Principal Engineer

KORE1, a nationwide provider of staffing and recruiting solutions, has an immediate opening for a Principal Engineer - AI & Platform Architecture that is fully remote. Why This Role Exists We operate a large-scale, multi-tenant SaaS platform supporting thousands of enterprise customers across the United States. Our backend infrastructure - built on event-driven, serverless AWS architecture - powers critical operational workflows, real-time transaction processing, integrations, and customer lifecycle management at scale. Now, the organization is evolving toward intelligent automation and agentic AI systems: autonomous, tool-using services capable of reasoning over platform state, interacting with production systems, executing workflows, and learning from outcomes within established guardrails. This Principal Engineer will lead the design and implementation of these AI-driven systems while also shaping the broader architectural direction of the platform. This is a highly hands-on technical leadership role focused on production engineering, system design, AI orchestration, platform scalability, and operational reliability. This individual will establish the engineering patterns, architectural standards, and operational safeguards that enable AI-enabled automation to function safely and effectively in high-scale production environments. Scope & Scale Large-scale multi-tenant SaaS environment supporting thousands of enterprise customers High-volume transaction and integration workloads across distributed systems Complex API ecosystems spanning REST, SOAP, event-driven, and vendor-integrated services Large-scale data pipelines and cross-domain integrations supporting real-time operations What You Will Own AI Systems & Intelligent Automation Design, build, and operate AI-enabled workflow orchestration systems and intelligent automation services. Develop agent infrastructure, tool interfaces, evaluation frameworks, observability standards, and operational guardrails. Establish engineering standards for integrating AI systems safely into production environments. Drive architectural decisions around model orchestration, workflow automation, scalability, reliability, and cost optimization. Platform Architecture & System Design Lead architecture and migration initiatives across distributed services and platform modernization efforts. Design scalable patterns for feature rollouts, traffic management, deployment safety, and service decomposition. Own cross-functional architectural concerns including observability, security, identity management, and data architecture. Ensure platform reliability, maintainability, and operational resilience across evolving systems. Technical Leadership Mentor senior engineers and raise engineering standards across multiple development teams. Lead technical design reviews, architecture documentation, and engineering decision-making processes. Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Infrastructure, and Leadership teams to align technical strategy with business priorities. Help evaluate build-vs-buy decisions across AI, infrastructure, and platform tooling initiatives. Technical Environment Cloud & Infrastructure AWS serverless and distributed systems architecture including Lambda, EventBridge, DynamoDB, ECS/Fargate, Aurora/RDS, API Gateway, S3, and CloudWatch Infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD environments supporting enterprise-scale deployments Development Stack Python, Java (Spring Boot), and TypeScript/React ecosystems Experience navigating both modern services and legacy application environments AI & Workflow Orchestration AI workflow orchestration frameworks and large language model integrations Production AI infrastructure, observability, evaluation tooling, and operational safeguards Data & Integration Systems Event-driven systems and complex integration architectures Distributed data platforms, data pipelines, and large-scale transactional systems Multi-protocol integrations across APIs, messaging systems, and external vendor platforms First 12 Months Months 1-3 Learn the platform architecture, distributed systems landscape, and engineering workflows Evaluate existing systems and publish architectural recommendations for modernization initiatives Establish engineering review and technical governance practices Months 4-6 Deliver initial AI-enabled automation capabilities into production workflows Define scalable engineering patterns for intelligent automation and agentic systems Establish foundational observability, evaluation, and operational standards Months 7-9 Lead key modernization and migration initiatives from design through production deployment Implement scalable observability and operational monitoring frameworks Drive platform reliability and deployment safety improvements Months 10-12 Deliver additional production-scale architectural improvements and AI-enabled workflows Define long-term technical roadmap and scalability strategy Elevate engineering quality and architectural consistency across teams Requirements Required Qualifications 8+ years of software engineering experience, including significant experience in Staff, Principal, or Architect-level roles Deep hands-on experience designing cloud-native distributed systems within AWS environments Strong background in serverless architecture, event-driven systems, and scalable backend services Experience leading platform modernization or monolith-to-services migration initiatives Ability to operate both strategically and hands-on within highly technical environments Strong software design, architecture documentation, and cross-functional communication skills Experience mentoring engineers and driving technical alignment across teams Strong understanding of observability, operational reliability, and scalable system design Preferred Qualifications Experience in large-scale SaaS, marketplace, fintech, automotive, or transaction-heavy platforms Experience with AI-enabled workflows, intelligent automation systems, or LLM orchestration frameworks Familiarity with large-scale data pipelines, ETL systems, or data platform architecture Experience with identity/authentication platforms and enterprise security architecture Exposure to browser automation or complex integration workflows Benefits & Culture We are a fast-paced and collaborative technology organization focused on building scalable platforms that simplify operational complexity and improve customer outcomes.

We offer:

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage Employer-sponsored disability and life insurance 401(k) with company match Generous paid time off and company holidays High-impact technical ownership and architectural influence Opportunity to shape next-generation AI-enabled platform capabilities at scale Compensation depends on experience but is typically 220-250k

ABOUT KORE1

Specializing in professional and technical recruiting, KORE1 is committed to supporting top IT, Engineering, Creative, Scientific, Accounting and Finance professionals in their career paths. We build deep relationships with leading companies, connecting them to exceptional talent every day. With extensive industry expertise and unmatched opportunities, our goal is to provide a unique experience for our contractors and consultants as they prepare for their next role. We are passionate about matching the right people with the right companies. Kore1 provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Kore1 complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. Kore1 expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of Kore1's employees to perform their job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge.