Principal Architect

Principal Architect

Location: Washington, DC

About the Role

We are seeking a Principal Architect to drive the design, development, and deployment of our agentic AI products in a fast-paced, collaborative, extremely high-visibility environment.

In this role, you will lead a team of 50+ engineers, providing both strategic and technical guidance. You’ll be responsible for high-impact architectural decisions, cross-company collaboration, and executive level engagements.

What You’ll Do

• Team Leadership: Lead and mentor a high-performing engineering team of 80+, fostering a culture of technical excellence and ownership.
• Technical Direction: Guide your team through complex challenges involving LLMs, AI agents, and large-scale distributed systems.
• Executive Stakeholder Engagement: Represent Scale AI in high-stakes negotiations and strategic discussions with senior external partners, demonstrating strong technical competence and credibility.
• Strategic Planning & Communication: Develop and communicate a compelling vision for Scale AI’s technology applied to your program. Provide regular updates to senior leadership and key stakeholders on progress, risks, and opportunities.
• Culture & Teamwork: Foster a culture of speed, unity of purpose, resilience, and teamwork. Lead through uncertainty with determination and adaptability.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in a technical leadership or staff role.
• Deep understanding of modern AI/ML technologies, including experience working with LLMs and AI agents.
• Proficient in one or more modern programming languages (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript)
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Strong product and business sense, with a track record of aligning engineering efforts with company goals.
• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-changing environments and guide your team to do the same.
• Experience in executive level engagement with industry partners and Public Sector customers

Success Metrics

Within 6 months

• Successful demonstration of agentic AI’s mission value in high-stakes customer demonstrations
• Establish Scale AI as the preferred agentic AI partner for the PEO
• Establish high velocity, agile engineering cadence both internally and with our industry partners

Within 12–18 months

• Secure follow-on contract award with expanded scope for Scale
• Position Scale AI as the global AI leader in this mission area
• Establish developed solutions as Scale product offerings to deliver on future contracts

The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of Washington DC is

$298,400 — $373,000 USD