Principal Enterprise Architect, AI Platform
About The Position
The Principal Enterprise Architect for the AI Platform is a high-impact leadership role responsible for the strategic technical vision of our foundational AI and Machine Learning systems. This leader will define the "golden paths" for AI development, ensuring our platform is secure, scalable, and governed while accelerating the delivery of GenAI, RAG, and Agentic AI solutions across the enterprise. As we scale personalization and intelligent automation, the AI Platform is mission-critical to our competitive edge. You will operate at the highest level of technical strategy, reducing architectural risk and complexity for systems that power millions of traveler interactions. This is a unique opportunity to build a world-class AI ecosystem from the ground up, influencing how every engineering team at the company leverages data and models.
Requirements
- Extensive experience in enterprise architecture, specifically within cloud-native distributed systems (GCP preferred) and high-scale AI/ML platforms.
- Deep understanding of modern AI patterns, including RAG pipelines, agentic frameworks, and the integration of large-scale data systems like BigQuery and Kafka.
- Skilled at bridging the gap between business intent and complex technical execution, influencing stakeholders across Product, Finance, and Engineering.
- Skilled at balancing the need for rapid AI innovation with the rigor required for enterprise-grade security, reliability, and cost-efficiency.
- Typically bring 12+ years of experience in software engineering and architecture, with at least 5 years focused on AI/ML or Data platforms at scale.
- Illustrated history of living the values of Customer, Innovation, Team, Accountability, and Trust.
Nice To Haves
- Masters or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or a related quantitative field.
- Deep experience with GCP’s AI stack (Vertex AI, GKE, Dataflow) or equivalent enterprise-grade cloud AI services.
- Experience in FinTech or high-volume e-commerce environments where AI drives real-time search, ranking, or pricing.
Responsibilities
- Shape AI Strategy: Develop the target state and reference architectures for the AI/ML Platform, aligning technical roadmaps with long-term business goals like personalization and intelligent automation.
- Establish AI Governance: Lead the codification of guardrails for the GenAI ecosystem, focusing on LLM observability, safety, prompt management, and cost awareness.
- Define Platform Standards: Deliver "golden paths" and reusable frameworks (e.g., multi-agent frameworks like LangChain/LangGraph) to improve developer productivity for AI use cases.
- Modernize Model Lifecycles: Standardize LLMOps and MLOps patterns using model gateways and automated pipelines (Vertex AI, Composer) to ensure governed, self-service access.
- Evaluate Emerging Tech: Lead build/buy/partner analyses for cutting-edge AI tools, including vector stores, evaluation frameworks (Arize, LangSmith), and distributed computing concepts.
- Influence & Mentor: Act as a strategic partner to senior leadership while coaching Principal and Staff engineers to elevate architectural practices across the organization.
Benefits
- Health & wellness coverage including medical, dental, vision, and mental health resources
- Generous time off including PTO, holidays, a company-wide Priceline Pause reset week, and paid volunteer days
- Work/life support including the ability to work up to 4 weeks per year from anywhere, parental leave, dependent care and family support resources, Summer Fridays, and office perks like stocked kitchens and catered meals (varies by location)
- Financial security programs such as retirement plans with company contributions, life and disability coverage, and tax-advantaged accounts
- Signature travel perks including employee-only discounts on hotels and flights, VIP deals, and Big Deal Bucks credits
- Additional perks & discounts like travel and partner discounts, tuition support, legal support, and pet benefits
- A people-first culture with Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), social events, recognition programs, and service awards that help you connect, grow, and celebrate together
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
