Principal AI Software Engineer

Salary: $160000 - 267000 per year Requirements: We require a bachelors degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a closely related technical discipline. We need 10+ years of software development experience in a relevant language, along with experience in modern front-end frameworks such as React, Vue, or Angular and backend languages including Python, Java, Node.js, or Go. We look for a strong history of building and launching production-grade applications that use LLMs or AI services at scale. We require hands-on experience with vector databases such as Milvus, Pinecone, Weaviate, or pgvector, as well as advanced embedding optimization in production environments. We expect expertise with multiple LLM vendors and AI orchestration platforms such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, or custom frameworks. We need extensive leadership experience guiding technical teams, coordinating across functions, and mentoring engineers. We require expert-level cloud experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure, plus advanced container orchestration and deployment experience with EKS. We prefer candidates with 13+ years of full software development lifecycle experience, including architecture, technical leadership, and large-scale system tuning. We prefer deep knowledge of enterprise RAG architectures, semantic search optimization, and memory management at very large scale. We value experience integrating multimodal AI, fine-tuning models, and deploying custom AI solutions. We prefer experience using AI observability tools, cost optimization methods, and performance monitoring in enterprise settings. We value a track record of influencing roadmaps across organizations and shaping technical strategy. We require willingness to work from our Niskayuna, NY or Cambridge, MA office. For Cambridge-based candidates, we require a three-month hybrid onboarding residency at our Advanced Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. Responsibilities: We will have you define our AI technical direction and set architecture standards across products and initiatives. You will lead cross-functional efforts with product and data science teams to deliver enterprise AI solutions. You will design retrieval-augmented generation and agent-based workflows, while improving our LLM integrations. You will build multi-tenant, highly available systems with strong observability and operational reliability. You will establish standards for AI cost control, monitoring, and security. You will partner with engineering leaders to raise our practices in Agile delivery, testing, documentation, and secure development. You will mentor teams and help strengthen technical execution across research and product organizations. You will collaborate across teams to align priorities, influence direction, and advance our technology roadmap. Technologies: AI AWS Angular Azure Backend Cloud GCP Support Java LLM Python React Security Vue NodeJS Architect Computer Vision HTTP More: We are Halcyon Labs, and we offer a collaborative work environment focused on professional growth, challenging work, and competitive compensation. Our teams support autonomy and close partnership across research and product, and we provide relocation assistance, a discretionary annual bonus opportunity, and a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, retirement savings with company matching, tuition assistance, adoption assistance, paid parental leave, disability and life insurance, 12 paid holidays, and permissive time off. Our locations for this role are Niskayuna, NY and Cambridge, MA, and we support an immersive onboarding experience for senior talent based in Cambridge. We are an equal opportunity employer and make employment decisions without regard to protected characteristics. last updated 28 week of 2026