub for governing every AI model, agent, and dataset across the enterprise. We're building the infrastructure that enterprises will depend on as agentic AI moves from experiment to production.

We're looking for a Principal Engineer who has built 1.0 products before: architecting from first principles, solving deep technical hurdles with early customers, and building technical foundations that compound adoption over time. You'll report to the Director of Engineering, AICT, and drive the technical architecture for critical product areas that will become standard infrastructure for how enterprises run AI at scale.

You are AI-native. You don't just understand AI conceptually — you use it daily, you build with it, and you bring that instinct into how your team designs and ships.

What you get to do in this role:

Technical Architecture & Leadership

Lead the architectural design and implementation of core AICT platform components. You'll translate complex product requirements into scalable, observable technical plans and failure recovery patterns. You set the technical standard for how we build governance infrastructure.

1.0 to Adoption

Drive the full arc from early release to meaningful customer adoption. You understand that shipping a 1.0 is only half the job — the other half is learning fast, iterating based on what real customers do (not what they say), and building the feedback loops that compound adoption over time.

AI-Native Engineering

Set the bar for how we use AI in engineering itself. From AI-assisted code review and automated testing to designing platform features that treat AI agents as first-class users, you lead by example in leveraging AI to improve both delivery velocity and software quality.

Mentorship & Technical Excellence

Act as the strong technical voice who raises the bar around you. You run deep-dive architecture reviews and provide clear technical guidance. You represent AICT in technical forums and contribute to long-term platform strategy.

Cross-Functional Execution

Work closely with Product Management, Design, and partner engineering teams to align on dependencies and ship coherent experiences. Represent engineering in planning and review forums with senior leadership.

To be successful in this role you have:

10+ years in software engineering, with a proven track record of shipping complex enterprise‑grade SaaS products and managing their evolution through scale.

• Deep technical foundation in cloud-native SaaS architecture: multi-tenant design, large-scale API design (REST/gRPC), Kubernetes orchestration, observability patterns, and multi-cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Distributed systems & event-driven architecture expertise, with focus on scalability, reliability, fault tolerance, and operational observability.
• Deep expertise in database schema design, data modeling, and modern data platforms, including relational, graph, vector, columnar, OLAP, and streaming data architectures, with the ability to design scalable data models for AI and enterprise workloads.
• Startup mindset: Direct experience building and shipping products from zero—ideally in high-growth environments where you were hands-on with both code and architecture decisions.
• AI-native engineering practices: Proficiency across the full engineering lifecycle (architecture, implementation, debugging, security, CI/CD) using AI to drive delivery velocity and software quality.
• Technical influence without formal authority: Demonstrated ability to lead cross-team technical initiatives and drive architecture decisions through clear reasoning and credibility.
• Hands-on mastery: Comfort operating at the highest architectural level while remaining deeply hands-on in code when it matters most.

Nice to Have

• Governance, observability, or compliance product experience — understanding auditability, enterprise risk frameworks, and regulatory requirements.
• Agent frameworks & production operations: Hands-on familiarity with agentic system challenges (tool reliability, context window management, failure modes, cost optimization).
• Enterprise security, IAM, or data governance background.
• Familiarity with AI interoperability standards such as MCP, OpenAPI, or similar.
• Advanced Degree: MS or PhD in Computer Science, AI, or a related technical field.

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $221,200 - $387,100 , plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here (https://careers.servicenow.com/life-at-servicenow#workpersonas) . To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact [e-mail] for assistance.

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities.

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