Staff Software Engineer

Pearson•Hoboken, NJ

9h•Hybrid

About The Position

Pearson Learning Studio is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the technical vision and architecture for our Guided Study platform. This role is designed for a deeply technical leader who thrives at the intersection of modern web architecture and emerging AI technologies, particularly agentic AI systems. You will serve as a hands-on technical authority, driving architectural decisions, mentoring senior engineers, and shaping next-generation AI-powered learning experiences.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in design, architecture, and development of web applications.
Strong hands-on experience in: Agentic AI systems
At least one Large Language Model (LLM)
Prompt Engineering
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Full-stack development expertise in: ReactJS
Java
Python
SQL
Demonstrated experience designing scalable, distributed systems.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and system-thinking capabilities.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.

Nice To Haves

Experience deploying AI systems in production environments.
Familiarity with vector databases and embedding pipelines.
Experience with cloud-native architectures (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
Experience in EdTech or learning platforms.

Responsibilities

Define and drive the architecture for scalable, high-performance web applications supporting Guided Study experiences.
Lead system design discussions and make strategic technology decisions across frontend, backend, and AI components.
Architect and implement AI-powered workflows using agentic AI frameworks and LLM-based systems.
Design and optimize data pipelines and backend services using Java, Python, and SQL.
Ensure best practices in scalability, observability, performance, and security.
Develop and integrate at least one Large Language Model (LLM) into production workflows.
Design and implement Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines.
Apply advanced prompt engineering techniques to improve learning personalization and response quality.
Evaluate emerging AI technologies and define roadmap integration strategies.
Lead frontend architecture using ReactJS.
Develop backend systems using Java and Python.
Design and optimize relational databases and complex SQL queries.
Ensure clean API design and seamless frontend-backend integration.
Partner closely with Product, Data Science, UX, and Content teams to deliver intelligent learning features.
Mentor senior engineers and influence engineering standards across the organization.
Contribute to technical strategy and long-term platform evolution.