Principal Engineer - AI/ML and Data Science

About Our Company

We’re a diversified financial services leader with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management, administration and advisement as of year-end 2024. Our team of 22,000 people across 19 countries, serves more than 3.5 million individual, small business and institutional clients. We are a longstanding leader in financial planning and advice, a global asset manager and an insurer. Our unwavering focus on our clients and strong financial foundation connects each of our unique businesses – Ameriprise Financial, Columbia Threadneedle Investments and RiverSource Insurance and Annuities. Here, we foster meaningful careers, invest in the future, and make a difference for clients, institutions and communities around the world.

Job Description

Drive enterprise transformation by architecting and implementing advanced AI and analytics solutions that address complex business challenges. Lead the design, configuration, and deployment of predictive analytics, machine learning models, and intelligent automation frameworks to enable data-driven decision-making at scale. Partner with Enterprise Architecture to define strategic vision, establish technical standards, and shape long-term roadmaps for AI and analytics adoption. As a technical thought leader, collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver robust, cloud-native architectures leveraging AI technologies, big data platforms, and modern engineering practices. Champion innovation and ensure alignment with enterprise objectives through rigorous governance and architectural excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and implement end-to-end AI solutions, including data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, deployment, and monitoring. Enable predictive analytics, machine learning, and intelligent automation frameworks to support enterprise-scale decision-making. Design cloud-native architectures leveraging Azure, AWS, or GCP for AI workloads and analytics platforms.
• Design real-time streaming architectures using Kafka, Event Hubs, or similar technologies. Implement data governance, lineage, and security frameworks for compliance and scalability. Integrate BI and advanced analytics tools into enterprise data ecosystems.
• Independently oversee assignments in the design, detailed configuration, integration, and upgrade of existing and future technologies in Advanced AI and Enterprise Data Analytics. Work with architecture and application teams to strategize, plan, design, review, and approve robust, stable, scalable, and manageable designs. Perform problem diagnosis, initiate problem resolution, and provide ongoing life-cycle support for new technology deployments and upgrades.
• Manage effective relationships and work in partnership with leadership, architecture, application team members, vendors, infrastructure, monitoring, procurement, security, and all other cross commit teams to deliver solutions that take advantage of Cloud/Post Prem direction, while ensuring that service level commitments are met.
• Create and approve solutions in advanced AI and analytics solutions that address complex business challenges. Oversee new solutions through proof-of-concept processes. Identify and contribute to use case creation. Recommend, deploy, and document design strategies and solutions for complex engineering problems.  Independently identify key issues, patterns, and deviations during analysis. Recommend robust solutions utilizing pragmatic judgment, creativity, and in-depth technical knowledge and evaluation techniques.
• Collaborate with application and architecture team members to ensure project scoping activities are aligned with architectural objectives and long-term portfolio roadmap. Utilize performance data and historical metrics to effectively plan for growth needs; upgrades, migrations, optimizations, and new implementations; identify and resolve efficiency issues; and improve overall functionality. Manage hand-over design solutions and provide testing support and validation prior to release of new and upgraded technologies.
• Provide thought leadership and influence the refinement of processes, policies, and best practices to ensure the optimal performance and availability of technologies. Promote re-use and develop consistent technical build, implementation, and support processes. Oversee the validation of, and adherence to, defined standards. Ensure designs are secure and the closure of open problem tickets. Ensure improvements align with existing principles and Systems Development Life Cycle methodologies, engineering principles, and portfolio long term roadmap.
• Continuously develop specialized knowledge and technical subject matter expertise by remaining apprised of industry trends, the direction of emerging technologies, and their potential value to the business. Effectively present the value proposit