Principal Engineer (AI) for Database Technology

About this role:

Wells Fargo is seeking a Principal Engineer

In this role, you will:

• Act as an advisor to leadership to develop or influence applications, network, information security, database, operating systems, or web technologies for highly complex business and technical needs across multiple groups
• Lead the strategy and resolution of highly complex and unique challenges requiring in-depth evaluation across multiple areas or the enterprise, delivering solutions that are long-term, large-scale and require vision, creativity, innovation, advanced analytical and inductive thinking
• Translate advanced technology experience, an in-depth knowledge of the organizations tactical and strategic business objectives, the enterprise technological environment, the organization structure, and strategic technological opportunities and requirements into technical engineering solutions
• Provide vision, direction and expertise to leadership on implementing innovative and significant business solutions
• Maintain knowledge of industry best practices and new technologies and recommends innovations that enhance operations or provide a competitive advantage to the organization
• Strategically engage with all levels of professionals and managers across the enterprise and serve as an expert advisor to leadership

Required Qualifications:

• 7+ years of Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education

Desired Qualifications:

• 7+ years of overall technology experience in software engineering, enterprise architecture, platform engineering, database technology, machine learning, or AI-led transformation roles.
• 7+ years of experience in architecture and technical leadership, including defining technology strategy, target-state architecture, roadmaps, standards, and reusable engineering patterns for large enterprise platforms.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience in AI/ML, Generative AI, or intelligent automation, including architecting and delivering production-grade AI solutions that create measurable business value with integrations to enterprise approved AI tooling
• Strong expertise in Generative AI, Agentic AI, Machine Learning, LLM-based applications, RAG architectures, AI agents, knowledge systems, prompt engineering, model evaluation, and intelligent workflow automation.
• Proven experience designing and delivering enterprise-scale AI platforms and services, including reusable APIs, orchestration frameworks, developer toolkits, reference architectures, and common capabilities that accelerate adoption across teams.
• Deep understanding of cloud-native architecture, distributed systems, data platforms, API design, microservices, observability, scalability, reliability, and production deployment practices.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with executive leadership, business stakeholders, CIO organizations, architects, engineering teams, cybersecurity, risk, compliance, and governance partners to shape AI strategy and drive enterprise transformation.
• Strong knowledge of AI governance, responsible AI, model risk management, privacy, security, regulatory compliance, ethical AI principles, data protection, and operational risk controls.
• Experience evaluating and adopting modern AI technologies, frameworks, platforms, and vendors, including supporting build-vs-buy decisions, technology rationalization, cost optimization, scalability assessment, and total cost of ownership analysis.
• Ability to lead large, complex, cross-functional initiatives involving cloud platforms, data engineering, cybersecurity, enterprise applications, AI services, and automation platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to serve as a senior technical authority, providing architecture governance, design reviews, engineering guidance, mentoring, and thought leadership to senior engineers and architects.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and storytelling skills with the ability to translate complex AI concepts into clear business outcomes, architecture decisions, risks, and investment recommendations.
• Good understanding of database platforms like Oracle, PostgreSQL, MongoDB

Job Expectations:

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience building and deploying solutions using modern AI/ML and GenAI frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, LlamaIndex, AutoGen, CrewAI, Hugging Face, MLflow, TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar technologies.
• Hands-on experience with cloud AI services and platforms such as Devin AI, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Databricks, Snowflake, Kubernetes, OpenShift, or other enterprise cloud platforms.
• Experience implementing agent orchestration patterns, multi-agent systems, workflow automation, tool/function calling, memory management, contextual retrieval, and human-in-the-loop controls.
• Strong understanding of LLMOps/MLOps practices, including model lifecycle management, prompt/version management, evaluation pipelines, guardrails, monitoring, drift detection, observability, and automated deployment.
• Experience designing AI solutions for highly regulated environments, preferably in financial services, banking, healthcare, insurance, or other risk-sensitive industries.
• Working knowledge of cybersecurity architecture, identity and access management, secrets management, data classification, encryption, secure SDLC, vulnerability management, and threat modeling for AI platforms.
• Experience with enterprise knowledge management, semantic search, vector databases, embeddings, metadata enrichment, data lineage, and retrieval optimization.
• Proven ability to establish engineering standards, architecture guardrails, reusable design patterns, coding best practices, and governance models for AI adoption at enterprise scale.
• Experience leading innovation initiatives, proof of concepts, technology incubations, hackathons, or AI transformation programs that move from experimentation to production adoption.
• Strong vendor management experience, including evaluating AI platforms, third-party tools, licensing models, commercial terms, platform fit, operational readiness, and long-term maintainability.
• Recognized thought leadership through whitepapers, internal architecture forums, patents, publications, conference talks, technical communities, or enterprise-wide engineering leadership.

Posting End Date: 

*Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

We Value Equal Opportunity

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.

Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit, Market, Financial Crimes, Operational, Regulatory Compliance), which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures, appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations, timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues, and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring, governance, risk identification and escalation, as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business unit’s risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements.

Candidates applying to job openings posted in Canada: Applications for employment are encouraged from all qualified candidates, including women, persons with disabilities, aboriginal peoples and visible minorities. Accommodation for applicants with disabilities is available upon request in connection with the recruitment process.

Applicants with Disabilities

To request a medical accommodation during the application or interview process, visit Disability Inclusion at Wells Fargo.

Drug and Alcohol Policy

Wells Fargo maintains a drug free workplace.  Please see our Drug and Alcohol Policy to learn more.

Wells Fargo Recruitment and Hiring Requirements:

a. Third-Party recordings are prohibited unless authorized by Wells Fargo.

b. Wells Fargo requires you to directly represent your own experiences during the recruiting and hiring process.