Principal AI Engineer - Innovation

About the job

Job Summary

At Claritev, we’re building the next generation of AI-native products to transform healthcare. We are seeking a Principal AI Engineer / Architect to lead the architecture and hands-on development of 0→1 AI products.

This role sits at the intersection of AI engineering, data architecture, and distributed systems. You will build agentic applications that operate across new customer data streams and complex legacy enterprise data — designing everything from data and retrieval pipelines to RAG, analytical agents, workflow agents, APIs, and production AI services.

We are looking for a hands-on technical leader who can take an ambiguous business problem, architect the end-to-end solution, and build it into a scalable production system.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and build 0→1 AI products, from prototype through production.
• Design agentic systems using LLMs, RAG, tool use, multi-step workflows, memory, MCP, and human-in-the-loop patterns.
• Architect scalable data pipelines across customer feeds, APIs, documents, data lakes/warehouses, and complex legacy databases.
• Build AI systems capable of operating over large-scale enterprise datasets without relying on LLMs to directly process raw data.
• Design RAG and enterprise retrieval systems using vector/hybrid search, metadata filtering, reranking, semantic or knowledge layers, and provenance.
• Build data analysis agents, including text-to-SQL, analytical tool use, automated insights, and reasoning across structured and unstructured data.
• Develop production-grade services using Python, SQL, APIs, distributed processing, containers, and cloud infrastructure.
• Design for reliability, scalability, security, observability, evaluation, latency, and cost.
• Establish reusable architecture patterns and technical standards across AI products.
• Partner with AI Science, Engineering, Data, Product, Security, and customer-facing teams.
• Mentor engineers and scientists while remaining deeply hands-on with architecture and code.
• Ensure AI systems meet healthcare data security, privacy, and HIPAA/PHI requirements.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software, data, ML, or AI engineering experience, with experience operating at a Staff, Principal, or Architect level.
• Strong hands-on expertise in Python, SQL, APIs, system design, and distributed systems.
• Experience architecting large-scale data pipelines and data-intensive applications, including messy or legacy enterprise data.
• Production experience with LLMs, agents, RAG, vector/hybrid retrieval, tool calling, and agent orchestration frameworks such as LangGraph or equivalent.
• Experience with modern data architectures including ETL/ELT, lakehouses/warehouses, streaming or CDC, distributed compute, and analytical databases.
• Strong understanding of cloud architecture, containers, CI/CD, security, observability, and production operations.
• Experience designing evaluation and monitoring for LLM/agent reliability, accuracy, latency, and cost.
• Ability to make sound architectural choices across LLMs, traditional ML, search, SQL, deterministic software, and data engineering, rather than defaulting every problem to GenAI.
• Experience using AI coding tools such as OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, or equivalent.
• Strong ownership and communication skills, with the ability to operate effectively in ambiguous 0→1 environments.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.

What Makes This Role Different

You will solve the difficult engineering problems behind enterprise AI: connecting fragmented data, modernizing access to legacy systems, building scalable retrieval and analytical architectures, orchestrating intelligent workflows, and turning emerging AI capabilities into reliable products used in real healthcare environments.

Other Skills

• Strong problem-solving, critical-thinking, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving, cross-functional environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in healthcare, health technology, insurance, claims, payment integrity, or other regulated industries.
• Experience building AI systems that process sensitive data, including PHI or PII.
• Experience with process automation and integration across enterprise workflows and systems.

Compensation

The base salary range for this position is $190K to $210K. Specific compensation offers are determined based on a variety of factors, including the candidate’s education, experience, skills, work location, and internal equity considerations. In addition to base salary, this position is eligible for an annual performance bonus and a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance and a 401(k) retirement plan.

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About Us

Why Claritev?

Healthcare is complex. We help make it clearer.

At Claritev, you'll do work that matters. Together, we're helping make healthcare more transparent and affordable for all through the power of data, technology, and expertise. We offer meaningful opportunities to grow your career, collaborate with talented colleagues, and make an impact on the clients and communities we serve. If you're looking for purpose, growth, and a team that succeeds together, you'll find it here.

What Guides Us

At Claritev, innovation, agility, and a focus on results drive our success. We embrace bold thinking, work as one team, take ownership, and strive for excellence in everything we do — creating meaningful impact for our clients, communities, and each other.

My Total Value

Claritev’s global total rewards philosophy — My Total Value — is grounded in investing in our associates and rewarding performance. This includes:

• Competitive compensation and incentive opportunities (where eligible)

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage

• Life and disability coverage

• 401(k) with company match

• Employee stock purchase plan

• Flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts

• Paid time off and company holidays

• Paid parental leave

• Mental health resources

• Tuition reimbursement

• Financial planning resources

• Professional development opportunities

Our Commitment to Inclusion

At Claritev, we believe diverse perspectives strengthen our teams and lead to better outcomes. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where every associate feels respected, valued, and empowered to succeed.

Claritev is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable laws and regulations. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Additional Information

• Job Identification: 443
• Job Category: AI
• Posting Date: 2026-09-24
• Job Schedule: Full time
• Locations: 7900 Tysons Corner Pl., McLean, VA, 22102, US (Remote)