Principal Engineer - Automation

Wells Fargo is seeking a Principal Engineer - Automation within the Chief Data Office (CDO) to provide enterprise technical leadership for automation and AI-enabled engineering solutions supporting data and analytics platforms.

This role focuses on designing and delivering scalable, repeatable automation for high-frequency, high-urgency operational activities across legacy and modern data ecosystems, ensuring data correctness, platform stability, and audit readiness in high-pressure environments.

In this role, you will:

Act as an advisor to leadership to develop or influence automation architectures and AI-enabled engineering solutions supporting highly complex data, analytics, and BI platforms across multiple groups

Lead the strategy and resolution of highly complex and time-critical automation challenges requiring in-depth evaluation across legacy, modern data, and BI environments, delivering solutions that are long-term, large-scale, and require vision, creativity, innovation, advanced analytical, and inductive thinking

Design and deliver end-to-end automation across operational lifecycles, including assessment, planning, preparation, execution, and post-execution validation, to improve speed, consistency, and reliability

Translate advanced engineering experience, deep knowledge of the organization’s tactical and strategic data objectives, enterprise technology environment, organizational structure, and automation opportunities into effective engineering solutions that preserve data integrity and platform stability

Provide vision, direction, and expertise to leadership on implementing AI-infused automation that reduces manual dependency, accelerates remediation timelines, and enables rapid, repeatable execution during emergency scenarios

Maintain knowledge of industry best practices, automation frameworks, and AI technologies, and recommend innovations that enhance operational resilience, compliance posture, and audit readiness

Strategically engage with all levels of professionals and managers across the enterprise and serve as an expert advisor to leadership on automation, data platform reliability, and operational risk reduction, Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit, Market, Financial Crimes, Operational, Regulatory Compliance), which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures, appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations, timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues, and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring, governance, risk identification and escalation, as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business unit’s risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements.

7+ years of Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education

Desired Qualifications

Experience with Python, Spark, and Strong DevSecOps skills

Experience designing and implementing automation solutions across enterprise data, analytics, and BI platforms

Strong understanding of operational automation, orchestration, and AI-enabled decisioning in complex environments

Experience supporting high-frequency, high-risk operational processes requiring auditability and consistency

Demonstrated ability to influence technical strategy across multiple data and platform teams

Automation of high-risk / high-frequency operations (not just tooling-production impact)

AI-infused automation strategy (beyond basic scripting; decisioning + optimization)

Legacy-to-modern automation transformation experience

Enterprise-scale reliability engineering mindset (stability, resiliency, audit readiness)