Principal AI Engineer (Chicago)

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.Job CategorySoftware EngineeringJob DetailsAbout SalesforceSalesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.Software Engineering Principal AI EngineerThis is a hands-on Software Engineering Principal/Architect role embedded directly inside the Salesforce Marketing organization. You will act as the principal technical builder and architect who identifies the most time-consuming, repeatable workflows across Marketing — campaign creation, audience segmentation, content production, performance analysis and reporting — and designs and builds production-grade AI agents that own them end-to-end.This is not a Solutions Architect, pre-sales, IT, consulting, or marketing automation operations role. You report to Marketing leadership, sit with the Marketing teams doing the work daily, and are measured by concrete business outcomes: workflow hours saved, campaigns shipped faster, and error rates reduced — not tickets closed or systems documented.You are equally comfortable whiteboarding complex system designs as you are writing production code and shipping working agents. You bring deep software engineering rigor to marketing workflows, understanding that automation here is not purely technical — it must respect brand guidelines, creative judgment, legal/compliance requirements, and human decision points. You know exactly where to draw that line.Key ResponsibilitiesWorkflow Discovery & Architectural MappingPartner closely with Marketing strategy, operations, and creative leads to surface highest-impact, repeatable workflowsDesign comprehensive end-to-end workflow architectures, identifying automation boundaries, human-in-the-loop decision gates, error handling, retry logic, and fallback pathsPrioritize opportunities and maintain a clear technical roadmap that balances impact, complexity, and dependenciesSystems Design & Agent DevelopmentArchitect and build scalable, reliable AI agents that execute full marketing workflows (brief generation, audience building, content creation, approval routing, performance reporting, etc.)Design and implement distributed systems that securely integrate with Marketing’s existing tools: Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Agentforce, Slack, Google Workspace, and internal data platformsApply modern software architecture principles (spec-driven design, event-driven design, microservices patterns where appropriate, observability, fault tolerance) to ensure agents are production-grade and can scale with Marketing’s growing demandsShip high-quality, secure, testable code using current engineering practices while aggressively leveraging AI coding tools to accelerate deliveryMeasurement, Iteration & System ContextDefine and instrument success metrics for every agent (time saved, throughput, accuracy, cost, observability)Maintain and evolve a shared, explicit system context repository (architecture decisions, constraints, standards, domain knowledge) that enables reliable AI operationCritically review all code — whether human or AI-generated — for correctness, security, performance, and maintainabilityCommunicate technical trade-offs and architectural decisions clearly to non-technical Marketing leadershipRequired Qualifications9+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 4+ years explicitly in software architecture or principal/engineer-level rolesStrong experience designing and building distributed systems — handling concurrency, state management, fault tolerance, eventual consistency, and observability at scaleProven track record shipping production-grade software that real users rely on daily (not just prototypes or internal tools)Hands-on experience integrating enterprise platforms via APIs (Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, Slack, Google Workspace, or equivalent)Experience designing and deploying AI-assisted agents or LLM-powered workflows in production environmentsDeep comfort with modern development practices: automated testing, CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, security & compliance controlsStrong written and verbal communication — able to produce clear architecture diagrams, decision records, workflow maps, and stakeholder updatesPreferred QualificationsHands-on experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Agentforce, or the broader Salesforce platformBackground that blends deep engineering with product or operations exposure (founding engineer, early-stage startup, or similar)Salesforce certifications (Administrator, Marketing Cloud Consultant, Agentforce, etc.) are a plus but not requiredDemonstrated AI-first engineering mindset — extensive real-world use of tools like Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, etc., to move faster while maintaining qualityAdvanced skills in prompt engineering, system context design, and evaluation frameworks for reliable AI outputPassion for marketing technology and a genuine desire to amplify Marketing creativity and velocity through world-class software architectureIf you are a software engineering architect who loves building elegant, reliable systems and wants to apply that craft inside a high-impact Marketing organization, this role is for you. You will have significant autonomy, direct access to stakeholders, and the ability to see the business impact of your architecture and code immediately.Unleash Your PotentialWhen you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.AccommodationsIf you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form.Please note that Salesforce uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help our recruiters assess and evaluate candidates’ resumes and qualifications throughout the recruiting process. Humans will always make any candidate selection and hiring decisions. Please see our Candidate Privacy Statement for more information about how we use your personal data and your rights, including with regard to use of AI tools and opt out options.Posting StatementSalesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.

The typical base salary range for this position is $218,400 - $365,200 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $263,200 - $401,400 annually.

The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.SummaryLocation: New York - New York; Illinois - Chicago; Washington - Seattle; Indiana - Indianapolis; California - San FranciscoType: Full time