Senior Staff Software Engineer - Agentic AI

ServiceNow•Santa Clara, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Staff Engineer (IC5) who will set the technical vision and architecture across AI-native and cloud-native systems. The IC5 engineer is a strategic technical leader who drives innovation, shapes engineering culture, and influences the direction of the platform. They work on the highest-impact, most complex problems—defining approaches for novel AI/ML challenges, establishing best practices at scale, and ensuring the organization's technical strategy aligns with business objectives. This role combines deep technical expertise with broad systems thinking, organizational influence, and the ability to mentor and develop senior engineers. IC5 engineers are trusted advisors to leadership and across the organization.

Requirements

12+ years of software development experience with a Bachelor's degree; OR 8+ years with a Master's degree; OR 5+ years with a PhD; OR equivalent work experience
4+ years in cloud-native and AI-native systems or equivalent senior-level roles
5+ years of experience with LLM/AI systems at scale, including prompt engineering, agent design, retrieval systems, and production AI/ML services
5+ years of hands-on experience building and scaling systems with third-party AI/ML services and platform APIs across multiple cloud providers
3+ years of experience designing and building applications on platform-as-a-service or SaaS platforms; deep expertise with ServiceNow platform at scale
Expert-level proficiency in Python, Java, and JavaScript/GlideScript; deep expertise in ServiceNow scripting, APIs, and platform architecture
Demonstrated expertise in distributed systems design, microservices architecture, and large-scale systems
Proven track record designing high-performance, mission-critical data pipelines, embedding systems, and vector databases
Expert knowledge of LLM orchestration frameworks, RAG architectures, retrieval optimization, and vector database technologies
Deep expertise with cloud computing (AWS/GCP/Azure), managed AI services, and infrastructure-as-code
Strong background in Kubernetes, containerization, and cloud-native deployment patterns
Expertise in building evaluation frameworks, metrics systems, and production monitoring for AI/ML systems
Experience with and strong opinions about secure coding practices, responsible AI, and compliance requirements
Exceptional communication skills; ability to influence across levels of technical seniority and non-technical audiences; demonstrated customer engagement experience
Proven ability to lead large, cross-functional technical initiatives; track record of significant technical accomplishments
Strong background in software architecture, system design, and technical strategy; experience shaping platform strategy and roadmap
Experience mentoring senior engineers, engineering managers, or technical leaders
Experience leading customer-critical initiatives or providing technical leadership on strategic accounts

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or related field; advanced degree or significant AI/ML research/publications is a plus
Active engagement with the broader engineering and AI/ML community (conferences, publications, open-source, etc.)
Demonstrated thought leadership in AI-native development, cloud architecture, or software engineering

Responsibilities

Define technical vision and strategy for AI-native and cloud-native systems; establish multi-year technology roadmaps and architectural patterns
Lead the development of core platforms and infrastructure that enable AI-native development at scale (evaluation frameworks, monitoring, security, deployment)
Drive adoption of emerging AI/ML technologies, frameworks, and best practices; assess new services and tools for organizational fit
Establish and evolve technical standards, architectural principles, and engineering excellence standards across the organization
Own the technical roadmap for critical business initiatives involving AI; evaluate feasibility and set realistic timelines
Champion investment in foundational improvements (refactoring, testing infrastructure, monitoring, security) that have organization-wide impact
Influence platform-level decisions involving cost, latency, reliability, and model quality; balance business objectives with technical constraints
Stay at the forefront of AI/ML research and industry trends; translate research into practical applications for the business
Mentor and develop senior engineers (IC3/IC4) and engineering leaders; support their growth into leadership and architectural roles
Lead technical hiring; assess candidates at senior levels and contribute to building a world-class engineering team
Establish and enforce engineering culture focused on technical excellence, learning, ownership, and collaboration
Lead by example in code quality, testing discipline, security practices, and responsible AI principles
Support manager and team leadership development; provide technical guidance to engineering managers and team leads
Conduct architectural and design reviews; provide critical feedback that shapes the quality of technical decisions across the organization
Foster knowledge sharing through documentation, technical talks, open-source contributions, and community engagement
Create and refine career paths and professional development opportunities for engineering team members
Design and architect large, complex systems involving multiple teams, cloud infrastructure, and sophisticated AI/ML components
Lead the design of evaluation frameworks, observability systems, and production monitoring for AI-driven features at scale
Establish security architecture and responsible AI guardrails that scale across the platform
Design high-performance data platforms, embedding systems, and retrieval pipelines that serve organization-wide needs
Evaluate and guide adoption of new cloud services, managed AI services, and technologies
Drive architectural decisions that balance competing concerns: performance, cost, scalability, reliability, developer experience, and business value
Conduct research and prototyping on novel technical approaches; lead exploration of emerging AI/ML techniques
Lead root cause analysis and architectural reviews for critical incidents; drive improvements to prevent recurrence
Communicate technical vision and strategy to executives, product leadership, and engineering teams; influence organizational priorities
Partner with product, design, and domain specialists to define ambitious technical roadmaps aligned with business strategy
Represent the engineering organization in high-stakes customer and partnership discussions; build credibility and trust
Lead or contribute to technical due diligence for acquisitions, partnerships, and strategic technology evaluations
Translate complex AI/ML concepts, trade-offs, and limitations for audiences ranging from technical engineers to executive leadership
Advocate for technical health, engineering culture, and long-term sustainability over short-term pressures
Participate in industry forums, conferences, and communities; enhance the organization's external reputation
Lead technical interviews and design discussions; mentor interviewing skills across the engineering organization
Develop innovative solutions to the organization's most complex technical challenges, particularly around AI/ML integration and distributed systems
Prototype and validate new approaches; share learnings and best practices across the organization
Contribute to critical code paths and architectures; model best practices in code quality, testing, and maintainability
Build evaluation frameworks, monitoring systems, and testing infrastructure that scale across the organization
Implement security best practices, responsible AI guardrails, and compliance mechanisms that serve as templates for the organization
Work with cloud services, managed AI services, Kubernetes, and infrastructure-as-code at an architectural level
Troubleshoot and resolve the most complex production issues; establish practices to prevent future incidents
Contribute to open-source projects, research initiatives, or industry collaboration where aligned with business strategy
Define platform architecture and integration patterns for AI-native ServiceNow applications
Establish best practices and architectural standards for ServiceNow development across the organization
Lead technical decisions on ServiceNow platform capabilities vs. custom development trade-offs
Drive adoption of ServiceNow platform features and managed services; evaluate and recommend platform upgrades
Partner with ServiceNow product teams and technical account managers on advanced integrations and customizations
Mentor senior engineers on ServiceNow platform architecture and advanced development patterns
Ensure applications remain compatible with ServiceNow platform updates and evolution
Shape organizational approach to customer support and issue resolution; establish standards for response and resolution
Lead customer-critical incident response and complex troubleshooting; provide technical escalation path
Engage with strategic customers on technical topics, roadmap alignment, and complex integration challenges
Gather and synthesize customer feedback to inform product and platform strategy
Establish programs and practices that improve customer experience and reduce support burden
Work with customer success leadership to align technical capabilities with customer success metrics
Lead technical due diligence and support in customer selection and onboarding processes