Principal AI Architect

The Opportunity

Improving is looking for a Principal AI Architect to help our clients turn complex business problems into practical, production-ready AI solutions.

This is a senior, hands-on technical leadership role for someone who can move comfortably between client conversations, solution architecture, and implementation. You’ll help identify where AI can create meaningful value, design the technical approach, and work alongside engineering teams to bring those solutions to life.

We’re looking for a strong technologist with excellent consulting instincts who is equally comfortable whiteboarding with a client and getting into the code with an engineering team.

What You'll Do

• Lead the architecture and technical design of complex AI solutions from discovery through production.
• Work directly with clients to understand business challenges and translate them into practical technical solutions.
• Design solutions using Generative AI, Agentic AI, LLMs, RAG, machine learning, and modern data platforms.
• Architect agentic systems, including orchestration, tool use, workflows, human-in-the-loop patterns, and enterprise integrations.
• Design scalable APIs, data flows, integration patterns, and cloud architectures connecting AI to enterprise applications.
• Establish sound approaches for AI evaluation, observability, security, governance, and production reliability.
• Prototype and build alongside engineering teams to validate architecture decisions and solve difficult technical problems.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to engineers, architects, and consultants.
• Partner with consulting and sales teams on discovery, solutioning, estimation, and complex client pursuits.
• Develop reusable patterns, accelerators, and technical approaches that can be leveraged across clients.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and help clients separate meaningful innovation from hype.
• Share knowledge across Improving through mentoring, workshops, technical discussions, and thought leadership.

What We're Looking For

• A strong foundation in software engineering, architecture, data engineering, and AI/ML, with a track record of leading complex enterprise solutions.
• Hands-on depth in Python and modern application architecture.
• Deep knowledge of Generative AI, Agentic AI, LLM application development, and RAG.
• Familiarity with frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Pydantic AI, Semantic Kernel, or similar technologies.
• Strong understanding of modern data architecture, including pipelines, embeddings, vector databases, streaming, and structured and unstructured data.
• Cloud expertise across AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud.
• Knowledge of enterprise APIs, integrations, distributed systems, and cloud-native applications.
• Understanding of AI evaluation, monitoring, observability, security, governance, and production reliability.
• Strong client-facing communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for both technical and executive audiences.
• A consulting mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity, make pragmatic technical decisions, and move from problem definition to working solution.

What Will Make You Stand Out

• Production Agentic AI and complex AI workflow delivery.
• Modern data platforms such as Databricks, Snowflake, Confluent, Neo4j, or similar.
• Technology consulting or professional services background.
• Technical discovery, solutioning, estimation, and consulting pursuits.
• Creation of reusable AI frameworks, accelerators, or reference architectures.
• Client workshops, technical writing, training, speaking, or other thought leadership.

What Success Looks Like

You’ll take AI opportunities from business problem through architecture and into production—creating solutions that are technically sound, secure, observable, maintainable, and capable of delivering measurable business value.

You’ll also make the people around you stronger by mentoring technical teams, sharing what you learn, and helping raise the technical capabilities of Improving.

Who You'll Be

You’re a technologist first, but you understand that technology only matters when it solves a real problem.

You can walk into an ambiguous client situation, ask the right questions, establish a technical direction, explain the tradeoffs, and help build the solution.

You’re curious about what’s next in AI without chasing every new framework that appears. You know the difference between an impressive demo and a production system—and you enjoy helping clients and fellow Improvers solve hard problems.