Logo for Zencore

Principal Architect, AI/ML

Roles & Responsibilities

  • Master’s degree in Computer Science, natural sciences, mathematics, or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience designing and delivering high-scale AI/ML systems
  • Extensive senior/principal architect experience delivering complex, production-grade ML systems with measurable business impact
  • Deep hands-on architectural experience with at least one major cloud platform (GCP, AWS, or Azure); direct experience with Google Cloud (Vertex AI, GKE, TPUs) is a plus
  • Proven expertise in LLM optimization (quantization, pruning, LoRA) and high-performance serving (e.g., vLLM, TensorRT-LLM); experience with JAX, PyTorch/XLA

Requirements:

  • Serve as Zencore’s senior technical authority on practical AI/ML and oversee end-to-end delivery of professional services projects
  • Partner with sales and business development in pre-sales to scope opportunities, design solutions, and lead technical pitches
  • Architect secure, scalable AI solutions and guide clients beyond API integrations, with emphasis on privacy, explainability, and governance
  • Mentor customers and Zencore engineers on advanced topics (high-performance training on TPUs, efficient model serving, agentic systems) and contribute to internal best practices

Job description

Zencore is a fast-growing company founded by former Google Cloud leaders, architects, and engineers. We are seeking candidates with significant experience in AI/ML to join our team. Our engagements aim to eliminate obstacles, reduce risk, and accelerate timelines for customers seeking assistance with adopting and scaling modern AI solutions. We embed within customer teams to provide strategic guidance, facilitate technology decisions, and execute projects in a collaborative, co-development style.

As a member of our Cloud Engineering team, you will be working with fast-paced innovative companies, leveraging AI as the key driver of their transformation. Our clients will look to you as their trusted advisor, someone they can rely on and who will be there to help them along their AI journey. You will be expected to cover a large spectrum of technology topics like model optimization, high-performance training on specialized hardware (TPUs), efficient model serving (vLLM), MLOps, and complex agentic systems.

At Zencore, a Principal Architect is a key technical leader in our engineering organization and acts as an ambassador of our technical and cloud engineering expertise. Principal Architects at Zencore are able to navigate a broad technical range but are specialized in one or more domains. They are responsible for the technical oversight and end-to-end delivery of projects within our professional services business.

What you will do...
  • Serve as Zencore’s senior-most technical authority on the practical application of advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning.
  • Partner with the sales and business development teams in a pre-sales capacity to scope opportunities, design solutions for proposals, and act as the senior technical voice in client pitches.
  • Lead the architecture and design of sophisticated, secure, and scalable AI solutions for our clients, moving beyond standard API integrations to create genuine competitive advantages.
  • Collaborate closely with Cloud & Data Architects to guarantee the design and deployment of comprehensive client solutions.
  • Address the growing European demand for private, data-sovereign AI by designing systems that meet strict GDPR and data privacy requirements. Strive for model explainability and bias mitigation, ensuring solutions adhere to ethical standards and European safety guardrails.
  • Architect solutions for hosting, fine-tuning, and optimizing both proprietary (e.g., Gemini, Claude) and open-source (e.g., Llama, Mistral) models on hyperscaler platforms.
  • Lead clients in selecting optimal cloud-native technologies, prioritizing Google Cloud solutions for deploying and scaling production-grade agentic systems.
  • Guide and mentor customers and Zencore's engineering teams on advanced topics, establishing best practices for high-performance training (PyTorch, JAX, TPUs), efficient model serving (vLLM), and complex agentic systems (LangGraph, Langchain, Google ADK).
  • Devise the financial architecture of AI solutions by performing ROI analysis and implementing cost-optimization strategies to ensure large-scale deployments remain economically sustainable for customers.
  • Act as an external thought leader, contributing to the Zencore brand through blog posts, conference presentations, and community engagement.
  • Act as a "player-coach," providing hands-on leadership and fostering a culture of deep technical excellence in AI/ML.

  • Who we need...
  • Master’s degree in Computer Science, natural sciences, mathematics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience in designing and delivering high-scale AI/ML systems.
  • Extensive experience in a senior or principal architect role with a proven track record of designing and delivering complex, production-grade machine learning systems that have created measurable business value.
  • Deep, hands-on architectural experience with at least one major cloud platform (GCP, AWS, or Azure) is required.
  • Direct, hands-on experience with Google Cloud (Vertex AI, GKE, TPUs) is a significant plus.
  • Proven expertise in LLM optimization, including techniques for quantization, pruning, efficient fine-tuning (e.g., LoRA), and high-performance serving (e.g., vLLM, TensorRT-LLM).
  • Hands-on experience with high-performance ML frameworks (e.g., JAX, PyTorch/XLA) for training or fine-tuning large-scale models.
  • Expertise in designing and deploying agentic workflows using both code-centric (e.g., LangGraph, LangChain, Google ADK) and low-code (e.g., Vertex AI Agent Builder, LangSmith Agent Builder) paradigms.
  • A strong understanding of the architectural patterns required for building secure, private, and data-sovereign AI solutions.
  • Experience with LLM observability and evaluation frameworks (e.g., LangSmith, LangFuse, Vertex AI Evaluation).
  • Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts and their business value to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • A passion for mentoring and a drive for continuous learning in the fast-evolving AI landscape.
  • We are a fully remote company and offer competitive compensation and benefits.

    Zencore is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Zencore is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.

    Related jobs

    Other jobs at Zencore

    We help you get seen. Not ignored.

    We help you get seen faster — by the right people.

    🚀

    Auto-Apply

    We apply for you — automatically and instantly.

    Save time, skip forms, and stay on top of every opportunity. Because you can't get seen if you're not in the race.

    AI Match Feedback

    Know your real match before you apply.

    Get a detailed AI assessment of your profile against each job posting. Because getting seen starts with passing the filters.

    Upgrade to Premium. Apply smarter and get noticed.

    Upgrade to Premium

    Join thousands of professionals who got noticed and hired faster.