Principal Engineer (AI Engineering)

About this role:Wells Fargo is seeking a Principal Engineer (AI Engineering Productivity & Enablement) within Technology as part of COO (Chief Operating Office) Technology's Engineering Productivity & AI Adoption organization. In this highly visible role, you will lead the adoption and operational execution of AI-powered engineering tools across the enterprise, helping technology teams increase productivity, accelerate software delivery, and realize measurable business value. Partnering with engineering leaders, technical champions, platform teams, and analytics partners, you will drive enablement, adoption strategy, performance insights, and continuous optimization across solutions such as GitHub Copilot, Devin, Claude Code, and Cursor.Success in this role requires a blend of technology transformation leadership, operational excellence, and data-driven decision making. You will leverage adoption and engineering productivity metrics to inform investment decisions, identify opportunities to improve outcomes, and scale proven AI engineering practices that enhance how software is built across the organization.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 groupsLead 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 thinkingTranslate 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 solutionsProvide vision, direction and expertise to leadership on implementing innovative and significant business solutionsMaintain knowledge of industry best practices and new technologies and recommends innovations that enhance operations or provide a competitive advantage to the organizationStrategically engage with all levels of professionals and managers across the enterprise and serve as an expert advisor to leadershipRequired Qualifications:7+ years of Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, educationDesired Qualifications:Demonstrated experience coordinating a large-scale technology rollout across multiple business or technology organizations.Experience managing adoption operations, including user prioritization, onboarding, access readiness, usage monitoring, communications, and intervention routines.Strong analytical capability with experience interpreting adoption, utilization, delivery, and engineering productivity data.Ability to define dashboard requirements, validate data quality, analyze trends, and translate findings into leadership decisions.Working knowledge of AI-assisted and autonomous engineering tools such as GitHub Copilot, Devin, Claude Code, Cursor, or comparable platforms.Understanding of software delivery workflows, repositories, pull requests, engineering metrics, and common adoption barriers.Experience working through a distributed network of engineering leaders, champions, administrators, analysts, and vendor partners.Strong executive communication skills, including concise status reporting, decision framing, risk escalation, and actionable recommendations.Proven ability to operate in a large, matrixed, regulated enterprise with established risk, security, access, and governance requirements.Experience with developer productivity frameworks such as DORA, SPACE, or internal engineering productivity scorecards.Experience evaluating relationships between AI tool usage and delivery outcomes such as throughput, cycle time, quality, backlog reduction, and pull request completion.Familiarity with Power BI, Tableau, GitHub analytics, Jira, Azure DevOps, or equivalent reporting ecosystems.Experience operating a champion network, field enablement model, community of practice, or train-the-trainer program.Experience managing software licenses or technology entitlements based on utilization and business value.Familiarity with financial management, vendor oversight, pilot governance, or build-versus-buy decisions for engineering tools.Experience preparing executive-level updates for CIO, COO, finance, engineering, or transformation leadership.Prior experience in financial services or another highly regulated industry.Job Expectations:This position is not eligible for Visa sponsorship.This position offers a hybrid work schedule.Ability to travel up to 25% of the timePay RangeReflected is the base pay range offered for this position. Pay may vary depending on factors including but not limited to demonstrated examples of prior performance, skills, experience, or work location. Employees may also be eligible for incentive opportunities. $159,000.00 - $305,000.00Benefits Wells Fargo provides eligible employees with a comprehensive set of benefits, many of which are listed below. Visit Benefits - Wells Fargo Jobs for an overview of the following benefit plans and programs offered to employees.Health benefits401(k) PlanPaid time offDisability benefitsLife insurance, critical illness insurance, and accident insuranceParental leaveCritical caregiving leaveDiscounts and savingsCommuter benefitsTuition reimbursementScholarships for dependent childrenAdoption reimbursementPosting End Date:24 Sep 2026*Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.We Value Equal OpportunityWells 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.Applicants with DisabilitiesTo request a medical accommodation during the application or interview process, visit Disability Inclusion at Wells Fargo.Drug and Alcohol PolicyWells 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.SummaryLocation: COLUMBUS, OHType: Full time