Principal Engineer

Wells Fargo • Charlotte, NC

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

Wells Fargo is seeking a Principal Engineer to join our Storage team within the FHO (Foundational Hosting Operations) organization. This role focuses on designing and delivering enterprise‑scale strategic initiatives in reusable tools and processes leveraging AI patterns that deliver business and customer value. This is a hands‑on Principal Engineer role for a technical leader who designs, builds, and scales our systems, storage, and patching platforms, while operating at enterprise scope. The Principal Engineer serves as a technical authority who codes, prototypes, and reviews architecture, not just oversees execution. In this role, you will: Act as a trusted advisor to leadership, guiding the development and influence of applications, networks, information security, databases, operating systems, web technologies, and emerging AI capabilities to address highly complex business and technical needs across multiple groups. Lead the strategy and resolution of highly complex, unique challenges through end‑to‑end solution design, including Generative and Agentic AI systems, cloud‑native platforms, and legacy modernization efforts that require long‑term vision, creativity, innovation, and advanced analytical thinking. Translate advanced technology expertise, deep understanding of enterprise business objectives, organizational structure, and the broader technology ecosystem into scalable engineering solutions, such as reusable architectures, AI-enabled platforms, and production‑ready systems. Provide vision, direction, and technical leadership to senior leaders on implementing innovative technical solutions, embedding AI and automation into product delivery workflows, decision support, and developer productivity while ensuring alignment with security, compliance, and responsible AI standards. Maintain deep awareness of industry best practices, emerging technologies, AI advancements, configuration mgmt., patch mgmt., and vulnerability mgmt., proactively recommending innovations that modernize operations, improve efficiency and quality, and create competitive advantage for the organization. Strategically engage with professionals and managers at all levels of the enterprise, serving as an expert technical advisor and escalation point for complex platform, data, and technology decisions while mobilizing and guiding large‑scale, cross‑organizational initiatives and communicating progress to executive leadership.

Requirements

• 7+ years of Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
• 7+ years of senior engineering experience, including architecture and hands‑on delivery of large‑scale platforms and systems
• 4+ years of experience developing or deploying AI‑powered tools, chatbots, LLM‑based automation, or agentic workflows, including understanding of AI risks, observability needs, and stakeholder communication
• 3+ years of hands‑on experience across Cloud architectures including Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, AWS, etc. and internal platforms such as Tachyon
• 3+ years of experience operating at both keyboard‑level technical depth and executive‑level technical storytelling
• 3+ years of hands‑on experience across Patch Mgmt leveraging Ansible, BigFix, WSUS, YUM and the like

Nice To Haves

• Experience working within agile product operating models in large enterprise environments, including agile software delivery and cloud infrastructure
• Financial services experience preferred; Business Banking domain experience is beneficial but not required
• Demonstrated ability to mentor senior and staff engineers, raising the technical bar of the organization
• Proven strategic thinking, analytical problem‑solving, and sound technical judgment in fast‑paced settings
• Proven experience with cloud infrastructure and containerization, including enterprise compute, storage, and IaaS environments
• Demonstrated curiosity and innovation mindset for advancing Generative and Agentic AI solutions within regulated enterprise contexts
• Strong organizational savvy and customer centricity, with the ability to navigate complex enterprise structures and align technology to business outcomes

Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to leadership, guiding the development and influence of applications, networks, information security, databases, operating systems, web technologies, and emerging AI capabilities to address highly complex business and technical needs across multiple groups
• Lead the strategy and resolution of highly complex, unique challenges through end‑to‑end solution design, including Generative and Agentic AI systems, cloud‑native platforms, and legacy modernization efforts that require long‑term vision, creativity, innovation, and advanced analytical thinking
• Translate advanced technology expertise, deep understanding of enterprise business objectives, organizational structure, and the broader technology ecosystem into scalable engineering solutions, such as reusable architectures, AI-enabled platforms, and production‑ready systems
• Provide vision, direction, and technical leadership to senior leaders on implementing innovative technical solutions, embedding AI and automation into product delivery workflows, decision support, and developer productivity while ensuring alignment with security, compliance, and responsible AI standards
• Maintain deep awareness of industry best practices, emerging technologies, AI advancements, configuration mgmt., patch mgmt., and vulnerability mgmt., proactively recommending innovations that modernize operations, improve efficiency and quality, and create competitive advantage for the organization
• Strategically engage with professionals and managers at all levels of the enterprise, serving as an expert technical advisor and escalation point for complex platform, data, and technology decisions while mobilizing and guiding large‑scale, cross‑organizational initiatives and communicating progress to executive leadership

Benefits

• Wells Fargo is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected characteristic.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed