Senior Software Engineer II – Enterprise AI Consulting & Embedded Experts

What You'll Do We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer II to join our AI Enablement product family within the Consulting & Embedded Experts team. In this role, you will operate as a trusted technical advisor and hands-on engineer, partnering directly with product and business teams to accelerate the safe, secure, and scalable adoption of AI across the enterprise. Rather than owning a single product, you will embed with teams, shape solutions, and help scale AI capability through reusable patterns, platforms, and accelerators aligned to enterprise strategy. Drive AI Adoption & Business Value • Partner with product and business teams to identify and deliver high-impact AI use cases aligned to enterprise priorities • Translate ambiguous business problems into practical, production-ready AI solutions • Focus on delivering value aligned to measurable outcomes and ROI Embed with Teams as a Technical Expert • Act as an embedded engineer/architect within delivery teams to accelerate AI solution design and implementation • Bridge the gap between central AI enablement capabilities and domain-specific business needs • Collaborate in a federated operating model, enabling teams while maintaining enterprise standards Build & Scale Reusable AI Capabilities • Contribute to and leverage enterprise AI platforms, MLOps/LLMOps capabilities, and reusable accelerators • Create reusable patterns (e.g., RAG architectures, evaluation frameworks, guardrails) that reduce time-to-market and cost • Help drive critical mass adoption of AI platforms across engineering teams Ensure Safe, Secure, and Sustainable AI • Design AI solutions that meet enterprise standards for security, governance, and responsible AI • Implement guardrails, evaluation strategies, and monitoring to ensure trusted AI outcomes and customer protection • Champion sustainable engineering practices including reusability, scalability, and governance alignment Shape Technical Direction & Capability Maturity • Assess emerging AI technologies and guide teams on when and how to adopt them responsibly • Help teams move up the AI maturity curve—from point solutions to enterprise-scale, embedded AI capabilities • Influence architecture decisions that enable long-term transformation, not just short-term delivery Enable & Elevate Others • Mentor engineers and product teams on AI best practices, architecture, and delivery approaches • Act as a force multiplier, enabling teams rather than becoming a bottleneck • Contribute to internal knowledge sharing, playbooks, and AI community building (e.g., demos, patterns, guidance) About AI Enablement Our mission is to drive enterprise AI innovation through scalable platforms, reusable patterns, and strategic implementation, empowering teams to deliver secure, high-value AI solutions at scale. We focus on: • Expanding workforce adoption of AI through accessible, secure capabilities • Providing engineer-friendly platforms and patterns to accelerate delivery • Delivering business-aligned use cases that create measurable value Who You Are • Associate's or Bachelor's degree (preference in a science, technology, engineering, or math) or equivalent work experience • 8+ years of engineering experience, including building and scaling distributed systems • 5+ years of experience working with cloud platforms is required (AWS preferred but open to others) • 5+ years of experience of working with modern data/AI architectures is required. • Experience working in complex, matrixed environments with multiple stakeholders • Strong ability to operate in ambiguity and move between strategy and hands-on delivery • Proven ability to influence without authority and drive adoption across teams • Excellent communication skills—able to translate between technical and business audiences Skills That Will Help You Stand Out • Experience building AI/ML or GenAI solutions in production environments • Familiarity with LLMOps, MLOps, evaluation frameworks, and AI guardrails • Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS) and modern data/AI architectures • Background in solution architecture, consulting, or platform engineering • Experience building reusable frameworks, accelerators, or internal 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) $127000 - $152000 / 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 Work Environment This role offers in-office and hybrid (blending at least three office days in a typical workweek), in Des Moines, IA 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 5/29/2026 Most Recently Posted Date 7/20/2026 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. LinkedIn Remote Hashtag LinkedIn Hashtag