Principal AI Architect, Redmond

Location: Remote (Global) Supporting US Public Sector Clients Duration: Full-Time (Permanent) ONLY US CITIZEN ARE APPLICABLE. Job Overview & Description We are building a next-generation Vision AI software platform tailored for US public sector clients, including federal agencies, defense contractors, smart city initiatives, and critical infrastructure operators. The Lead Architect / Head of Architecture will serve as the technical authority responsible for designing and governing the end-to-end architecture of a distributed Edge AI and IoT platform. This includes constrained edge devices, GPU-accelerated inference on NVIDIA hardware, and scalable cloud orchestration and data pipelines. This role operates at the intersection of system architecture, security engineering, and product strategy, translating complex government requirements into scalable, secure, and high-performance technical solutions while leading a globally distributed engineering team. Roles and Responsibilities Platform Architecture & Technical Leadership Own end-to-end architecture across edge, on-premises, and cloud environments. Define system design, data flows, integration contracts, and reference architectures. Drive adoption of standards such as MQTT, VSS, OPC-UA, ONVIF, and NVIDIA ecosystem tools. Establish Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), technical roadmap, and technology governance. Identify and mitigate risks related to latency, bandwidth, model drift, and system reliability. Security & Compliance Architect systems aligned with NIST SP 800-171 and roadmap toward CMMC Level 2/3 compliance. Implement zero-trust architecture, secure-by-design principles, and cryptographic key management. Ensure supply chain security and platform integrity across all components. Develop system security documentation, SSPs, and compliance evidence for government audits. Engineering Excellence & Team Enablement Mentor and guide globally distributed engineering teams. Conduct architecture reviews, design sessions, and technical workshops. Define engineering standards including API design, Kubernetes orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and disaster recovery. Translate architectural vision into actionable engineering deliverables and epics. Client & Stakeholder Engagement Serve as senior technical advisor during pre-sales and onboarding phases. Translate government mission requirements into technical solutions. Participate in RFP responses, architecture briefings, and technical evaluations. Build relationships with technology partners including NVIDIA and cloud providers. Required Qualifications 10+ years of software engineering experience. 4+ years in a principal architect, staff engineer, or technical leadership role. Proven experience designing large-scale distributed systems with real-time or near real-time processing. Deep expertise in MQTT and at least one messaging system (Kafka, AMQP, ROS2). Hands-on experience with NVIDIA ecosystem (CUDA, TensorRT, Jetson, Triton Inference Server, NGC). Strong understanding of VSS or similar hierarchical data modeling standards. Experience implementing NIST SP 800-171 security controls in system architecture. Proficiency in cloud-native technologies: Kubernetes, Helm, service mesh, GitOps. Strong communication skills with ability to present to technical and non-technical stakeholders. Experience working with globally distributed teams. Required Skills Distributed Systems Architecture Edge AI & IoT Platform Design MQTT & Streaming Architectures (Kafka, AMQP, ROS2) NVIDIA GPU Computing (CUDA, TensorRT, Jetson) Cloud-Native Development (Kubernetes, Docker, Helm, GitOps) Security Architecture (Zero Trust, Encryption, Key Management) Observability (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry) API Design & Microservices Architecture CI/CD Pipeline Design Data Pipeline & Real-Time Processing Systems Technical Documentation & Architecture Design Preferred Qualifications & Certifications Experience with CMMC Level 2/3 or FedRAMP authorization processes. Familiarity with protocols like OPC-UA, DDS, Matter, LoRaWAN, TSN. Experience in public sector domains (Defense, Smart Cities, Utilities, Transportation). Knowledge of software-defined networking, 5G, or network slicing. Contributions to open-source projects in IoT, AI, or cloud-native ecosystems.