> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/4325953-principal-software-engineer-ai-platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/4325953-principal-software-engineer-ai-platform). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# Principal Software Engineer - AI Platform

- **Company:** Western Governors University
- **Location:** Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $180,300.0 - $279,500.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Java (Programming Language), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems, Audit Trail, C Sharp (Programming Language), Continuous Integration, Identity and Access Management, Python (Programming Language), Node.Js, OpenID, Software Safety, Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), Student Information Systems, Single Sign-On, Software Engineering, Systems Integration, TypeScript, Web Applications, Chatbots, Large Language Models, Multi-Agent Systems, Generative AI, AI Platforms, AngularJS, Infrastructure Automation Frameworks, Information Technology, Low Latency, Invoking Functions
- **Published:** October 28, 2026
- **Apply:** https://diversityjobs.com/career/18791805/Principal-Software-Engineer-Ai-Platform-Utah-Salt-Lake-City

## About the Role

* Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
 * 12+ years of professional software engineering experience designing, building, and operating production web applications and services.
 * Demonstrated experience owning architecture across multiple teams or systems and defining platforms, shared services, or standards used by other engineering teams.
 * 2+ years of hands-on experience building and deploying LLM-powered applications in production environments, including retrieval augmented generation (RAG), tool or function calling, and evaluation of AI system performance.
 * Experience designing APIs and integration contracts consumed by internal and external engineering teams within complex enterprise environments.
 * Production experience with at least one server-side programming language such as Java, Python, TypeScript/Node.js, C#, or Go.
 * Proven ability to influence and partner across engineering, architecture, security, governance, and business stakeholders while remaining a hands-on technical contributor.

Experience in lieu of education: equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as one year of experience for one year of education and is at the discretion of the hiring manager.

Bonus Points

 * Experience building MCP servers or clients, agent orchestration frameworks, AWS Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker, evaluation platforms, LLM observability solutions, or AI safety testing capabilities.
 * Experience designing authorization-aware retrieval systems, multi-tenant data isolation, identity and access management solutions, SSO, OIDC, SAML, or systems handling FERPA, HIPAA, or similarly regulated data.
 * Experience with Java, Angular, AWS, infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, application modernization initiatives, conversational interfaces, higher education technology, student information systems, or online learning platforms.

## Description

As Principal Software Engineer, AI Platform, you will architect and build this platform from the ground up. You will shape retrieval, inference, orchestration, guardrails, evaluation, security, and API capabilities that enable teams across WGU to create trusted AI-powered experiences.

This is a hands-on product engineering role focused on delivering scalable, secure, and observable AI solutions. You will establish the technical foundations, standards, and platform capabilities that other engineering teams will leverage as they build the next generation of AI-driven products.

What You'll Do

 * Architect and build a conversational AI platform that supports retrieval over WGU content and data, inference integration, orchestration, tool calling, conversation state management, and multiple application experiences.
 * Own the platform's security and privacy model, ensuring retrieval, generation, and tool execution are authorization-aware and maintain strict student data protections aligned with FERPA requirements.
 * Build guardrails and governance capabilities including input and output filtering, escalation workflows, prompt injection resistance, audit logging, and explainability controls.
 * Establish evaluation and observability frameworks that measure groundedness, quality, latency, reliability, and cost across AI-powered systems.
 * Define MCP servers, tool contracts, APIs, templates, libraries, and reference implementations that enable engineering teams to build AI-powered workflows securely and consistently.
 * Design, build, test, operate, and modernize production services, APIs, integrations, and interfaces using modern software engineering practices in a Java and Angular environment on AWS.
 * Provide technical leadership through architecture guidance, mentoring, documentation, operational excellence, and production support., This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.