Principal AI Engineer

Harnham - Data and Analytics Recruitment
Usa, United Kingdom
Today
US$250,000 – US$300,000 pa

Salary

US$250,000 – US$300,000 pa

Seniority
Lead
Posted
14 Aug 2026 (Today)

Principal Software Engineer

Remote (US East Coast preferred) | Up to $300,000 Total Cash Compensation + Equity

A great opportunity to join an early-stage AI software business at a defining point in its growth. As the senior technical leader within a small but rapidly expanding engineering function, you will have significant influence over architecture, engineering standards, product direction, and team development while remaining deeply hands-on in the code.

The Company

They are a profitable AI business helping organisations identify practical, high-impact opportunities for AI adoption and transformation. Their flagship platform combines data, process modelling, and AI technologies to create digital representations of organisations, enabling leaders to make more informed operational and investment decisions.

The Role

This Principal Software Engineer role is best suited to a hands-on technical leader who enjoys building, mentoring, and solving complex engineering challenges.

You will:

  • Lead the architecture, development, and scaling of a cloud-native AI platform
  • Act as the senior technical contributor across a multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, data engineers, and data scientists
  • Drive engineering best practices, software quality, and code review standards
  • Build and deploy production-grade AI and LLM-powered applications
  • Own technical decision-making across application architecture, infrastructure, and platform scalability
  • Partner closely with product and business stakeholders to deliver commercially valuable solutions
  • Play a key role in shaping the future engineering organisation as headcount grows

Your Skills & Experience

  • Strong commercial experience building software applications in Python
  • Experience as a Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, Technical Lead, Founding Engineer, or similar senior individual contributor role
  • Proven track record delivering production AI or LLM-based applications beyond experimentation or proof-of-concept work
  • Experience with modern LLM frameworks and orchestration tooling such as LangChain, LangGraph, or similar technologies
  • Strong understanding of multi-model AI environments and working with leading foundation model providers
  • Experience owning cloud infrastructure and deployment pipelines, ideally within Google Cloud Platform
  • Knowledge of services such as Cloud Run, BigQuery, IAM, containerisation, and CI/CD tooling
  • Experience working within startup, or other lean engineering environments
  • Interest in AI adoption, automation, analytics, or operational transformation projects

What They Offer

  • Up to $300,000 total cash compensation including bonus
  • High levels of ownership and technical influence
  • Opportunity to shape engineering culture, processes, and platform architecture
  • Greenfield environment with modern technologies and no legacy estate
  • Clear career progression as the engineering organisation scales

How to Apply

If you are a hands-on Principal Software Engineer with strong Python expertise, production LLM experience, and a passion for building and mentoring within a growing AI business, please apply for a confidential discussion.

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