Senior / Staff Systems Architect, AI Platforms (Human-in-the-Loop)
Role Summary
We are building AI-enabled platforms composed of multiple autonomous and semi-autonomous systems operating at scale. While individual AI services are increasingly capable, overall system reliability, clarity, and trust depend on end-to-end design across humans, software, and automation.
This role focuses on system-level architecture and outcomes, not model training. You will be responsible for designing, evaluating, and evolving complex AI-enabled systems with clear decision boundaries, escalation paths, and accountability.
The scope and impact of this role varies by level.
Responsibilities (All Levels)
- Design and evaluate end-to-end system architectures spanning AI services, APIs, data pipelines, and human workflows
- Identify and mitigate system-level risks, including failure modes, ambiguous ownership, automation blind spots, and cascading errors
- Define clear decision rights between automated systems and human operators
- Partner with engineering, product, operations, and risk teams to align system behavior with real-world constraints
- Establish system-level metrics focused on reliability, latency, trust, and outcome quality
- Produce durable architectural documentation to support explainability, auditability, and long-term scalability
Leveling Expectations
Senior Systems Architect
Scope
- Owns architecture for a major system or platform area
- Drives design decisions that affect multiple teams or services
- Operates independently on well-defined but complex problem spaces
Impact
- Improves system reliability and clarity across multiple workflows
- Anticipates second-order effects within owned domains
- Reduces operational friction caused by tool or workflow fragmentation
Required Experience
- 10+ years in systems architecture, platform engineering, enterprise software, or complex product ecosystems
- Hands-on experience designing or operating multi-system workflows in production
- Strong understanding of distributed systems, APIs, and data flow design
- Practical fluency in AI/ML concepts (confidence, failure modes, automation risk)
Staff Systems Architect
Scope
- Owns architecture across multiple platforms or organizational domains
- Defines system patterns and guardrails used by other architects and teams
- Operates in ambiguous environments where problems are not fully articulated
Impact
- Shapes how AI systems interact with humans at scale
- Anticipates third-order effects and long-term system consequences
- Influences platform strategy, tooling decisions, and architectural standards
- Acts as a force multiplier for other senior engineers and architects
Required Experience
- 12–15+ years in large-scale systems architecture or platform leadership
- Proven track record of designing cross-org, cross-platform systems
- Experience influencing architecture without direct authority
- Strong judgment in balancing speed, risk, reliability, and user trust
Preferred Qualifications (Both Levels)
- Experience with AI platforms, automation frameworks, or decision-support systems in production
- Background in high-reliability, compliance-heavy, or safety-critical environments
- Familiarity with human-in-the-loop design, service design, or operational risk frameworks
- Experience simplifying or consolidating fragmented tool ecosystems