Principal Architect - AI Systems & Engineering

Job Description

Job Description

About Coalfire

Coalfire is on a mission to make the world a safer place by solving our clients’ hardest cybersecurity challenges. We work at the cutting edge of technology to advise, assess, automate, and ultimately help companies navigate the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape. We are headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with offices across the U.S. and U.K., and we support clients around the world.

But that’s not who we are – that’s just what we do.

We are thought leaders, consultants, and cybersecurity experts, but above all else, we are a team of passionate problem-solvers who are hungry to learn, grow, and make a difference.

Position Summary

The Principal Architect – AI Systems & Engineering is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining scalable applications and automation workflows that will serve as the foundation for advanced AI security and compliance agents. This role ensures the seamless integration of front-end, back-end, and cloud-native services while enabling efficient and secure deployment pipelines. The developer will collaborate closely with AI engineering, data, and product teams to deliver robust, production-grade systems that can scale to enterprise-level demands.

What You'll Do

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable full stack applications using Python (and TypeScript where applicable) to support security and compliance agent workflows.
• Build and optimize RESTful APIs to enable seamless data exchange across services and systems.
• Architect and manage microservice-based solutions on AWS, leveraging Kubernetes for orchestration and scalability.
• Implement DevOps best practices including CI / CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and automated deployment strategies.
• Develop automation frameworks and tools to reduce manual tasks, improve efficiency, and support AI-driven workflows.
• Collaborate with data engineering teams to integrate microservices with analytics platforms and big data pipelines.
• Ensure compliance with security standards, governance policies, and cloud best practices.
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize system performance, ensuring high availability and reliability of deployed applications.
• Provide technical mentorship and contribute to setting best practices for development, DevOps, and cloud engineering.

What You'll Bring

Preferred Qualifications

The salary range listed is a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role based on national salary averages. The actual salary offer to the successful candidate will be based on job-related education, geographic location, training, licensure and certifications and other factors. You may also be eligible to participate in annual incentive, commission, and / or recognition programs.

Why You’ll Want to Join Us

At Coalfire, you’ll find the support you need to thrive personally and professionally. In many cases, we provide a flexible work model that empowers you to choose when and where you’ll work most effectively – whether you’re at home or an office.

Regardless of location, you’ll experience a company that prioritizes connection and wellbeing and be part of a team where people care about each other and our communities. You’ll have opportunities to join employee resource groups, participate in in-person and virtual events, and more. And you’ll enjoy competitive perks and benefits to support you and your family, like paid parental leave, flexible time off, certification and training reimbursement, digital mental health and wellbeing support membership, and comprehensive insurance options.

At Coalfire, equal opportunity and pay equity is integral to the way we do business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Coalfire is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact our Human Resources team at  HumanResourcesMB@coalfire.com.