Lead AI Architect
Highmark Health · PA, Working at Home - Pennsylvania ·
- Seniority
- Lead
- Category
- Architecture
- Experience
- 3+ years
Highmark Health · PA, Working at Home - Pennsylvania ·
JOB SUMMARY
We are seeking a visionary AI Architect to serve as the technical cornerstone of our artificial intelligence strategy. While an AI Engineer builds the models, you will design the entire ecosystem they live in. You will be responsible for defining the high-level structure of our AI systems, ensuring they are scalable, secure, and seamlessly integrated with our enterprise infrastructure. As an Architect, you sit at the intersection of business value and technical feasibility, translating executive goals into robust technical blueprints.
This role involves defining the end-to-end architecture for AI solutions, encompassing data pipelines, model storage, inference engines, and front-end integration. The individual will be responsible for evaluating and selecting the optimal "tech stack," including specific LLMs, vector databases, and orchestration frameworks, to meet the company's long-term needs. Key responsibilities also include establishing best practices for MLOps to ensure consistent coding standards, model versioning, and deployment strategies across the engineering team. The architect will design scalable systems capable of handling massive data throughput and low-latency inference for real-time applications. A critical aspect of the role is architecting "Human-in-the-loop" systems and guardrails to ensure data privacy, compliance (GDPR/CCPA), and AI safety. This position requires strong cross-functional leadership, acting as the technical liaison between Data Science, DevOps, and Product teams to align the AI roadmap with infrastructure capabilities.
Candidates should possess architectural expertise, including a deep understanding of distributed systems, microservices architecture, API design, and cloud-native patterns. Proficiency in designing complex data schemas for both structured and unstructured data, as well as experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform or Ansible to manage AI infrastructure, is required. Technical proficiencies include expert-level knowledge of cloud platforms such as AWS (SageMaker), Azure (Azure ML), or GCP (Vertex AI). Mastery of the AI lifecycle, from frameworks like PyTorch/TensorFlow to deployment tools like Kubeflow, MLflow, or BentoML, is essential. An expert understanding of Generative AI, including Transformer architectures, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and fine-tuning methodologies, is also a key qualification.
The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of 5+ years in software engineering or data science, with at least 3 years in an architectural role. Experience in enterprise integration, particularly in migrating legacy systems to AI-augmented workflows, is highly valued. This role also demands thought leadership, including the ability to mentor senior engineers and present complex architectural decisions to the C-suite.
Essential competencies for this role include strategic thinking, with the ability to anticipate 12–24 months ahead in AI trends and prepare the infrastructure accordingly. Cost management skills, specifically optimizing cloud spend for GPU/TPU resources, are crucial. Exceptional communication skills are also required, demonstrated through the ability to document architectural patterns and lead technical design reviews.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
EDUCATION
Required
Substitutions
Preferred
EXPERIENCE
Required
Preferred
LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS
Required
Preferred
SKILLS
An Architect is not required to have experience in all of these, but is required to have those needed to support applications they are responsible for supporting. Current skill set are reviewed every other year, new skills may be required to meet changing business needs.
SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Does this role supervise/manage other employees?
No
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Is Travel Required?
Yes
Disclaimer: The job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and essential duties and responsibilities of work performed by employees within this job title. It may not contain a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees to do this job.
Compliance Requirement: This position adheres to the ethical and legal standards and behavioral expectations as set forth in the code of business conduct and company policies.
As a component of job responsibilities, employees may have access to covered information, cardholder data, or other confidential customer information that must be protected at all times. In connection with this, all employees must comply with both the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) as described in the Notice of Privacy Practices and Privacy Policies and Procedures as well as all data security guidelines established within the Company’s Handbook of Privacy Policies and Practices and Information Security Policy. Furthermore, it is every employee’s responsibility to comply with the company’s Code of Business Conduct. This includes but is not limited to adherence to applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations as well as company policies and training requirements.
Pay Range Minimum:
$118,400.00Pay Range Maximum:
$196,800.00Base pay is determined by a variety of factors including a candidate’s qualifications, experience, and expected contributions, as well as internal peer equity, market, and business considerations. The displayed salary range does not reflect any geographic differential Highmark may apply for certain locations based upon comparative markets.
Highmark Health and its affiliates prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on any category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
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