Principal AI Engineer

About The Opportunity

Scion Technology has been engaged to lead a search for a Principal AI Engineer on behalf of our client — a pioneering creative technology studio launching an innovative AI platform for interactive experiences.

This is an exciting opportunity to serve as the founding technical hire for a new AI initiative, working directly with the CEO to design, prototype, and deliver intelligent, multimodal systems that power next-generation play and storytelling.

You will set the technical direction for a high-impact engineering team and help shape the future of AI-driven entertainment and immersive interaction.

Perks & Highlights

• Competitive base salary: $163,040 – $244,560 annually (flexible for exceptional experience)
• Performance bonus: Up to 15% annual target
• Relocation support available for qualified candidates
• Hybrid flexibility: Tuesday–Thursday onsite in Boston, MA (preferred)
• Top-tier benefits package and equipment provided
• Direct access to executive leadership and influence over product direction
• Opportunity to build a world-class AI Studio from the ground up
  
  

What You’ll Be Doing

• Architect, design, and deliver production-ready AI systems supporting interactive, character-based experiences.
• Integrate and optimize large language models (LLMs) and multimodal AI frameworks across text, speech, and vision.
• Develop robust infrastructure using cloud-native platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and modern CI/CD pipelines.
• Implement operational excellence through monitoring, telemetry, and observability frameworks for live systems.
• Prototype rapidly, then scale: balance innovation speed with code quality, maintainability, and reliability.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, research, design, and content teams to align technical vision with creative goals.
• Recruit, mentor, and lead a growing team of engineers as the AI Studio expands.
• Establish engineering culture: define best practices, documentation, and testing standards for high-quality delivery.
  
  

Who You Are

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including proven work building and deploying AI-powered products (LLMs or related).
• Hands-on experience with cloud architecture, API design, CI/CD pipelines, and full-stack development (backend + infrastructure; frontend exposure a plus).
• Strong understanding of scalable, cloud-native systems and performance trade-offs (latency, compute, and cost).
• Experienced integrating LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) and managing data workflows securely.
• Proven record of technical ownership and delivery in 0?1 product environments or early-stage teams.
• Adept at balancing prototype agility with long-term engineering rigor.
• Exceptional communicator who thrives in cross-disciplinary collaboration.
  
  

About Our Firm:

Scion Technology is a national award-winning technical and IT staffing firm! Since 2006, we’ve had the pleasure of placing thousands of exceptional candidates into impactful roles across the country. Through our innovative recruiting solutions, we support executive leadership searches, direct hire technical placements, and contract staffing across a wide range of industries.

Scion has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Recruitment Firms and has consistently ranked among the Best Executive Search Firms. We are also a proud recipient of the ClearlyRated Best of Staffing award and have been acknowledged by the Business Times as a top recruitment firm.

Visit us at www.sciontechnical.com to learn more.

Scion Technology, a division of Scion Staffing, Inc., is an Equal Opportunity Employer and service provider. We are committed to building inclusive, equitable workplaces and do not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, or any other protected status. For opportunities located in jurisdictions with fair chance ordinances, we consider all qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.