Thoughtworks

Principal AI Engineer

Thoughtworks$214K — $344K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Mastery of Python and large-scale software engineering.
  • Experience creating scalable AI systems and frameworks.
  • Thought leadership in GenAI and agentic frameworks.
  • Expertise in large-scale RAG systems and information retrieval.
  • Experience deploying AI systems on cloud platforms with complex infrastructures.
  • Knowledge of LLMOps standards and monitoring reliability.
  • Advanced skills in model fine-tuning and ML/NLP applications.

Responsibilities

  • Set vision and strategy for AI engineering across projects aligned with business goals.
  • Design and promote scalable frameworks for complex AI systems.
  • Anticipate and address challenges in adopting AI technologies.
  • Drive knowledge sharing and capability building in AI engineering best practices.
  • Advise product and business leaders on AI opportunities and risks, shaping roadmaps.
  • Evaluate and guide responsible adoption of emerging AI technologies.
  • Provide architectural oversight for high-impact AI initiatives.

Benefits

  • Flexible career development options supported by interactive tools and programs.
  • Emphasis on a cultivation culture that encourages mutual growth.
  • Commitment to fairness and responsible use of AI in recruitment processes.
  • Continuous learning opportunities and career growth support.
Full Job Description
We are looking for a passionate and skilled AI engineer who is a technical authority at the domain or business unit level. In this role, you will set the direction for how AI engineering is practiced across multiple teams, define reusable patterns and frameworks, and drive adoption of best practices. You will influence technical roadmaps, mentor senior engineers and leads, and ensure our AI solutions are scalable, reliable and aligned with organizational goals. Operating with broad autonomy, you will shape the evolution of AI engineering within your area, while contributing to the wider engineering community.

Job responsibilities

  • Set the vision and strategy for AI engineering across teams and projects, ensuring alignment with business goals.
  • Design and promote scalable frameworks, patterns and standards for building and deploying complex and distributed AI systems.
  • Anticipate technical and organizational challenges in adopting AI and define approaches to address them.
  • Uplift the broader engineering community (SMEs and generalists) by driving knowledge sharing, capability building and adoption of AI engineering best practices.
  • Act as a thought partner to product and business leaders, shaping roadmaps with an understanding of AI opportunities and risks.
  • Evaluate emerging technologies and approaches, guiding their responsible adoption across the organization.
  • Provide expert guidance on implementing guardrails at an organizational level.
  • Provide architectural oversight on complex or high-impact AI initiatives, ensuring they are robust, cost-effective and sustainable.
  • Represent the organization's AI engineering expertise in external forums, partnerships or strategic initiatives.
  • Improve end-to-end GenAI application performance, accuracy and cost, from model training and fine-tuning, to application-level optimization techniques.

Job qualifications

Technical Skills

  • Mastery of Python and software engineering at scale, setting standards for CI/CD, testing, observability and maintainability across teams.
  • Recognized track record of architecting scalable AI systems and defining reusable frameworks and patterns.
  • Thought leadership in applying GenAI and agentic frameworks across domains.
  • Deep expertise in large-scale RAG systems and advanced information retrieval architectures.
  • Significant experience deploying AI systems across cloud platforms with complex infrastructure, containers and orchestration.
  • Define organizational standards for LLMOps, monitoring and reliability.
  • Advanced experience with model customization, fine-tuning and applying ML/NLP frameworks to solve complex problems.

Professional Skills

  • Possesses executive presence with the ability to influence engineering culture and strategy at a company-wide level.
  • Acts as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, providing expert guidance on technical and strategic decisions.
  • Recognized as a thought leader in the industry, with a track record of publications, patents or conference presentations.
  • Proven ability to mentor and develop leaders and experts, building a strong technical pipeline for the organization.


Other things to know

Learning & Development

There is no one-size-fits-all career path at Thoughtworks: however you want to develop your career is entirely up to you. But we also balance autonomy with the strength of our cultivation culture. This means your career is supported by interactive tools, numerous development programs and teammates who want to help you grow. We see value in helping each other be our best and that extends to empowering our employees in their career journeys.

Responsible Use of AI in Recruitment

At Thoughtworks, we use AI tools to support our recruitment team with administrative tasks such as drafting communications, scheduling interviews and writing job descriptions.

Crucially, our AI tools do not screen, assess, rank or make hiring decisions. Every application is reviewed by our team and all selection decisions are made exclusively by our interviewers and hiring managers.

We are committed to fairness and responsible AI. We actively manage our AI systems by testing, monitoring for biased outcomes and implementing mitigation measures. We hold our third-party vendors to these same high standards through a rigorous governance process. For additional information, please see our full Thoughtworks AI Policy for Recruitment.

Cancellations

As a technology consultancy, the projects we undertake are subject to change based on client needs and agreements. While we strive for consistency, please be aware that project scope or availability may shift, or projects may even be cancelled, during the recruitment and selection process, which is often outside of our direct control. Should the project related to this vacancy be significantly altered or cancelled, all impacted candidates will be promptly and duly informed of the change

#LI-Onsite

Salary

Benefits: https://www.thoughtworks.com/en-ca/careers/benefits

Salary

$214,000-$344,000 CAD

See here our AI policy.

About Thoughtworks

Thoughtworks is a global technology consultancy that provides software design and delivery, and helps clients navigate digital transformation. The company was founded in 1993 in Chicago, and has since grown to have over 40 offices in 17 countries. Thoughtworks is known for its Agile software development methodology, and has worked with clients in a variety of industries, including finance, healthcare, and retail.
Learn more about Thoughtworks
Size
10,000 employees
Market Cap
$3.3 billion
Industry
Founded
1993
NASDAQ

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