Principal AI Architect

We’re looking for a Principal Architect to lead the design and delivery of complex, multi-domain systems spanning cloud, data, and AI. This role is ideal for a deeply experienced engineer who owns the hardest architectural challenges, sets technical direction, and serves as the senior technical voice on the engagements they support.

In this role, you will operate as the senior technical authority on a cross-functional team, defining architecture across cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and AI/ML workloads. You’ll partner closely with leadership and clients on technical strategy, mentor experienced engineers, and own high-stakes decisions that shape the long-term success of the systems you build.

Why This Role Matters

At Robots & Pencils, we design AI systems for a human world. Our name says it all. Robots and pencils means engineering paired with creativity, because every agent we ship has to work for real people in real workflows. That balance is baked into how we operate. Every role here contributes directly to that mission. Here, you shape how AI systems integrate into enterprise operations, how teams move at real velocity, and how products create measurable impact for clients and the people they serve. We ship production-ready AI in 30 to 45 days. That pace demands people who take ownership, lead with craft, and care deeply about what they put their name on.

What You’ll Do

Craft & Delivery

Define technical strategy and lead architectural design across cloud, data, and AI/ML systems for end-to-end engagements

Architect scalable cloud-native solutions, including multi-cloud and hybrid strategies (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes)

Design data architectures including warehouses, data lakes, and pipelines for batch and streaming workloads (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka)

Design AI/ML systems including model serving, MLOps pipelines, feature stores, and LLM-based applications (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face)

Define infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and DevOps standards across engagements (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, GitHub Actions)

Drive performance, scalability, cost, and reliability optimization across deployed systems

Ensure architecture meets security, governance, and compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2)

Lead cloud migrations and platform modernization initiatives

Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at pace

Collaboration & Communication

Partner with senior leadership and clients as the principal technical voice on strategy and direction

Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders alike

Engage closely with engineering, data, AI, and product teams to align architecture with broader business priorities

Develop and maintain architecture documentation, standards, and guidelines

Leadership & Influence

Define and champion architectural standards and best practices on the engagements you support

Mentor experienced engineers and architects, helping them grow their technical judgment and impact

Own the most difficult architectural and integration challenges, serving as the senior technical decision-maker