Principal AI Software Developer

Role Description

The Senior Principal Software Engineer/Developer will serve as a lead enterprise architect and AI engineering authority, responsible for defining and delivering large-scale, mission-critical AI-enabled systems for HUD and the AIR platform. This role goes beyond hands-on development to include:

• Enterprise-wide technical strategy
• Cross-program architecture leadership
• Executive-level stakeholder engagement
• AI governance and innovation leadership in federal environments

Responsibilities include:

• Serve as the primary technical authority across multiple programs, defining AI and application architecture strategy at the enterprise level
• Establish long-term modernization roadmaps for federal systems, aligning AI adoption with mission outcomes and compliance requirements
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior federal stakeholders (SES-level and above) on AI strategy, system modernization, and technology risk
• Drive technical decision-making across portfolios, ensuring scalability, interoperability, and long-term sustainability
• Own end-to-end enterprise architecture across multiple interconnected systems, platforms, and programs
• Lead design of complex, distributed AI-enabled architectures, including multi-cloud and hybrid environments
• Define and enforce architecture standards, reference architectures, and reusable frameworks across teams
• Lead development of advanced AI solutions, including:
  • RAG systems at scale
  • Agentic workflows and orchestration frameworks
  • AI-driven automation across mission workflows
• Establish AI engineering best practices and standards across the organization
• Evaluate and lead adoption of emerging AI technologies, guiding pilots into production-ready capabilities
• Drive innovation initiatives tied to AIR platform growth and differentiation
• Oversee multiple concurrent development efforts, ensuring alignment with architecture, security, and delivery goals
• Provide technical leadership across integrated product teams, including architects, engineers, and DevSecOps specialists
• Ensure delivery of high-availability, production-grade systems supporting federal missions
• Serve as a subject matter expert in federal AI policy and governance, including:
  • NIST AI RMF
  • OMB M-24-10
  • EO 14110
• Establish and oversee organization-wide responsible AI frameworks, including:
  • Model evaluation and validation
  • Bias mitigation strategies
  • Explainability and auditability
• Ensure full compliance across programs with:
  • FISMA
  • FedRAMP
  • NIST 800-53
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility (Section 508)
  • Security mandates
• Lead large-scale legacy modernization initiatives, including:
  • Enterprise COBOL-to-Python transformations
  • Migration to cloud-native
  • Microservices-based architectures
• Define repeatable modernization frameworks and accelerators
• Oversee implementation of enterprise-grade DevSecOps pipelines and platform engineering practices
• Drive adoption of:
  • Advanced CI/CD automation
  • Zero-trust architectures
  • Secure supply chain practices (SBOM, scanning, policy enforcement)
• Mentor senior engineers, architects, and technical leads
• Build and scale high-performing engineering teams
• Lead technical hiring, workforce planning, and capability development
• Play a key leadership role in proposals, captures, and recompetes
• Serve as technical lead in client presentations, demos, and strategy sessions
• Contribute to thought leadership (whitepapers, architecture frameworks, innovation roadmaps)

Qualifications

• Proven ability to operate as an Enterprise architect, chief engineer, or technical director-level leader
• Strong executive communication skills with demonstrated success influencing C-suite or federal senior leadership
• Deep expertise in scaling engineering organizations and delivering across complex programs
• Ability to balance strategic vision with hands-on technical depth
• US Citizenship
• Bachelor's or master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field
• 12–15+ years of software engineering experience, including 6–8+ years in AI-enabled systems (LLMs, generative AI, applied ML in production)
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-scale architecture and multi-team delivery efforts
• Expert-level proficiency in Python and modern backend frameworks
• Full-stack architectures and modern front-end technologies
• Deep experience in Cloud-native platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP) at scale
• Multi-environment deployments in FedRAMP-authorized environments
• Extensive experience with AI/ML platforms (OpenAI, Bedrock, Vertex AI, etc.)
• Advanced AI architectures (RAG, orchestration, agents)
• Proven track record of leading large modernization programs (COBOL-to-modern stack transformation)
• Deep knowledge of NIST AI RMF and federal AI governance frameworks
• Secure software development in federal environments
• Strong experience with Microservices, APIs, distributed systems design
• DevSecOps and platform engineering leadership
• Prior experience serving as Lead Architect, Chief Engineer, or Technical Director on federal programs
• Active clearance (Public Trust, Secret, or higher strongly preferred)
• Prior HUD or federal civilian agency leadership experience
• Experience contributing to organizational AI strategy or product platforms (e.g., AIR-like platforms)

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Employee Stock Ownership Program
• FlexPTO
• Learning and development opportunities

Company Description

Pyramid Systems, Inc. is an award-winning, technology leader, driving digital transformation across federal agencies. We empower forward-thinking innovations, accelerate production-ready software, and deliver secure solutions so federal agencies can meet their mission goals. Voted a Top Workplace, both regionally (Washington, DC) and Nationally (USA) the past 2 years (2023 and 2024) based on the feedback from our employees, we are headquartered in Fairfax, VA. and have a growing national footprint.