Principal AI Engineer - Finance

About the role

A bank with under $200 billion in assets under management is seeking a Principal AI Engineer to lead the design, development and deployment of AI and generative AI solutions in a financial services environment. The role drives enterprise AI adoption to improve operational efficiency, decision-making, risk management, customer outcomes and workforce productivity. The position is based in Palo Alto, California, or Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston or New York City.

Key responsibilities

• Design, build and deploy AI-powered applications and services for business and operational use cases.
• Architect solutions using large language models, semantic search, retrieval systems, intelligent workflows and human oversight controls.
• Develop scalable APIs, cloud-native services and data-driven applications with modern software engineering practices.
• Integrate AI into enterprise platforms, business processes, automation initiatives and analytics solutions.
• Establish standards for software delivery, testing, monitoring, security, governance and responsible AI.
• Partner with business, technology, risk, compliance and security stakeholders to deliver secure and compliant solutions.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and provide technical leadership and mentoring.

Required profile

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, AI or a related field.
• Extensive experience in software engineering, data platforms, AI/ML or enterprise technology leadership.
• Proven experience delivering technology solutions from concept through production.
• Experience in banking, financial services, fintech, insurance or another highly regulated industry.
• Strong stakeholder management, leadership and communication skills.
• Preferred: advanced degree and experience establishing AI engineering practices, platforms and high-performing technical teams.

Required skills

• Python, APIs, cloud platforms, distributed systems, data engineering and secure application development.
• LLMs, retrieval-based architectures, vector search, AI orchestration frameworks, model evaluation and AI governance.

What we offer

• Salary up to $270k base plus bonus.
• Locations: Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston or New York City.
• No visa sponsorship available.