Principal Architect - Information Technology
$140.6k - $183.1k+ Bonus + Long-term incentive compensation awards
Expert
Bachelor's, Master's
Chicago, IL, USA
In Person
Software EngineeringAI Application Engineering
No H1B Sponsorship
About the job
Requirements
- A bachelor's degree is required.
- At least 5 years of software engineering experience, including strong Python development expertise, is required.
- Proven experience designing and deploying production AI/ML systems at scale is required.
- A deep understanding of AI agent architectures, prompt engineering, and large language model integration patterns is required.
- Strong knowledge of API design, microservices architecture, and cloud platforms is required.
- Experience with modern software development practices, including continuous integration/continuous delivery, testing, and observability, is required.
- The ability to effectively engage stakeholders at all levels is required.
- The ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams and solve problems is required.
- The ability to use software architecture design tools such as Lucid to create detailed technical architecture diagrams is required.
- Legal authorization to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship is required.
- Successful completion of an interview is required.
- Reliable, punctual attendance is an essential function of the position.
Responsibilities
- Design and implement production-grade AI agentic workflows using modern frameworks and industry best practices.
- Develop conversational AI solutions integrated with retail systems and customer-facing channels across web, mobile, and voice.
- Build scalable, reliable AI agent architectures that support complex customer journeys and deliver measurable business outcomes.
- Establish engineering standards, patterns, and best practices for AI agent development across the organization.
- Drive continuous improvement of AI system performance, reliability, and customer experience outcomes.
- Evaluate emerging AI technologies and frameworks and make strategic recommendations for adoption.
- Collaborate with product managers, data scientists, business stakeholders, and engineering teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
- Partner with Digital Technology, Customer Support & Advocacy, and Customer Experience organizations to align AI initiatives with strategic business objectives.
- Share knowledge and mentor engineers, contributing to the growth of the organization's AI engineering capabilities.
- Provide technical guidance and thought leadership on AI agent design patterns, prompt engineering, and large language model integration strategies.
- Foster communication within cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and successful delivery of AI-powered customer experiences.
- Design cloud-native AI solutions using AWS services and modern microservices architectures.
- Implement API integrations connecting AI agents with retail, inventory, and customer data systems.
- Ensure compliance with security protocols, data governance standards, and engineering best practices throughout the development lifecycle.
- Build observability and monitoring capabilities to track AI system performance and customer experience metrics.
- Collaborate with architecture teams to ensure AI solutions follow enterprise standards and scale effectively.
Desired Qualifications
- A master's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field is preferred.
- Hands-on experience with LangChain and LangGraph for agent development is preferred.
- Experience building conversational AI solutions for customer-facing applications in retail, e-commerce, or travel industries is preferred.
- Knowledge of the company's technology stack, software development lifecycle tools, and enterprise systems is preferred.
- Experience with real-time data processing and event-driven architectures is preferred.
- Familiarity with contact center platforms, voice automation tools, and omnichannel customer experience systems is preferred.
- At least 3 years of experience building Generative AI and Conversational AI platforms is preferred.
- Experience with AI model evaluation, A/B testing, and performance optimization techniques is preferred.
- Understanding of responsible AI principles, bias mitigation, and AI governance frameworks is preferred.
About the company
United Airlines flies passengers and cargo across the United States and to destinations around the world, running a hub network that spans Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Washington Dulles and Guam. It was a founding member of Star Alliance, the global airline partnership that links its routes and frequent-flyer benefits with carriers such as Lufthansa and Air Canada. Travelers book seats in economy, premium and Polaris business cabins, and United earns money from fares, bag and seat fees, cargo, and its MileagePlus loyalty program, which sells miles to card partners. United traces its roots to Varney Air Lines, which began flying airmail in 1926, and is based in Chicago.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
Founded
1926
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Premium travel fuels growth: premium revenue rose 16% in Q2 2026 as total revenue reached $17.7 billion.
- Hiring keeps expanding: United had 117,500 employees by June 2026, up 5.6% from a year earlier.
- Cabin crew pay is climbing: the flight attendant deal reached in March 2026 lifts base pay 31% on average.
What critics are saying
- Fuel prices squeeze profits: in July 2026, United expected nearly $6 billion more fuel expense for the year.
- Mechanics' labor fight drags on: United technicians rejected a Teamsters tentative deal 53.5% to 46.5% in September 2026.
- Newark growth was capped: the FAA limited the airport to 72 hourly flights from January through October 2026.
What makes United Airlines unique
- United gives loyalty members free fast WiFi: it targets Starlink on nearly 1,000 aircraft by end of 2026.
- Its Pacific reach extends past Hawaii: United runs a hub on Guam, a US island territory near Asia.
- United dominates New York's Newark airport: it runs about 70% of the flights there.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Parental Leave
- Employee Assistance Program
- Commuter
- Paid Holidays
- Paid Time Off