Senior AI Architect

Baker McKenzie

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior AI Architect will serve as the Firm’s senior technical authority for the design, delivery, and operational readiness of enterprise-grade AI and Copilot ecosystems. The role-holder will bridge the gap between ambitious business concepts and secure, production-ready deployments within a highly regulated legal environment. The role-holder will set the architectural direction for the Firm, ensuring that AI initiatives—from early proof-of-concepts to global rollouts—are scalable, compliant, and tightly aligned with the Firm’s strategic objectives.

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field
Extensive experience in enterprise architecture, with deep mastery of Azure AI Foundry for agent development, workflows, and model access management
Proven experience architecting and integrating AI capabilities into web applications using React or Angular, with a focus on intuitive human‑in‑the‑loop interfaces
Strong full‑stack fluency across modern web technologies, including Python, TypeScript, JavaScript (ES6+), and CSS/SCSS.
Proficient across the Microsoft ecosystem, including Copilot Studio, Power Platform (Power Automate and Dataverse), and SharePoint Online
Expert understanding of authentication and security, including SAML, OAuth, identity management, and secure API integration
Demonstrated leadership across the software development life cycle (SDLC), successfully guiding multiple high‑visibility AI initiatives in fast‑moving and ambiguous environments
Experience operating within legal or other highly regulated environments, with a strong understanding of attorney‑client privilege, confidentiality, and data protection requirements
Able to communicate architectural risks and status to both technical teams and non‑technical partnership leadership

Nice To Haves

Advanced certifications in Azure Solutions Architecture, AI Engineering, or related disciplines are preferred

Responsibilities

Lead the architectural direction of AI solutions from concept through production, establishing reusable patterns for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and Agentic AI
Act as the primary architect for Azure AI Foundry, designing agentic workflows, prompt engineering strategies, and model evaluation frameworks
Translate complex business requirements into secure, well-governed architectures that comply with Firm-wide technology and security policies
Architect and govern solutions across Azure AI Foundry, Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, and Document Intelligence
Oversee the development of custom AI-driven interfaces and dashboards, ensuring seamless user experiences through modern frontend frameworks
Provide senior guidance on the design and implementation of custom AI agents, Power Automate flows, and complex API connectors
Establish architectural direction for environment configuration, permissions, and dependencies across Dataverse and SharePoint Online
Enable and govern the use of AI-assisted code generation tools and agents, including GitHub Copilot and Claude Code
Shape the Firm’s responsible AI frameworks, with a focus on model explainability, data residency, and ethical use
Partner with Risk and Compliance teams to support enterprise approval processes, including DNS/SSL reviews, security audits, and regulatory audits
Ensure all AI solutions are operationally supportable and production-ready, acting as the final escalation point for critical technical risks