---
title: 'Principal AI Architect at Robots and Pencils'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-ai-architect-robots-and-pencils-united-states-g5n9w0gcex66'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Principal AI Architect at Robots and Pencils

- **Company:** Robots and Pencils
- **Location:** United States
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-08-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/robotsandpencils/jobs/5397251008

## Job description

We’re looking for a Principal Architect to lead the design and delivery of complex, multi-domain systems spanning cloud, data, and AI. This role is ideal for a deeply experienced engineer who owns the hardest architectural challenges, sets technical direction, and serves as the senior technical voice on the engagements they support.

In this role, you will operate as the senior technical authority on a cross-functional team, defining architecture across cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and AI/ML workloads. You’ll partner closely with leadership and clients on technical strategy, mentor experienced engineers, and own high-stakes decisions that shape the long-term success of the systems you build.

## Why This Role Matters

At Robots & Pencils, we design AI systems for a human world. Our name says it all. Robots and pencils means engineering paired with creativity, because every agent we ship has to work for real people in real workflows. That balance is baked into how we operate.

Every role here contributes directly to that mission. Here, you shape how AI systems integrate into enterprise operations, how teams move at real velocity, and how products create measurable impact for clients and the people they serve. We ship production-ready AI in 30 to 45 days. That pace demands people who take ownership, lead with craft, and care deeply about what they put their name on.

What You’ll Do

Craft & Delivery

- Define technical strategy and lead architectural design across cloud, data, and AI/ML systems for end-to-end engagements
- Architect scalable cloud-native solutions, including multi-cloud and hybrid strategies (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes)
- Design data architectures including warehouses, data lakes, and pipelines for batch and streaming workloads (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka)
- Design AI/ML systems including model serving, MLOps pipelines, feature stores, and LLM-based applications (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face)
- Define infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and DevOps standards across engagements (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, GitHub Actions)
- Drive performance, scalability, cost, and reliability optimization across deployed systems
- Ensure architecture meets security, governance, and compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2)
- Lead cloud migrations and platform modernization initiatives
- Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at pace

Collaboration & Communication

- Partner with senior leadership and clients as the principal technical voice on strategy and direction
- Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders alike
- Engage closely with engineering, data, AI, and product teams to align architecture with broader business priorities
- Develop and maintain architecture documentation, standards, and guidelines

Leadership & Influence

- Define and champion architectural standards and best practices on the engagements you support
- Mentor experienced engineers and architects, helping them grow their technical judgment and impact
- Own the most difficult architectural and integration challenges, serving as the senior technical decision-maker
- Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend tools, frameworks, and patterns that improve architecture over time

What You’ll Bring

- 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in technical leadership roles
- Deep expertise in cloud platforms and cloud-native architectures (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Strong background in microservices, serverless, containers, and event-driven systems (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, Lambda, EventBridge)
- Proficiency with infrastructure as code and CI/CD (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, GitHub Actions)
- Strong data architecture expertise across relational, NoSQL, and big data systems (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Snowflake, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka)
- Hands-on experience with data modeling, ETL/ELT pipelines, and orchestration (e.g., Airflow, Prefect, dbt)
- Strong experience designing AI/ML systems for production, including LLMs, MLOps, and model serving (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face, PyTorch, TensorFlow)
- Solid understanding of networking, security, identity, and access management in cloud environments
- Experience with governance, compliance, and observability frameworks
- Strong software engineering skills (Python, APIs, containerization)
- Track record of senior technical leadership and mentoring experienced engineers
- Strong stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to translate technical depth across audiences
- Demonstrable usage of AI-forward tools such as Claude and Cursor
- Multi-cloud architecture experience, AI ethics or responsible AI experience, or enterprise architecture certifications (e.g., TOGAF, AWS/Azure/GCP) is a plus

Helpful Extras and Unique Skills

- Experience designing AI/ML solutions that integrate with SAP EAM data structures (e.g., Equipment Masters, Work Orders, or Notifications) via SAP BTP or cloud-native APIs.

You’ll Do Well Here if You Are

- A doer. You see something broken and fix it. You'd rather move on clarity than wait for certainty.
- A fast learner who knows you don't know everything. The AI landscape changes weekly. You're senior enough to know better and curious enough to keep learning anyway.
- Direct in a way that makes the work better. You give honest feedback. You'd rather have the hard conversation than blow smoke.
- Obsessed with craft. You know genius is in the details. You ship exceptional, not perfect, and you don't put your name on work you wouldn't stand behind.
- Built for ownership. You honor commitments, admit mistakes fast, and back your teammates when a decision costs something. No handoffs, no finger-pointing.
- All in. You treat clients' businesses like your own. You take the work seriously without taking yourself seriously.
- Resourceful when the budget, timeline, or team is tight. Constraints don't slow you down. They sharpen you.
- Glad to be in the room with people who care as much as you do. Our teams average fifteen-plus years of experience. We hire people who push each other to do better work.

The below range reflects the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. The salary range for this role is $ $165,604 - $228,491 USD.  We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.

An offer of employment may be conditional upon successful completion of a background check in accordance with local legislation and our candidate privacy notice. Your current employer will not be contacted without your permission.  We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

## About Robots and Pencils

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Robots & Pencils is an Applied AI Engineering Partner that builds generative and agentic AI systems for enterprise clients, taking AI from pilot to production quickly.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Bootstrapped/Organic Growth)
- **Headquarters**: Chagrin Falls, Ohio, United States
- **Founded**: 2009
- **Founders**: Len Pagon (CEO), Nathan Carmon

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: IT Services and IT Consulting, Applied AI Engineering, Cloud-Native Development
- **Target customers**: Enterprise clients in Financial Services, Healthcare, Education, Energy, Retail & Consumer Goods, High Tech, and Transportation
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "We build smart systems for a human world" — blending the logic of machines with the creativity of humans to help organizations modernize platforms, design cloud-native applications, and unlock the real-world value of AI.

## Products & Services
- **Applied AI Engineering**: Building generative and agentic AI systems on Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, with memory, observability, and security built in from the start. Focused on taking AI from pilot to production quickly.
- **Cloud-Native AWS Modernization**: Re-architecting AWS environments from EC2/ECS to serverless-native infrastructure. Migrating legacy systems to cloud-native AWS, beyond lift-and-shift.
- **The Sharpening Sprint™**: A structured engagement to surface the strongest AI use cases for a client and deliver a sequenced build plan.
- **UX/UI Design & Product Strategy**: A creative team of product owners, researchers, UX designers, and visual designers who craft seamless experiences.
- **Legacy Platform Modernization**: Refactoring aging platforms and designing cloud-native applications across industries.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (privately held)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue of **$21.5M** (estimated) [ca.linkedin.com](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/robots-and-pencils)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: AWS (Advanced Tier Services Partner and Inaugural AWS Pattern Partner)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of ~115 employees (+35.1% YoY, +39 people) [ca.linkedin.com](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/robots-and-pencils); 23,753 LinkedIn followers (+55.2% yearly growth); 77M+ users reached worldwide across launched apps; 25 patents & published works; 5 apps hit #1 in the App Store

## Competitive Advantages
- **Applied AI Engineering Focus**: Specializes exclusively in taking generative and agentic AI from pilot to live, fast — a nimble, high-velocity alternative to traditional global systems integrators.
- **AWS Pattern Partner**: One of only 11 inaugural AWS Pattern Partners selected from the AWS Partner Network, signaling deep technical partnership and trust.
- **Senior-Led Teams**: Operates through small, senior teams (15+ years average experience per team member) rather than massive consulting organizations, ensuring high-quality delivery.
- **Human-Centered Design**: Blends elite engineering talent with world-class UX design, differentiating from pure technical consultancies.
- **Proven Track Record**: 77M+ users reached worldwide, 25 patents & published works, and multiple #1 App Store launches.

## Strategic Focus
- **Agentic AI on AWS**: Building agentic systems on Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Bedrock AgentCore with memory, observability, and security built in from the start.
- **Production-Ready AI**: Focused on taking AI from pilot to production in weeks, not months, with a strong emphasis on compliance and regulatory environments (Financial Services, Healthcare).
- **Industry Expansion**: Serving Financial Services, Health Tech, Education, Energy, Retail & Consumer Goods, and High Tech — industries where AI agents create exponential value.
- **Global Delivery Network**: Operating delivery centers across the U.S., Canada, Eastern Europe, and Latin America to serve enterprise clients worldwide.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as "wicked smart, wildly curious, ready to build" — a culture that values curiosity, collaboration, and impact. The company emphasizes "always learning" and invests in personal and professional growth.
- **Work Model**: Hybrid and remote-friendly. "Whether you are co-located in one of our offices or remote first, we prioritize how teams are set up to focus in on collaboration for successful delivery." [robotsandpencils.com](https://robotsandpencils.com/careers/)
- **Benefits**: Salary continuation and protected leave for parents (birth, spouse, and adoptive); health & wellness benefits; flexible hours; paid time off (vacation, sick, personal leave, flexible holidays).
- **Engineering Culture**: Described as a team of "tech wizards creating digital magic" — frontend, backend, mobile, and full-stack developers working on cutting-edge AI and cloud-native projects. The hiring process includes a pre-screen assessment, skills assessment, and deep dive interview to evaluate culture addition, communication, and technical fit.
- **Global Team**: Delivery centers in the U.S., Canada, Ukraine, Colombia, and the Philippines, offering a diverse, international work environment.

## Sources
1. [robotsandpencils.com](https://robotsandpencils.com/)
2. [robotsandpencils.com/about](https://robotsandpencils.com/about/)
3. [robotsandpencils.com/careers](https://robotsandpencils.com/careers/)
4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/robotsandpencils](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/robotsandpencils)
5. [ca.linkedin.com/company/robots-and-pencils](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/robots-and-pencils)

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