AI Engineer – Model Enablement & Operations

What You'll Do

As a Mid-Level AI Engineer on our Model Enablement & Operations (MOE) team within the Enterprise Data & Analytics AI Enablement family, you’ll work at the forefront of LLMOps, MLOps, and enterprise AI platforms. You’ll help design, build, and scale AI capabilities across the organization, enabling teams to deliver high-quality, reliable, and observable AI solutions. 

You’ll collaborate with a strong community of engineers and architects to develop systems that transform how we serve our customers through AI. 

Here are the key responsibilities: 

• Design and develop scalable machine learning and generative AI solutions, with a focus on reliability, monitoring, and quality  

• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines that integrate data, ML, and LLM services end-to-end  

• Partner with cross-functional teams to deliver AI solutions that drive measurable business outcomes  

• Contribute to enterprise and innersource platforms, improving reuse and reducing technical debt  

• Implement and enhance AI observability and model monitoring capabilities to ensure performance, stability, and risk mitigation in production  

• Develop reusable patterns, frameworks, and toolkits that enable teams across the enterprise to effectively adopt and scale AI solutions  

• Partner closely with AI Governance and Risk teams to establish guardrails, standards, and best practices for responsible AI development and operations 

Operating at the intersection of financial services and technology, Principal builds financial tools that help our customers live better lives. We take pride in being a purpose-led firm, motivated by our mission to make financial security accessible to all. Our mission, integrity, and customer focus have made us a trusted leader for more than 140 years. 

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field  

• 3+ years of experience in AI engineering, machine learning, or software development  

• Experience working with ML and GenAI frameworks and cloud platforms (AWS, including SageMaker and Bedrock, preferred)  

• Strong programming skills and experience building production-grade systems  

• Familiarity with data profiling, exploration, and visualization techniques  

• Experience deploying AI applications, including CI/CD and automation practices 

• Exposure to AI observability or model monitoring tools  

• Solid understanding of advanced analytics techniques and their real-world applications 

 

Skills That Will Help You Stand Out: 

• Hands-on experience building or contributing to a GenAI or AI application platform 

• Experience with model monitoring, evaluation, and performance optimization 

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for business partners 

• Exposure to enterprise or solutions architecture patterns  

• Experience mentoring or guiding junior engineers 

• Understanding of cloud data platforms and database concepts

 

Additional Role Details 

 

• This role is aligned to our AI Enablement and Model Enablement & Operations (MOE) function, with a strong focus on LLMOps, MLOps, and enterprise AI platforms 

 

Salary Range Information

Salary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.

Salary Range (Non-Exempt expressed as hourly; Exempt expressed as yearly)

$125000 - $165000 / year

Time Off Program

Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.

Pension Eligible

Yes

Job Level

 

We’ll consider talent at the next level with the right experience and skills. 

• The official job title for this position is Machine Learning Engineer II 

• For exceptionally strong candidates, we are open to consideration at a higher level based on experience and demonstrated capabilities 

 

Work Environment

 

This role offers in-office, hybrid (blending at least three office days in a typical workweek), and remote work arrangements (only if residing more than 30 miles from Des Moines, IA, Raleigh, NC, or Charlotte, NC). You’ll work with your leader to figure out which option may align best based on several factors.

 

Hours

This role will partner with our global teams and has an expectation for flexibility in your work schedule to have a regular start time around 7:30-8:00 am CST a few days a week.  

 

Work Authorization/Sponsorship

 

At this time, we're not considering candidates that need any type of immigration sponsorship now or in the future or those needing work authorization for this role. (This includes, but is not limited to students on F1-OPT, F1-CPT, J-1, etc.) 

Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants

 

Investment Code of Ethics

 

For Principal Global Investors positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.

 

Experience Principal

 

At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.

 

Principal 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, or veteran status.

Posting Window

We will accept applications for 3 full days following the Original Posting Date, after which the posting may remain open or be removed based upon applications received. If we choose to post the job again, we will accept additional applications for at least 1 full day following the Most Recently Posted Date. Please submit applications in a timely manner as there is no guarantee the posting will be available beyond the applicable deadline.

Original Posting Date

5/28/2026

Most Recently Posted Date

5/29/2026
AI Usage Posting Verbiage

Principal uses artificial intelligence tools to assist in reviewing and evaluating job applications, fraud prevention, and candidate matching and comparisons. These AI tools support our human recruiters in the initial review process but do not make final hiring decisions without human involvement. By submitting your application, you acknowledge this use of AI in our recruitment process. Please review our Workforce (U.S.) Privacy Notice for more details on our practices and your data privacy rights.

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