Principal Artificial Intelligence Software Engineer

Alaska Airlines • Seatac, WA

1d • $141,250 - $211,900

About The Position

The Principal Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software Engineer is the company’s sole subject matter expert in production-grade AI systems, platform architecture, and applied AI governance. This individual contributor defines long-term strategy for AI adoption, technical standards, and cross-functional integration, and exercises considerable latitude and initiative to solve highly ambiguous, high-impact challenges that advance Alaska Airlines’ operational excellence, commercial differentiation, and AI maturity.

The role leads the architecture, development, and deployment of AI solutions and builds an organizational AI platform. It sets technical direction and engineering standards, guides cross-functional adoption and governance, ensures production excellence, develops technical talent, and drives research and experimentation with emerging AI technologies.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of software development experience, with demonstrated expertise in multiple programming languages such as Python, Java, Golang, C++, or similar.
• Bachelor’s degree focused in Computer Science, or an additional two years of relevant training or experience in lieu of the degree.
• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum age of 18.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

• At least 3 years leading technical architecture and design decisions for large-scale distributed systems, including evaluating emerging technologies and driving strategic platform investments through build-versus-buy decisions.
• At least 5 years designing, delivering, and operating production ML/AI systems, including at least 2 years working with generative AI such as LLMs, multimodal models, agent frameworks, tool-calling, or workflow orchestration systems.
• Track record of leading cross-functional AI initiatives from concept through production adoption and scaling, including establishing monitoring, evaluation frameworks, and continuous improvement practices.
• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field.
• Experience designing ML/AI platforms for organization-wide product and engineering teams.
• Published research, patents, technical blog posts, or conference presentations on AI/ML systems and architectures.
• Experience implementing AI governance frameworks, including security controls, risk assessment, and adherence to industry standards.
• Track record of evaluating build-versus-buy decisions and successfully adopting emerging AI technologies, such as transformer-based models, agentic tool-use patterns, or embedded inference, with measurable business impact.
• Experience upskilling engineering and product teams from traditional software development to AI-native workflows.
• Experience developing accessible technologies.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead end-to-end development and deployment of AI solutions using LLMs, generative AI, and agentic technologies, establishing reusable architectures and patterns that support automation, operational efficiency, and business outcomes.
• Design and build an AI platform that enables organizational self-service, owning system performance, reliability, and continuous improvement of AI capabilities.
• Solve ambiguous, high-impact challenges, including scaling AI from pilot to production, integrating AI into legacy operational systems, and defining governance for novel AI use cases.
• Make technical architecture, build/buy/partner sourcing, and AI initiative sequencing decisions based on business impact, technical feasibility, and organizational readiness.
• Influence cross-functional prioritization and adoption of AI initiatives across IT, business, and governance, risk, and compliance teams to support secure, compliant enterprise integration.
• Partner with Product Management and business leaders to integrate AI and generative AI solutions into product roadmaps while aligning technical feasibility and business value.
• Implement monitoring, evaluation frameworks, and optimization strategies so production AI systems meet or exceed performance targets and deliver measurable business results.
• Mentor technical talent, set engineering standards, and share knowledge to elevate the capabilities of the AI Engineering Team.
• Research and experiment with emerging technologies, new data sources, and advanced methodologies, and present findings to executive leadership.
• Embody the company’s leadership expectations to own safety, do the right thing, be caring and kind, and deliver performance.

Benefits

• Free standby travel privileges on Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Horizon Air.
• Comprehensive well-being programs, including medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Generous 401(k) match program.
• Annual bonus plans.
• Generous holiday and paid time off.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal