AI Developer IV / Principal AI Engineer

Title: AI Developer IV / Principal AI Engineer

Location: Remote (Preferred) | Onsite in Juno Beach, FL or St. Paul, MN

Position Summary

The AI Developer IV is a principal-level expert responsible for defining and owning enterprise-wide AI technical architecture while remaining hands-on in writing production code. This role provides organizational leadership for AI initiatives, leads highly complex and high-impact AI transformations, and serves as a trusted technical advisor to executive leadership.

The successful candidate will establish AI governance frameworks, influence long-term technology strategy, mentor senior engineering talent, and guide the adoption of emerging AI technologies across the organization. This position plays a critical role in advancing an AI-first engineering culture and driving innovation through modern software development practices.

Key Responsibilities
* Define and lead the organization's enterprise AI architecture strategy.
* Design, build, and deploy scalable AI-powered applications and distributed systems.
* Provide technical leadership for large-scale AI transformation initiatives.
* Develop production-quality software and remain hands-on with coding and solution implementation.
* Partner with engineering, product management, research scientists, and business stakeholders to deliver strategic objectives.

* Establish AI governance, best practices, security standards, and ethical AI frameworks.
* Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend strategic investments.
* Mentor senior engineers and cultivate future technical leaders.
* Drive adoption of AI-assisted development tools and modern engineering practices.
* Guide teams through architectural decisions involving cloud platforms, AI services, and data ecosystems.
* Lead technical design reviews and influence enterprise-wide engineering standards.
* Support multiple project teams operating in quarterly delivery cycles.

Team Environment
* Cross-functional teams consisting of:
* Software Engineers
* Research Scientists
* Product Managers
* AI/ML Engineers
* Typical project teams range from 1 5 engineers
* Agile delivery model with quarterly planning and execution cycles
* Strong focus on AI-first software engineering practices
* Active use of AI-assisted development tooling

Required Qualifications
* Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
* 15+ years of software engineering experience
* Extensive experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale AI solutions
* Expert-level Python development experience
* Proven experience building scalable distributed systems
* Strong understanding of AI/ML technologies and modern software architecture
* Experience designing cloud-native applications within AWS and/or GCP environments
* Strong expertise in infrastructure automation and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
* Experience leading large technical programs and influencing organizational strategy
* Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills

Required Technical Skills:

Backend Development
* Python (required)
* Strong backend engineering experience
* API and microservices design

Frontend Development
* Vue.js (preferred)
* React or Angular acceptable

Cloud & Infrastructure
* AWS and/or Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
* Terraform
* Cloud-native architecture
* Distributed systems

DevOps & Development Tools
* GitLab
* CI/CD pipelines
* Infrastructure automation

Artificial Intelligence
* Generative AI technologies
* AI application architecture
* AI-assisted development tools
* Experience with tools such as:
* Claude
* Codex
* GitHub Copilot
* Similar AI engineering platforms

Preferred Qualifications
* Recognized subject matter expert in AI/ML with enterprise-scale impact
* Experience establishing AI governance frameworks
* Experience leading AI transformation programs
* Strong background in data platforms and data ecosystems
* Advanced understanding of AI strategy and emerging technology trends
* Demonstrated success mentoring senior engineers and technical leaders