Principal AI Architect

We’re looking for a Principal Architect to lead the design and delivery of complex, multi-domain systems spanning cloud, data, and AI. This role is ideal for a deeply experienced engineer who owns the hardest architectural challenges, sets technical direction, and serves as the senior technical voice on the engagements they support. 

In this role, you will operate as the senior technical authority on a cross-functional team, defining architecture across cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and AI/ML workloads. You’ll partner closely with leadership and clients on technical strategy, mentor experienced engineers, and own high-stakes decisions that shape the long-term success of the systems you build. 

Why This Role Matters 

At Robots & Pencils, we design AI systems for a human world. Our name says it all. Robots and pencils means engineering paired with creativity, because every agent we ship has to work for real people in real workflows. That balance is baked into how we operate. 
 
Every role here contributes directly to that mission. Here, you shape how AI systems integrate into enterprise operations, how teams move at real velocity, and how products create measurable impact for clients and the people they serve. We ship production-ready AI in 30 to 45 days. That pace demands people who take ownership, lead with craft, and care deeply about what they put their name on. 

What You’ll Do 

Craft & Delivery 

• Define technical strategy and lead architectural design across cloud, data, and AI/ML systems for end-to-end engagements 

• Architect scalable cloud-native solutions, including multi-cloud and hybrid strategies (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes) 

• Design data architectures including warehouses, data lakes, and pipelines for batch and streaming workloads (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka) 

• Design AI/ML systems including model serving, MLOps pipelines, feature stores, and LLM-based applications (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face) 

• Define infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and DevOps standards across engagements (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, GitHub Actions) 

• Drive performance, scalability, cost, and reliability optimization across deployed systems 

• Ensure architecture meets security, governance, and compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2) 

• Lead cloud migrations and platform modernization initiatives 

• Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at pace 

Collaboration & Communication 

• Partner with senior leadership and clients as the principal technical voice on strategy and direction 

• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders alike 

• Engage closely with engineering, data, AI, and product teams to align architecture with broader business priorities 

• Develop and maintain architecture documentation, standards, and guidelines 

Leadership & Influence 

• Define and champion architectural standards and best practices on the engagements you support 

• Mentor experienced engineers and architects, helping them grow their technical judgment and impact 

• Own the most difficult architectural and integration challenges, serving as the senior technical decision-maker 

• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend tools, frameworks, and patterns that improve architecture over time 

What You’ll Bring 

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in technical leadership roles 

• Deep expertise in cloud platforms and cloud-native architectures (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) 

• Strong background in microservices, serverless, containers, and event-driven systems (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, Lambda, EventBridge) 

• Proficiency with infrastructure as code and CI/CD (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, GitHub Actions) 

• Strong data architecture expertise across relational, NoSQL, and big data systems (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Snowflake, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka) 

• Hands-on experience with data modeling, ETL/ELT pipelines, and orchestration (e.g., Airflow, Prefect, dbt) 

• Strong experience designing AI/ML systems for production, including LLMs, MLOps, and model serving (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face, PyTorch, TensorFlow) 

• Solid understanding of networking, security, identity, and access management in cloud environments 

• Experience with governance, compliance, and observability frameworks 

• Strong software engineering skills (Python, APIs, containerization) 

• Track record of senior technical leadership and mentoring experienced engineers 

• Strong stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to translate technical depth across audiences 

• Demonstrable usage of AI-forward tools such as Claude and Cursor 

• Multi-cloud architecture experience, AI ethics or responsible AI experience, or enterprise architecture certifications (e.g., TOGAF, AWS/Azure/GCP) is a plus 

Helpful Extras and Unique Skills 

• Experience designing AI/ML solutions that integrate with SAP EAM data structures (e.g., Equipment Masters, Work Orders, or Notifications) via SAP BTP or cloud-native APIs.

You’ll Do Well Here if You Are 

• A doer. You see something broken and fix it. You'd rather move on clarity than wait for certainty. 

• A fast learner who knows you don't know everything. The AI landscape changes weekly. You're senior enough to know better and curious enough to keep learning anyway. 

• Direct in a way that makes the work better. You give honest feedback. You'd rather have the hard conversation than blow smoke. 

• Obsessed with craft. You know genius is in the details. You ship exceptional, not perfect, and you don't put your name on work you wouldn't stand behind. 

• Built for ownership. You honor commitments, admit mistakes fast, and back your teammates when a decision costs something. No handoffs, no finger-pointing. 

• All in. You treat clients' businesses like your own. You take the work seriously without taking yourself seriously. 

• Resourceful when the budget, timeline, or team is tight. Constraints don't slow you down. They sharpen you. 

• Glad to be in the room with people who care as much as you do. Our teams average fifteen-plus years of experience. We hire people who push each other to do better work. 

The below range reflects the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. The salary range for this role is $ $165,604 - $228,491 USD.  We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees. 
 
An offer of employment may be conditional upon successful completion of a background check in accordance with local legislation and our candidate privacy notice. Your current employer will not be contacted without your permission.  We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.