Principal AI Software Engineer

At Moody's, we unite the brightest minds to turn today’s risks into tomorrow’s opportunities. We do this by striving to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome to be who they are—with the freedom to exchange ideas, think innovatively, and listen to each other and customers in meaningful ways. Moody’s is transforming how the world sees risk. As a global leader in ratings and integrated risk assessment, we’re advancing AI to move from insight to action—enabling intelligence that not only understands complexity but responds to it. We decode risk to unlock opportunity, helping our clients navigate uncertainty with clarity, speed, and confidence.

If you are excited about this opportunity but do not meet every single requirement, please apply! You still may be a great fit for this role or other open roles. We are seeking candidates who model our values: invest in every relationship, lead with curiosity, champion diverse perspectives, turn inputs into actions, and uphold trust through integrity. 

Employment eligibility to work in the U.S. is required, as Moody's will not pursue visa sponsorship for this position.

Skills and Competencies

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years leading engineering teams and delivering complex, large-scale, multi-team initiatives with measurable business impact
• Experience leading multiple teams or groups of teams, including managing engineering managers, technical leads, and staff-level engineers with accountability for delivery outcomes across a portfolio
• Strong technical depth in TypeScript, Python, C#, or similar technologies, with the ability to engage credibly in architecture and code reviews, challenge design decisions, and assess technical risk
• Deep expertise in enterprise AI applications built on large language models, including agents, retrieval augmented generation, orchestration frameworks, model optimization, and evaluation frameworks
• Experience running AI systems in production at scale, including observability, cost and capacity planning, regression detection, and incident response for AI-powered applications
• Deep knowledge of cloud-native technologies, serverless applications, event-driven architectures, data and inference pipelines, relational, NoSQL, and vector databases, and modern software architecture patterns
• Proven track record of owning multi-year technical strategy and architectural roadmaps, guiding teams from AI prototype through production deployment, and influencing organizational change
• Deep expertise in artificial intelligence, with a track record of implementing advanced AI solutions to drive strategic transformation and operational efficiency. Strong experience using AI tools to lead innovation initiatives. Demonstrated leadership in managing AI-related risks, ensuring ethical governance, and fostering a culture of responsible AI adoption across the organization

Education

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience

Responsibilities

Lead the strategy, delivery, and evolution of mission-critical AI platforms and intelligent applications while driving engineering excellence across the Digital Content and Innovation organization.

• Define and execute long-term technical strategies while owning the multi-year architecture and technology roadmap for AI platforms and applications
• Lead, grow, and organize multiple engineering teams, including engineering managers, technical leads, and staff-level engineers, with accountability for delivery outcomes across the portfolio
• Drive architectural decisions, organizational alignment, and integration of AI-powered solutions using large language models, retrieval augmented generation, orchestration frameworks, and agentic workflows
• Establish engineering excellence through architecture reviews, code reviews, automated testing, observability, security standards, operational excellence, and machine learning operations practices
• Own budget planning and cost management, including headcount, cloud infrastructure, model consumption, tooling investments, vendor relationships, and build-versus-buy decisions
• Partner with product, business, risk, legal, compliance, and audit stakeholders to maximize customer value and implement responsible AI governance practices
• Attract, develop, and retain engineering talent through mentoring, succession planning, performance coaching, and the cultivation of future engineering leaders
• Define and report on key metrics that demonstrate platform adoption, delivery performance, reliability, cost efficiency, and measurable business impact

About the Team

Our Digital Content and Innovation team is responsible for building and deploying intelligent, AI-powered solutions that drive innovation across Moody's products and platforms. The team accelerates the development of next-generation analytical capabilities, enables smarter client experiences, and advances Moody's leadership in applied artificial intelligence. As Director, you will define the technical vision, guide strategic investments, build high-performing teams, and help transform applied AI into scalable, production-ready capabilities that deliver measurable value responsibly and at scale.

For US-based roles only: the anticipated hiring base salary range for this position is $191,500.00 - $277,600.00, depending on factors such as experience, education, level, skills, and location. This range is based on a full-time position. In addition to base salary, this role is eligible for incentive compensation. Moody’s also offers a competitive benefits package, including not but limited to medical, dental, vision, parental leave, paid time off, a 401(k) plan with employee and company contribution opportunities, life, disability, and accident insurance, a discounted employee stock purchase plan, and tuition reimbursement.

Moody’s is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender, age, religion or creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Moody’s also provides reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities or based on a sincerely held religious belief in accordance with applicable laws. If you need to inquire about a reasonable accommodation, or need assistance with completing the application process, please email View email address on us.fitly.work . This contact information is for accommodation requests only, and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications

For San Francisco positions, qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for employment consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

This position may be considered a promotional opportunity, pursuant to the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act.

Click here to view our full EEO policy statement . Click here for more information on your EEO rights under the law . Click here to view our Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination statement .

Candidates for Moody's Corporation may be asked to disclose securities holdings pursuant to Moody’s Policy for Securities Trading and the requirements of the position. Employment is contingent upon compliance with the Policy, including remediation of positions in those holdings as necessary.