REI
Senior Principal Software Engineer, Generative AI
Join to apply for the
Senior Principal Software Engineer, Generative AI
role at
REI Overview Join our innovative team at REI Co-op and be at the forefront of AI technology. You'll have the opportunity to shape the future of best-in-class omnichannel retail and customer experiences. If you are passionate about AI and thrive in a dynamic, collaborative environment, we want to hear from you. We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced
Senior Principal Engineer
to lead our Generative AI initiatives. In this role, you will act as an AI expert and thought leader, defining the strategy and technical roadmap for AI at REI. You will be a key influencer in our AI transformation, ensuring the ethical, performant, and innovative use of AI technologies, including ML, NLP, LLM, and Generative AI. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality AI solutions that meet our business needs and significantly impact both customer and employee experiences.
Responsibilities
Strategy & Architecture: Define and lead REI's Generative AI strategy and roadmap, translating business objectives into scalable, actionable initiatives.
Technical Leadership: Engineer and oversee the implementation of core Generative AI platforms, models, and integrations, ensuring they are robust, secure, and align with REI's technology stack.
Innovation: Stay at the forefront of Generative AI advancements, identifying emerging technologies, and assessing their applicability to REI's unique needs.
Mentorship & Best Practices: Establish coding standards, model evaluation methodologies, responsible AI guidelines, and MLOps practices. You will also mentor and upskill engineering teams across various departments.
Cross-Functional Influence: Collaborate with Product, Merchandising, Marketing, and Operations to identify high-impact use cases and drive successful pilot programs and widespread adoption of AI solutions.
Reliability: Participate in 24/7 incident response for AI systems, ensuring reliability and performance.
Principal level context
Strategic Vision: Set long-term direction and define patterns for future scalable Gen AI solutions.
Complexity & Risk Mitigation: Navigate technical complexity, ethics, and data governance; implement robust safeguards.
Influence & Standardization: Drive adoption across engineering teams and establish company-wide standards for Gen AI.
Mentorship & Team Growth: Mentor engineers, build internal capability, and attract specialized talent.
Immediate Impact: Assess current state, identify critical paths, and initiate high-value projects with minimal oversight.
What You Bring
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years specializing in AI/ML systems.
Extensive experience with AI/ML frameworks and libraries such as TensorFlow and PyTorch.
Deep proficiency in Python, with a proven understanding of the full machine learning lifecycle, from data engineering to model deployment.
Expertise in CI/CD for ML (MLOps), including tools like MLflow, Kubeflow, or Argo.
Experience with cloud-based AI platforms (e.g., AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, GCP Vertex AI).
A proven grasp of AI ethics, fairness, and interpretability.
Proven experience leading AI projects in large-scale enterprise environments.
Exceptional problem-solving skills and the ability to think critically and strategically.
Exceptional communication and leadership skills with a proven ability to influence and mentor teams.
Core Technical Expertise
10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years specializing in building and deploying AI/ML systems at scale.
Deep Generative AI & Large Language Model (LLM) Expertise
Experience with modern Generative AI development frameworks and tools (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex).
Deep understanding of LLM architectures (e.g., GPT, BERT, T5) and the ability to train, fine-tune, and deploy these models.
Proficiency in Prompt Engineering and model control.
Experience with retrieval systems and architectures like RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), including vector databases.
AI/ML Frameworks & Languages: Python; PyTorch; TensorFlow.
MLOps & Productionization: Full ML lifecycle, CI/CD for ML, scalable production pipelines.
Cloud AI Platforms: AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, GCP Vertex AI.
Distributed computing & large-scale data handling.
Experience With AI Agent Platforms
Direct experience building agents and intelligent applications using leading AI platforms and services.
Microsoft Copilot Studio, Anthropic Claude, Amazon Bedrock Agents, Google Vertex AI Agent Builder experience.
Architectural & Strategic Skills
Architectural Leadership: Design end-to-end AI/ML systems integrated into the enterprise tech stack.
Strategic Vision: Translate complex problems into long-term technical roadmaps for Generative AI.
Data & Infrastructure: Data engineering, governance, and supporting infrastructure for large-scale AI.
Leadership & Soft Skills
Mentorship & Influence: Guide senior engineers and influence direction across teams.
Communication: Explain complex tech to non-technical stakeholders.
Responsible AI: Ethics, bias mitigation, fairness, and interpretability.
Problem-Solving: Navigate ambiguity and solve complex technical challenges.
Closing
At REI, we believe the outdoors is for all. We are committed to becoming a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization. We value diversity and seek employees who contribute to a culture of respect and inclusion. Benefits support your whole life.
Pay Transparency
REI provides a range of compensation for roles that may be hired in locations with pay transparency requirements. Pay ranges are influenced by skills, experience, and location. REI offers benefits including a generous employee discount, health benefits, retirement savings, and accrued time off.
Pay Range
$144,000.00 - $244,800.00 per year
Additional job details
Employment type: Full-time
Job function: Information Technology
Industries: Retail
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Join to apply for the
Senior Principal Software Engineer, Generative AI
role at
REI Overview Join our innovative team at REI Co-op and be at the forefront of AI technology. You'll have the opportunity to shape the future of best-in-class omnichannel retail and customer experiences. If you are passionate about AI and thrive in a dynamic, collaborative environment, we want to hear from you. We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced
Senior Principal Engineer
to lead our Generative AI initiatives. In this role, you will act as an AI expert and thought leader, defining the strategy and technical roadmap for AI at REI. You will be a key influencer in our AI transformation, ensuring the ethical, performant, and innovative use of AI technologies, including ML, NLP, LLM, and Generative AI. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality AI solutions that meet our business needs and significantly impact both customer and employee experiences.
Responsibilities
Strategy & Architecture: Define and lead REI's Generative AI strategy and roadmap, translating business objectives into scalable, actionable initiatives.
Technical Leadership: Engineer and oversee the implementation of core Generative AI platforms, models, and integrations, ensuring they are robust, secure, and align with REI's technology stack.
Innovation: Stay at the forefront of Generative AI advancements, identifying emerging technologies, and assessing their applicability to REI's unique needs.
Mentorship & Best Practices: Establish coding standards, model evaluation methodologies, responsible AI guidelines, and MLOps practices. You will also mentor and upskill engineering teams across various departments.
Cross-Functional Influence: Collaborate with Product, Merchandising, Marketing, and Operations to identify high-impact use cases and drive successful pilot programs and widespread adoption of AI solutions.
Reliability: Participate in 24/7 incident response for AI systems, ensuring reliability and performance.
Principal level context
Strategic Vision: Set long-term direction and define patterns for future scalable Gen AI solutions.
Complexity & Risk Mitigation: Navigate technical complexity, ethics, and data governance; implement robust safeguards.
Influence & Standardization: Drive adoption across engineering teams and establish company-wide standards for Gen AI.
Mentorship & Team Growth: Mentor engineers, build internal capability, and attract specialized talent.
Immediate Impact: Assess current state, identify critical paths, and initiate high-value projects with minimal oversight.
What You Bring
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years specializing in AI/ML systems.
Extensive experience with AI/ML frameworks and libraries such as TensorFlow and PyTorch.
Deep proficiency in Python, with a proven understanding of the full machine learning lifecycle, from data engineering to model deployment.
Expertise in CI/CD for ML (MLOps), including tools like MLflow, Kubeflow, or Argo.
Experience with cloud-based AI platforms (e.g., AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, GCP Vertex AI).
A proven grasp of AI ethics, fairness, and interpretability.
Proven experience leading AI projects in large-scale enterprise environments.
Exceptional problem-solving skills and the ability to think critically and strategically.
Exceptional communication and leadership skills with a proven ability to influence and mentor teams.
Core Technical Expertise
10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years specializing in building and deploying AI/ML systems at scale.
Deep Generative AI & Large Language Model (LLM) Expertise
Experience with modern Generative AI development frameworks and tools (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex).
Deep understanding of LLM architectures (e.g., GPT, BERT, T5) and the ability to train, fine-tune, and deploy these models.
Proficiency in Prompt Engineering and model control.
Experience with retrieval systems and architectures like RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), including vector databases.
AI/ML Frameworks & Languages: Python; PyTorch; TensorFlow.
MLOps & Productionization: Full ML lifecycle, CI/CD for ML, scalable production pipelines.
Cloud AI Platforms: AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, GCP Vertex AI.
Distributed computing & large-scale data handling.
Experience With AI Agent Platforms
Direct experience building agents and intelligent applications using leading AI platforms and services.
Microsoft Copilot Studio, Anthropic Claude, Amazon Bedrock Agents, Google Vertex AI Agent Builder experience.
Architectural & Strategic Skills
Architectural Leadership: Design end-to-end AI/ML systems integrated into the enterprise tech stack.
Strategic Vision: Translate complex problems into long-term technical roadmaps for Generative AI.
Data & Infrastructure: Data engineering, governance, and supporting infrastructure for large-scale AI.
Leadership & Soft Skills
Mentorship & Influence: Guide senior engineers and influence direction across teams.
Communication: Explain complex tech to non-technical stakeholders.
Responsible AI: Ethics, bias mitigation, fairness, and interpretability.
Problem-Solving: Navigate ambiguity and solve complex technical challenges.
Closing
At REI, we believe the outdoors is for all. We are committed to becoming a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization. We value diversity and seek employees who contribute to a culture of respect and inclusion. Benefits support your whole life.
Pay Transparency
REI provides a range of compensation for roles that may be hired in locations with pay transparency requirements. Pay ranges are influenced by skills, experience, and location. REI offers benefits including a generous employee discount, health benefits, retirement savings, and accrued time off.
Pay Range
$144,000.00 - $244,800.00 per year
Additional job details
Employment type: Full-time
Job function: Information Technology
Industries: Retail
#J-18808-Ljbffr