Principal AI Engineer

UTA seeks a Principal AI Engineer to lead the design, development, and delivery of intelligent software systems that bring together enterprise application architecture, full-stack engineering, data science, and machine learning. In this highly visible, hands-on leadership role, you will build and scale production-grade platforms and AI-enabled products that power critical workflows, decision-making, automation, and business insight across the organization.

The ideal candidate combines deep software engineering expertise with strong applied AI and data science capability, and has a proven ability to mentor engineers, shape technical direction, and partner cross-functionally to turn complex business problems into scalable, secure, and reliable solutions.

What You Will Do

AI Engineering, Data Science & Intelligent Product Development

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of machine learning, statistical, and AI-driven solutions that support automation, prediction, decision-making, and personalization.

• Own end-to-end delivery of AI-enabled products and services, from problem framing and data exploration through model development, application integration, deployment, and monitoring.

• Evaluate and implement appropriate approaches across machine learning, analytics, and natural language processing based on business needs and technical constraints.

• Partner with data and platform teams to build robust pipelines, reusable services, and scalable environments that support production AI workloads.

Platform Engineering & Enterprise Architecture

• Design and develop scalable, secure, cloud-native applications and backend services that integrate AI, data, and business workflows into enterprise platforms.

• Lead end-to-end full-stack engineering across backend services and modern web applications, including APIs, data models, service integrations, and internal tools.

• Architect systems using modern cloud patterns such as microservices, event-driven design, and managed services, ensuring reliability, observability, and scalability.

• Provide architectural leadership across integrations with enterprise systems and third-party platforms.

ML Ops, Reliability & Engineering Best Practices

• Productionize AI and machine learning solutions using modern ML Ops and software engineering practices.

• Establish standards for testing, deployment, observability, drift detection, retraining, and documentation.

• Drive quality, automation, and performance in systems where accuracy, resilience, and reliability are critical.

Leadership, Mentorship & Execution

• Serve as a hands-on technical leader and player-coach, mentoring engineers while actively contributing to design and implementation.

• Help define technical strategy and roadmap priorities for AI, data, and application development.

• Lead execution of complex, cross-functional initiatives and act as a senior escalation point for technical decisions and trade-offs.

• Foster a culture of engineering excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Collaboration & Business Partnership

• Partner with Product, Engineering, Data, and business stakeholders to identify high-value opportunities where AI and software can materially improve outcomes.

• Translate ambiguous business needs into clear technical solutions, communicating trade-offs and risks effectively.

• Present complex technical work in a clear, actionable way to both technical and non-technical audiences, including leadership.

What You Will Need

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field, or equivalent experience; advanced degree is a plus.

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, applied machine learning, data science, or related fields, including building and delivering production systems end-to-end.

• Strong hands-on expertise in modern software engineering, including backend development, APIs, and scalable system design.

• Experience with full-stack development, including modern frontend frameworks and service-based architectures.

• Proficiency in Python and SQL, with experience in data manipulation, model development, and analytical workflows.

• Hands-on experience with machine learning frameworks such as scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar.

• Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and building cloud-native systems.

• Experience with modern data platforms such as Snowflake, BigQuery, or Databricks.

• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code, microservices, and event-driven architectures.

• Strong grounding in statistics, experimentation, and analytical methods.

• Experience deploying and maintaining production AI/ML systems, including monitoring and governance.

• Solid understanding of secure system design, data privacy, and enterprise engineering practices.

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.

• Proven experience mentoring engineers and leading through influence in a hands-on environment.

• Experience in media, entertainment, or similarly fast-paced industries is a plus.

What You Will Get

• The unique and exciting opportunity to work at one of a leading global entertainment companies

• Access to the tools, leadership, and resources you will need to create and drive a center of excellence

• The opportunity to do the best work of your career

• Work in an inclusive and diverse company culture

• Competitive programs to support your well-being

• Experience working in a collaborative environment with room to grow

About UTA

UTA is a premier global talent agency built for the future of media and entertainment. The agency's diversified platform and best-in-class, client-first approach is innovative, collaborative, and positioned to lead in an evolving market. UTA represents the most celebrated artists, creatives, and brands, from icons and legends to next-generation talent. Its integrated capabilities span film and television, music, comedy, creators, sports, brands, news, publishing, speakers, theater, and more. It is based in Los Angeles with offices in the U.S., London, and Munich.

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UTA and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers.