Principal Architect & Technical Team Lead

Principal Architect & Technical Team Lead

Location: Washington, DC

About the Role
We are seeking a Principal Technical Team Lead to drive the design, development, and deployment of our agentic AI products in a fast-paced, collaborative, extremely high-visibility environment.

In this role, you will lead a team of 20+ engineers, providing both strategic and technical guidance. You’ll be responsible for high-impact architectural decisions, cross-company collaboration, and executive level engagements. 

What You’ll Do

• Team Leadership: Lead and mentor a high-performing engineering team of 20, fostering a culture of technical excellence and ownership.
• Technical Direction: Guide your team through complex challenges involving LLMs, AI agents, and large-scale distributed systems.
• Executive Stakeholder Engagement: Represent Scale AI in high-stakes negotiations and strategic discussions with senior external partners, demonstrating strong technical competence and credibility.
• Strategic Planning & Communication: Develop and communicate a compelling vision for Scale AI’s technology applied to your program. Provide regular updates to senior leadership and key stakeholders on progress, risks, and opportunities.
• Culture & Teamwork: Foster a culture of speed, unity of purpose, resilience, and teamwork. Lead through uncertainty with determination and adaptability.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in a technical leadership or staff role.
• Deep understanding of modern AI/ML technologies, including experience working with LLMs and AI agents.
• Proficient in one or more modern programming languages (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript)
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Strong product and business sense, with a track record of aligning engineering efforts with company goals.
• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-changing environments and guide your team to do the same.
• Experience in executive level engagement with industry partners and Public Sector customers

Success Metrics

Within 6 months:

• Successful demonstration of agentic AI’s mission value in high-stakes customer demonstrations
• Establish Scale AI as the preferred agentic AI partner for the PEO
• Establish high velocity, agile engineering cadence both internally and with our industry partners

Within 12–18 months:

• Secure follow-on contract award with expanded scope for Scale
• Position Scale AI as the global AI leader in this mission area
• Establish developed solutions as Scale product offerings to deliver on future contracts

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position, determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You’ll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: Comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of Washington DC is:

$257,000—$321,000 USD

PLEASE NOTE:  Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, we believe that the transition from traditional software to AI is one of the most important shifts of our time. Our mission is to make that happen faster across every industry, and our team is transforming how organizations build and deploy AI.  Our products power the world's most advanced LLMs, generative models, and computer vision models. We are trusted by generative AI companies such as OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft, government agencies like the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, and enterprises including GM and Accenture. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status. 

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at View email address on swooped.co. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision . 

PLEASE NOTE: We collect, retain and use personal data for our professional business purposes, including notifying you of job opportunities that may be of interest and sharing with our affiliates. We limit the personal data we collect to that which we believe is appropriate and necessary to manage applicants’ needs, provide our services, and comply with applicable laws. Any information we collect in connection with your application will be treated in accordance with our internal policies and programs designed to protect personal data. Please see our privacy policy for additional information._