Guardian Life Insurance

Head of AI Platform Engineering - Execution Plane

Guardian Life Insurance$152K — $250K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, engineering, management or a related field.
  • Strong leadership experience managing software engineering teams.
  • Deep technical expertise in distributed systems, AI/ML platforms, or cloud-native services.
  • Experience with execution layer platforms including model inference and orchestration.
  • Ability to manage detailed roadmaps for execution plane capabilities.
  • Understanding of enterprise APIs and AI execution patterns.
  • Experience in building reliable and scalable execution services.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the development and implementation of the execution layer of the AI platform.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate automation solutions.
  • Drive the roadmap for model gateways and agent runtimes.
  • Ensure operational resilience and observability of AI execution services.
  • Partner with various teams to maintain governed platform interfaces.
  • Facilitate engineering excellence through best practices and standards.

Benefits

  • Opportunities for professional and personal growth with supportive flexibility.
  • Skill-building and leadership development initiatives.
  • Challenging work focused on technology and innovation.
  • Excellent health coverage from day one for you and your dependents.
  • Life and disability insurance included.
  • 401(k) plan with company match.
  • Tuition assistance and paid parental leave offered.
  • Dynamic work environments that encourage collaboration.
  • Flexible policies for time off and work location.
  • Commitment to social responsibility and community engagement.
Full Job Description

As the Head of AI Platform Engineering – Execution Plane, you will lead the development and implementation of our enterprise platform’s execution layer including management of agentic AI workloads, model gateways, agent runtimes, tool/action gateways, MCP servers, orchestration frameworks, or AI execution engines.

You will:

You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and technology partners to develop and integrate automation solutions that drive business growth, improve customer experiences, and reduce operational costs.

You have:

  • Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, engineering, management or a related field.
  • Strong people leadership experience managing software engineering teams, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and developing senior technical talent.
  • Deep hands-on technical background designing, building, and operating production-grade distributed systems, AI/ML platforms, data platforms, or cloud-native runtime services.
  • Experience leading teams responsible for the execution layer of a platform, including runtime services, model inference, retrieval, orchestration, tool invocation, workflow execution, or production AI operations.
  • Ability to own the roadmap and delivery for execution plane capabilities such as model gateways, agent runtimes, tool/action gateways, runtime adapters, MCP services, knowledge bases, retrieval pipelines, inference services, and deployment patterns.
  • Strong understanding of data access patterns, enterprise APIs, retrieval-augmented generation, embeddings, vector/search systems, context engineering, and governed access to systems of record.
  • Experience building reliable, scalable, low-latency execution services with clear contracts, strong observability, graceful degradation, retry patterns, rate limits, and operational resilience.
  • Ability to partner with control plane, developer experience, data engineering, security, architecture, operations, and domain application teams to ensure execution technologies operate behind governed platform interfaces.
  • Proven ability to drive engineering excellence through design reviews, architecture standards, testing, CI/CD, infrastructure automation, incident response, SLOs, runbooks, and production support mechanisms.
  • Strong understanding of enterprise security and compliance requirements for runtime execution, including identity propagation, auditability, data handling, least privilege access, secrets management, and environment isolation.
  • Strong communication and influence skills, with the ability to simplify complex runtime, data, and AI execution topics for senior stakeholders while aligning teams around reusable platform patterns.

You will:

  • Experience with agentic AI systems, LLM platforms, model gateways, agent runtimes, tool/action gateways, MCP servers, orchestration frameworks, or AI execution engines.
  • Experience with AWS-based AI execution services and cloud-native patterns, including Bedrock, AgentCore, SageMaker, Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, EKS, DynamoDB, S3, IAM, CloudWatch, and related DevOps tooling.
  • Familiarity with RAG systems, enterprise search, vector databases, embedding models, rerankers, knowledge bases, context engineering, and governed retrieval from enterprise data sources.
  • Experience designing multi-tenant runtime platforms with environment isolation, workload identities, RBAC/ABAC, cross-account access patterns, quotas, throttling, and secure service-to-service communication.
  • Background in MLOps, LLMOps, AIOps, model lifecycle management, evaluation pipelines, model serving, inference optimization, or production AI operations.
  • Experience with observability for AI workloads, including distributed tracing, token usage, latency, model/tool errors, cost attribution, quality metrics, safety metrics, and operational dashboards.
  • Experience with performance, scalability, and cost optimization for high-volume runtime services, including caching, batching, streaming, load testing, capacity planning, and GPU/CPU optimization where applicable.
  • Experience building reusable platform abstractions, SDKs, runtime adapters, reference architectures, or deployment templates that make execution technologies portable across vendors and use cases.
  • Experience integrating enterprise tools, APIs, data services, and workflow systems through governed connectors rather than point-to-point application wiring.
  • Comfort operating in a regulated, matrixed environment where production safety, auditability, resiliency, and vendor optionality are core design principles.

Location:

  • New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania
  • Up to 10% travel within US

Our promise:

  •  At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals.
  •  Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards

We offer:

  • Meaningful and challenging work opportunities to accelerate technology and innovation in a secure and compliant way
  • Competitive compensation
  • Excellent medical, dental, supplemental health, life and vision coverage for you and your dependents with no wait period
  • Life and disability insurance
  • A great 401(k) with match
  • Tuition assistance, paid parental leave and backup family care
  • Dynamic, modern work environments that promote collaboration and creativity
  • Flexible time off, dress code, and work location policies to balance your work and life in the ways that suit you best
  • Social responsibility in all aspects of our work. We volunteer within our local communities, create educational alliances with colleges, drive a variety of initiatives in sustainability, and advocate for diversity and inclusion in all that we do.

About Guardian Life Insurance

Guardian Life Insurance Careers

Join the Guardian Life Insurance team today and be part of a company that values growth, leadership, and innovation. As a leading provider in the insurance industry, Guardian Life Insurance offers a wealth of job opportunities that empower you to shape your future and strengthen your professional skills. Work You’ll Do At Guardian Life Insurance, you’ll collaborate with a diverse team of experts dedicated to providing exceptional service and innovative solutions to our clients. Our culture thrives on inclusivity and the shared ambition of our team members to drive positive change in the insurance sector. Explore a variety of career paths in areas ranging from customer service to financial advisement, each offering the potential to engage with transformative projects that impact lives. Our commitment to professional growth is evident in our robust training programs, including leadership development and diversity training, designed to enhance your skills and advance your career. Innovative Work Guardian Life Insurance is at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge technology and personalized service. Join us and contribute to initiatives that redefine industry standards and lead to more predictive and personalized customer experiences. Be Part of a Great Team Our team at Guardian Life Insurance is our strongest asset. We foster an environment where creativity and effectiveness are encouraged, making it a perfect place for those who seek to innovate and excel in their careers. With a focus on nurturing talent, we offer comprehensive benefits, competitive salaries, and a supportive atmosphere that advocates work-life balance. Future-Proof Your Career With Guardian Life Insurance, your career is future-proof. Dive into a range of employment opportunities that not only align with your current skills but also challenge you to grow and expand your capabilities. Whether you’re looking for a full-time position, an internship, or even leadership roles, Guardian Life Insurance is committed to helping you find the right path. Stay Connected Join Our Team Discover the job opportunities waiting for you at Guardian Life Insurance. We are continuously hiring and looking for individuals who are passionate, driven, and ready to contribute to our mission. Search open positions that match your skills and interests, and take the first step towards a rewarding career with us. Keep Up to Date Stay informed with the latest career tips, industry insights, and company news—all from the professionals who make Guardian Life Insurance a leader in the insurance industry. Our careers blog provides valuable information to help you prepare for your next interview, polish your resume, and enhance your networking abilities. Job Alert Emails Customize your experience by subscribing to job alerts and insider tips tailored to your preferences. Discover exciting and rewarding opportunities that await at Guardian Life Insurance, and see how you can contribute to our legacy of excellence and innovation. Join Guardian Life Insurance today and be part of a company that’s dedicated to your career growth and professional development.
Learn more about Guardian Life Insurance
Size
9,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1860

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