Principal Engineer- AI Platform Architect

When you join VerizonYou want more out of a career. A place to share your ideas freely — even if they’re daring or different. Where the true you can learn, grow, and thrive. At Verizon, we power and empower how people live, work and play by connecting them to what brings them joy. We do what we love — driving innovation, creativity, and impact in the world. Our V Team is a community of people who anticipate, lead, and believe that listening is where learning begins. In crisis and in celebration, we come together — lifting our communities and building trust in how we show up, everywhere & always. Want in? Join the #VTeamLife.What you’ll be doing…As the Principal Architect for Verizon’s Enterprise AI Platform, you will provide technical leadership for a comprehensive 5-layer architecture serving all global business units. Your primary mandate is to ensure architectural coherence across the ecosystem, aligning Gateway routing with the Registry’s RBAC models, integrating the ADLC pipeline with established guardrail frameworks, and providing end-to-end token visibility for FinOps. In this capacity, you will author Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), spearhead Architecture Review Board (ARB) submissions, and conduct rigorous build-vs-buy analyses supported by multi-year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) models. This principal-level individual contributor role requires the ability to exert technical influence and drive consensus across the organization through design excellence and strategic vision.Direct the 5-layer architecture stack — Encompassing Model Foundation, Agent Factory, Agent Runtime, Experience, and Control Plane layers. Responsibilities include defining formal layer boundaries, interface contracts, and interaction patterns to ensure platform scalability. Establish and govern architectural standards — Defining API conventions, enterprise security patterns, and observability requirements. Lead component reviews and provide consultative oversight for Business Unit agent architectures to ensure platform alignment.Lead technical strategy and procurement evaluations — Executing complex build-vs-buy analyses for platform components and develop comprehensive 3-year TCO models. Formulate multi-cloud strategies balancing central platform services with decentralized requirements.Architect enterprise security and governance frameworks — Designing multi-stage security flows encompassing identity, authentication, execution safety, and audit. Engineer Responsible AI (RAI) guardrail architectures and ensure compliance with emerging international regulations. Stakeholder engagement and pattern evangelization — Collaborating with executive leadership and external cloud partners on capacity planning and integration. Contribute high-impact reference architectures to the enterprise library to drive architectural maturity. What we’re looking for…What you'll be doing…Principal-level architect with a demonstrated focus on technical interface contracts and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) modeling. Candidates must possess a proven history of designing scalable distributed platforms and establishing architectural credibility with both executive leadership and engineering teams through rigorous Architecture Decision Records (ADRs). Deep technical proficiency in Large Language Model (LLM) architecture—including attention mechanisms, KV-cache, context windows, and token economics—is required, alongside the ability to substantiate build-vs-buy recommendations with robust, 3-year financial models. This position demands the agility to navigate rapidly evolving AI technologies and the ability to drive strategic consensus and influence technical direction across the organization.You’ll need to have:Bachelor's degree or four or more years of work experience.Six or more years of relevant experience required, demonstrated through one or a combination of work and/or military experience, or specialized training.Experience in software or platform architecture, with designing AI/ML systems.Experience as a system-level architect with proven ADRs and reference architectures.Experience with agentic development and design patterns. (LangGraph and Google ADK)Experience with distributed systems: service mesh, API gateways, event-driven patterns, multi-tenancy, and data isolation.Experience with Kubernetes at enterprise scale.Experience with LLM architecture — transformers, attention, KV-cache, context windows, token economics, and routing patterns.Experience in multi-cloud environments (GCP and AWS).Experience with API platform design: OpenAI-compatible interfaces, SDK design, developer experience.Experience presenting architecture recommendations to VP/SVP-level leadership.Even better if you have one or more of the following:A Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or an MBA.Experience architecting agentic AI systems — agent runtimes, multi-agent orchestration, memory systems.Experience with security architecture: zero-trust (SPIFFE/SPIRE), mTLS, OPA, Vault, and regulated environments (CPNI, PCI-DSS).Experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol) and A2A (Agent-to-Agent) protocol design.Experience designing RAG architectures (vector databases, hybrid search, re-ranking).Experience with MLOps/LLMOps at scale (model registry, RLHF/RLAIF).Experience with FinOps at scale — unit economics for AI workloads.Telecom or regulated enterprise architecture background.Experience architecting OpenTelemetry-based observability platforms.Published architecture writing or open-source AI/ML contributions.Certifications: AWS Solutions Architect Professional, GCP Professional Cloud Architect.If Verizon and this role sound like a fit for you, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every “even better” qualification listed above.Where you’ll be workingIn this hybrid role, you'll have a defined work location that includes working from home and a minimum of three days per week in the office, which will be set by your manager. Employees are responsible for maintaining compliance with hybrid work policies.Scheduled Weekly Hours40Equal Employment OpportunityVerizon is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to veteran status, disability or other legally protected characteristics.Benefits and CompensationOur benefits are designed to help you move forward in your career, and in areas of your life outside of Verizon. From health and wellness benefit options including: medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, AD&D insurance, identity theft protection, pet insurance and group home & auto insurance. We also offer a matched 401(k) savings plan, up to 8 company paid holidays per year and up to 6 personal days per year, paid parental leave, adoption assistance and tuition assistance, plus other incentives, we’ve got you covered with our award-winning total rewards package. Depending on the role, employees have the opportunity to receive compensation in the form of premium pay such as overtime, shift differential, holiday pay, allowances, etc. Newly hired employees receive up to 15 days of vacation per year, which grows with additional service. For part-timers, your coverage will vary as you may be eligible for some of these benefits depending on your individual circumstances.The salary will vary depending on your location and confirmed job-related skills and experience. This is an incentive based position with the potential to earn more. For part-time roles, your compensation will be adjusted to reflect your hours.The annual salary range for the location(s) listed on this job requisition based on a full-time schedule is: $120,500.00 - $231,000.00.SummaryLocation: Irving, Texas; Basking Ridge, New JerseyType: Full time