Principal Engineer

Principal AI EngineerThe Principal AI Engineer is a senior technical leader within the central AI Engineering function, sitting at the heart of a hub-and-spoke Data & AI organization. This role owns the design and delivery of the enterprise generative AI platform, the foundational infrastructure that enables every AI use case across investment and corporate teams. You will architect and build production-grade platform capabilities including a multi-LLM gateway, hybrid RAG retrieval services, agentic orchestration frameworks, model registry, prompt governance, MCP integrations, and the end-to-end sandbox-to-production deployment pipeline: all on Databricks on Azure with Unity Catalog governance and MNPI-compliant access controls required for a private equity environment.This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will write production code, define engineering standards consumed by vertical spoke teams, and partner directly with AI Product Management, Data Engineering, and business stakeholders across the firm. Use cases span the full enterprise: deal execution (CIM review, IC memo drafting), portfolio operations (covenant monitoring, performance analytics), investor relations (LP reporting, fund commentary), legal and compliance workflows, and internal productivity tooling. You operate as the platform's technical authority, setting the patterns the organization builds on, not just reviewing them.The AI Engineering function (hub) builds and operates the shared platform. Vertical spoke teams in each investment vertical consume platform services and build vertical-specific use cases within the guardrails the hub establishes. The Principal AI Engineer is the primary technical authority for platform architecture and a key collaborator to vertical AI engineers.AI Platform Architecture & EngineeringDesign and build the enterprise generative AI platform on Databricks on Azure, covering model serving, retrieval infrastructure, agent orchestration, and deployment pipelinesArchitect and operate a multi-LLM gateway (e.g., LiteLLM or equivalent) with routing logic, cost tracking, rate limiting, and model failover across Azure OpenAI and other providersBuild hybrid RAG retrieval services: embedding models (e.g., BGE, OpenAI, or Cohere), Databricks Vector Search with Unity Catalog, structured extraction (Delta tables), and query routing across analytical, semantic, and hybrid modesDevelop a reusable agentic orchestration layer using multi-stage patterns (e.g., orchestrator, section, and editor agents) with schema-constrained outputs, token budgets, and verbosity controls, generalized to serve use cases across deal execution, portfolio operations, LP reporting, legal review, and productivity workflowsImplement a model registry, prompt library, and A2A (agent-to-agent) workflow framework as reusable platform primitivesBuild and maintain the data gateway link: integrating AI retrieval services with Gold-layer data products from the Data Engineering functionEstablish sandbox-to-production deployment pipelines for AI use cases, including evaluation frameworks, staged rollout, and rollback capabilitiesPlatform Governance & ComplianceImplement MNPI controls and information barrier enforcement at the retrieval and inference layer, ensuring deal-context separation across verticals in Unity CatalogDesign audit logging, access controls, and retrieval permissioning aligned with Legal, Compliance, Risk, and Cyber governance requirementsSupport the AI governance gate process: producing technical evidence packages for ARB and regulatory sign-off on new use case deploymentsMaintain observability across all LLM calls (e.g., Langfuse or equivalent): latency, token spend, retrieval quality, hallucination flags, and per-use-case cost attribution (AI FinOps)Hub Enablement & Vertical CollaborationDefine reusable platform patterns, APIs, and SDKs that vertical spoke teams consume to build investment-specific AI use cases without rebuilding core infrastructureProvide technical guidance and code review to vertical AI engineers, enforcing platform standards for chunking strategy, embedding choice, retrieval patterns, and agent designCollaborate with AI Product Management on use case intake, feasibility assessment, and translating business workflows into platform capabilities spanning investment, operations, compliance, and firm-wide functionsEngineering Standards & Technical LeadershipOwn the engineering standards for the AI platform across the organization: LLM integration patterns, RAG architecture conventions, agent design principles, evaluation criteria, and prompt governanceDrive technical decisions on model selection, framework adoption, and infrastructure rationalization maintaining a lean, production-grade stackMentor senior and mid-level AI engineers; serve as the escalation point for cross-cutting technical problems affecting multiple verticals or platform stabilityProduce ARB-ready architecture artifacts: reference diagrams, decision records, and technical design documents in the firm's documentation standardTechnical Expertise8+ years in software or data engineering; 4+ years focused on ML/AI platform engineering or LLM application developmentDeep hands-on experience with Databricks (Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Model Serving, Vector Search) on Azure, or directly comparable lakehouse and model-serving platforms.Production experience building RAG pipelines: embedding models (e.g., BGE, OpenAI, Cohere), vector databases, hybrid retrieval, chunking strategy for long-form documents (IC memos, CIMs, legal agreements)Strong Python engineering: API services (e.g., FastAPI), async patterns, prompt templating, and LLM SDK integration (OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI)Experience with multi-LLM gateway patterns and model routing (LiteLLM or equivalent)Familiarity with agentic frameworks and multi-agent orchestration patterns (LangGraph, AutoGen, or custom); understanding of agent verbosity and output quality controlProficiency with Azure services: Azure OpenAI, Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, Entra ID, Key Vault, Azure NetworkingMLflow or equivalent for experiment tracking, model versioning, and registry managementStrong DevOps fundamentals: CI/CD for ML/AI, infrastructure-as-code, container deployment, observability toolsDomain & Soft SkillsExperience operating in regulated industries (financial services, legal, healthcare) with data governance, access controls, and audit requirementsDemonstrated ability to translate complex business workflows into platform architecture, working directly with product management across investment, operations, legal, compliance, and IR functionsStrong written and verbal communication; able to produce executive-quality documentation and present to ARB/governance bodiesTrack record of setting engineering standards adopted across multiple teams, not just individual deliveryComfortable operating with autonomy in a greenfield environment, defining the path, not following onePreferred QualificationsPrivate equity, investment banking, or asset management domain experience. Familiarity with deal workflows (CIM, IC memo), LP reporting, portfolio operations, fund accounting, or compliance processesExperience with MCP (Model Context Protocol) gateway design or agent tool-use frameworksEvaluation framework experience (e.g., RAGAS, LLM-as-judge, or a custom eval harness) for retrieval quality and generation accuracyKnowledge of MNPI regulations and information barrier implementation in data platformsExposure to Langfuse, Weights & Biases, or similar LLM observability and tracing platformsPrior experience contributing to or leading AI governance gate processes with Legal, Compliance, and Risk stakeholdersCompensationThe anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Total compensation may also include a discretionary performance-based bonus. Note, the range takes into account a broad spectrum of qualifications, including, but not limited to, years of relevant work experience, education, and other relevant qualifications specific to the role.$275,000 - $350,000The firm also offers robust Benefits offerings. Ares U.S. Core Benefits include Comprehensive Medical/Rx, Dental and Vision plans; 401(k) program with company match; Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA); Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSA) with company contribution; Basic and Voluntary Life Insurance; Long-Term Disability (LTD) and Short-Term Disability (STD) insurance; Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and Commuter Benefits plan for parking and transit.Ares offers a number of additional benefits including access to a world-class medical advisory team, a