Principal AI Architect Engineer

Guardian Life Insurance Company: Principal Forward Deployed Engineer
Location: New York/New Jersey Area (Hybrid)

Company Overview:
Guardian Life is a Fortune 250 mutual insurance company committed to protecting our customers’ financial well-being and enriching their lives. Every day, we serve over 27 million people, guided by our values of People Count, We Do the Right Thing, and We Hold Ourselves to Very High Standards. At Guardian, we foster an innovative, collaborative technology culture with a mission to shape the future of insurance and wealth management through data and AI. If you thrive on solving complex problems, building real-world solutions, and driving transformative impact, we’d love for you to join our team.

Position Overview:
We are seeking a Principal AI Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) – an individual contributor at the Principal level – to bridge advanced AI capabilities with Guardian’s business needs and deliver cutting-edge AI solutions across the enterprise. This forward-deployed, builder-led role combines deep architectural expertise with hands-on engineering and close partnership with business stakeholders to drive outcomes. You will be a senior technical authority in our AI Platform Engineering team (reporting to the Head of AI Platform Engineering & Automation) and work directly with leaders in business units like Distribution, Underwriting, Claims, Customer Service, and Operations. Your mission is to design, build, and deploy production-grade AI and agentic systems that embed into real business workflows to deliver measurable business value. You will operate under ambiguity, make high-judgment technical decisions balancing speed and long-term strategy, and ensure Guardian’s AI solutions are pragmatic, scalable, and aligned with enterprise standards. This is a rare opportunity to take a builder’s mindset and bias for action into a Fortune 250 environment – applying the technical leadership, the hands-on architecture and development skill of a Principal Engineer, and the customer-focused, end-to-end ownership of a Forward Deployed Engineer.

Key Responsibilities:

• AI Solution Architecture & Delivery: Design and own the architecture for end-to-end AI systems – from data ingestion and model development to service integration and production deployment. Build and deploy AI/ML-driven applications (including LLM-powered agents, automation workflows, and predictive analytics) that integrate seamlessly into business processes and legacy environments to drive operational outcomes.
• Forward-Deployed Project Leadership: Serve as the technical lead on forward-deployed initiatives across various business units. Partner directly with business stakeholders (from department leads to senior executives) to understand business goals, translate them into technical solutions, and deliver those solutions in fast iteration cycles. Adapt quickly to evolving requirements and ensure solutions solve the right problem with tangible business impact.
• Hands-On Development & Prototyping: Act as a hands-on builder – write production-quality code, quickly prototype new ideas, and lead by example in solving complex technical problems. Transform prototypes into secure, compliant, and scalable production systems in cloud environments (AWS), employing best practices in software engineering, DevOps, and MLOps.
• Strategic Technical Decisions & Vendor Integration: Evaluate build vs. buy decisions with a high degree of judgment. Stay current on emerging AI and data technologies; rapidly assess third-party vendors and open-source solutions for technical fit and strategic value. When appropriate, integrate vendor products to accelerate delivery – architecting for optionality (design solutions to easily plug-and-play or swap vendors) while maintaining alignment with Guardian’s AI Platform strategy and enterprise architecture standards.
• Enterprise Architecture & Standards: Ensure all AI solutions meet Guardian’s high standards for scalability, reliability, security, and compliance. Work closely with data and security teams to architect solutions that protect customer data and comply with regulatory requirements (e.g., privacy, model governance) without stifling innovation. Champion best practices in AI engineering, code quality, and system design to raise the bar across teams.
• Technical Leadership & Influence: Though an individual contributor, act as a senior technical leader within the organization. Conduct architecture reviews and design guidance for multiple teams, mentoring engineers and sharing expertise in AI engineering. Influence without formal authority by driving consensus on technical approaches and long-term AI strategy across cross-functional teams. Communicate complex technical concepts and roadmaps clearly to both technical audiences and senior non-technical stakeholders, including executive leaders