Principal Solutions Architect for Conversational AI

The Principal Architect for Conversational AI owns the end-to-end technical architecture for enterprise-grade voice and chat experiences-from NLU/LLM orchestration and dialog policy to integrations, observability, security, and production reliability. You will define standards, reference architectures, and platform patterns that enable multiple product teams to build consistent, safe, scalable conversational journeys across channels.

This role blends hands-on systems design with strategic technical leadership: you'll shape platform direction, guide engineering teams, and ensure solutions meet performance, compliance, and customer experience goals., * Enterprise conversational architecture

• Define target-state architecture for conversational AI across voice + chat + messaging.
• Establish reference patterns for: intent/routing, dialog management, LLM tools/function calling, RAG, and human handoff.
• LLM + NLU orchestration
• Design hybrid approaches using NLU (intents/entities) where deterministic behavior is needed and LLMs where flexibility adds value.
• Build patterns for prompt engineering, tool use, safety rails, grounding, and response evaluation.
• Conversation design meets engineering
• Partner with Conversation Designers to translate journeys into scalable dialog systems.
• Formalize conversation state models, slot-filling strategies, fallbacks, barge-in, and recovery behavior.
• Integrations + enterprise systems
• Architect integrations to CRM, scheduling, claims, EHR/EMR, identity, billing, knowledge bases, ticketing, and contact center platforms.
• Standardize APIs, event-driven flows, caching, and data contracts.
• Platform capability leadership
• Own architectural decisions for:
• ASR/TTS pipelines (voice)
• channel adapters
• session/state persistence
• policy engines
• personalization and context
• experimentation / A/B testing
• Reliability, security, compliance
• Define guardrails for PHI/PII handling, data retention, encryption, key management, audit logging.
• Ensure compliance alignment (HIPAA, SOC2, GDPR-depending on industry).
• Set SLOs, error budgets, DR patterns, and scalability targets.
• Observability + quality
• Implement conversation analytics standards: containment, task completion, deflection, CSAT proxies, latency, hallucination rates, escalation reasons.
• Establish evaluation frameworks (offline + online), regression testing, and golden conversation sets.
• Technical leadership
• Serve as the principal technical advisor across teams.
• Lead architecture reviews, mentor senior engineers, influence roadmap and investment priorities.
• Identify build vs buy opportunities and vendor selection criteria.

What You'll Build / Own (Deliverables)

Conversational AI reference architecture (voice + chat)

• Platform standards: tool calling, state, memory/context, grounding, safety policy, fallback patterns
• A reusable conversation runtime framework (or governance model if using vendor platforms)
• Integration blueprint for core enterprise services
• Observability & evaluation standard operating model (dashboards, QA pipelines, red-team tests)

Technical Skills (Typical Stack)

• Languages: Python, Java, TypeScript/Node, Go (any 1-2 strong)
• LLM layer: OpenAI / Azure OpenAI / Anthropic / Bedrock; tool/function calling; RAG patterns
• NLU/dialog: Dialogflow, Lex, Rasa, Nuance, custom NLU
• Voice: ASR/TTS services, SIP/telephony concepts, IVR/contact center integrations
• Infra: Kubernetes, serverless, Terraform, CI/CD, secrets management
• Data: Redis, Postgres, vector DBs (optional), message bus (Kafka), observability tooling
• Security: IAM, encryption, audit logging, data classification, tokenization/masking, Success Metrics (How We'll Know You're Winning)
• Reduced time-to-launch for new conversational experiences via reusable patterns
• Higher containment and task completion with stable CSAT/NPS
• Lower latency and fewer failure loops / escalations
• Measurable improvement in reliability (SLO attainment), observability, and incident reduction
• Consistent governance of prompts/tools/models with safe rollout & rollback practices

Leadership Competencies

• Architectural judgment: picks the simplest thing that will work (and scales)
• Pragmatic AI mindset: knows where LLMs shine and where deterministic logic must own the flow
• Influences without authority; builds alignment across product, design, security, and ops
• Mentors and raises the bar across engineering

This role is not a "lead developer on one team." It is a cross-domain architecture owner responsible for platform standards and enterprise adoption.

Work-At-Home Requirements

• WAH requirements: Must have the ability to provide a high speed DSL or cable modem for a home office. Associates or contractors who live and work from home in the state of California will be provided payment for their internet expense.
• A minimum standard speed for optimal performance of 25x10 (25mpbs download x 10mpbs upload) is required.
• Satellite and Wireless Internet service is NOT allowed for this role.
• A dedicated space lacking ongoing interruptions to protect member PHI / HIPAA information

Travel: While this is a remote position, occasional travel to Humana's offices for training or meetings may be required.

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

• 10+ years software engineering experience with 3+ years in AI/ML systems or conversational platforms.
• Proven architecture ownership for distributed systems in production (high availability, scalable, observable).
• Deep knowledge of at least one:
• Contact center / conversational platforms (Genesys, NICE, Twilio, Amazon Connect, Dialogflow, Nuance, etc.)
• LLM orchestration frameworks/patterns (tool use, RAG, retrieval, safety layers, prompt/versioning)
• Strong experience with:
• API design (REST/gRPC), event-driven systems (Kafka/PubSub), and integration patterns
• Cloud architecture (AWS/Azure/GCP), IaC, CI/CD
• Data security practices for sensitive data (PII/PHI) and governance controls
• Ability to communicate architecture clearly to executives and engineers (diagrams, decision records, tradeoffs).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience deploying voice systems: ASR/TTS tuning, barge-in, turn-taking, latency optimization.
• Experience with evaluation & testing for LLM/agent systems:
• automated conversation testing, hallucination detection, rubric scoring, red teaming
• Experience in regulated environments (healthcare, finance, insurance, public sector).
• Familiarity with knowledge graphs, ontology-driven reasoning, or deterministic policy engines.
• Track record of leading multi-team platforms (enablement, adoption, governance).

The compensation range below reflects a good faith estimate of starting base pay for full time (40 hours per week) employment at the time of posting. The pay range may be higher or lower based on geographic location and individual pay will vary based on demonstrated job related skills, knowledge, experience, education, certifications, etc.

$172,200 - $236,900 per year

This job is eligible for a bonus incentive plan. This incentive opportunity is based upon company and/or individual performance.

Description of Benefits

Humana, Inc. and its affiliated subsidiaries (collectively, "Humana") offers competitive benefits that support whole-person well-being. Associate benefits are designed to encourage personal wellness and smart healthcare decisions for you and your family while also knowing your life extends outside of work. Among our benefits, Humana provides medical, dental and vision benefits, 401(k) retirement savings plan, time off (including paid time off, company and personal holidays, volunteer time off, paid parental and caregiver leave), short-term and long-term disability, life insurance and many other opportunities.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is committed to putting health first - for our teammates, our customers and our company. Through our Humana insurance services and CenterWell healthcare services, we make it easier for the millions of people we serve to achieve their best health - delivering the care and service they need, when they need it. These efforts are leading to a better quality of life for people with Medicare, Medicaid, families, individuals, military service personnel, and communities at large.