Overview
Principal Engineer – Applied AI Jobs in Abu Dhabi, UAE/Dubai at DISCOVERED
Discover the Role
We are seeking a Principal Engineer – Applied AI to serve as one of the definitive technical voices with one of our clients. In this high-impact, non-managerial role, you will set system-wide technical direction, make high-stakes architectural decisions across multiple engineering teams, and continuously raise our engineering ceiling through hands-on leadership and mentorship.
If you thrive on solving the hardest cross-system problems, establishing production AI standards, and building resilient architecture for frontier AI applications, this role is for you.
Discover the Responsibilities
Technical Direction & Applied AI Architecture
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Define Enterprise Standards: Establish technical direction for system architecture, API interfaces, evaluation strategies, and deployment patterns that govern how our engineering teams build.
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Make Mission-Critical Calls: Lead high-consequence architectural decisions that transcend individual team scopes—taking ownership to define, document, and defend the technical vision.
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Architect for Production AI Realities: Build robust systems designed for the unique challenges of AI at scale—including non-determinism, model drift, evaluation-as-engineering, cost/latency tradeoffs, and novel failure modes.
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Domain Expertise: Serve as a trusted authority on frontier model evaluation, RAG/retrieval architectures, multi-agent design, and state-of-the‑art AI infrastructure, distinguishing battle‑tested tools from research hype.
Hands‑On Technical Leadership
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Lead from the Front: Stay deeply active in the technical work—reading code, running benchmarks, writing prototypes to resolve architectural debates, and building reference implementations.
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Tackle Unowned & Complex Problems: Own cross‑system redesigns, resolve multi‑component production incidents, and fix stubborn performance bottlenecks that elude standard debugging.
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De‑risk Core Decisions: Pressure‑test high‑stakes choices including model selection, build vs. buy infrastructure, sovereign deployment trade‑offs, and long‑term architectural commitments.
Engineering Quality & Mentorship
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Set the Bar: Lead deep design reviews, architecture evaluations, and post‑mortems as a standard‑setting function where your approval establishes the baseline for production readiness.
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Multiply Engineering Talent: Mentor Senior and Staff Engineers, accelerating their growth and permanently elevating technical standards across the organization.
Discover the Requirements
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12+ Years of Software Engineering
Experience:
A proven track record operating successfully at the Staff or Principal level.
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Deep Technical Authority: Demonstrated experience designing, launching, and maintaining mission‑critical production systems relied upon by other engineering teams.
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Multi‑Team Architectural Leadership: Proven ability to define long‑term architectural visions, clean APIs, and engineering practices that shape organizational execution.
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Current Hands‑On Technical Depth: Active, day‑to‑day engagement with code and systems, maintaining the credibility required to solve complex bugs alongside senior engineers.
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Track Record as a Technical Multiplier: A history of elevating surrounding engineers, establishing enduring practices, and resolving the hardest cross‑domain architectural challenges.
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Executive & Technical Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills – capable of drafting comprehensive RFCs/architecture docs, facilitating design reviews, and articulating technical realities to executive leadership clearly and concisely.
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Title: Principal Engineer – Applied AI
Company: DISCOVERED
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE/Dubai
Category: