Software Architect

Job Description: Serve as a technical authority within the Commercial AI Center of Excellence (CAI CoE), leading AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) enablement at enterprise scale. Design, build, and evolve shared AI services, agentic frameworks, and paved-road patterns that enable product and engineering teams to deliver AI-powered capabilities safely and consistently. Establish reference architectures, technical standards, and patterns for agentic orchestration, tool calling, and structured outputs across production-grade AI systems. Lead complex, cross-team technical initiatives spanning multiple value streams; review and influence AI designs across product teams to ensure alignment with enterprise standards. Optimize performance, cost, and scalability of AI workloads while partnering with Security, Cloud Platform, and SRE teams to meet reliability and compliance requirements. Operate at enterprise scale, influencing architecture, standards, and long-term technical direction across PDD while remaining hands-on with critical AI infrastructure and services. Required Qualifications 15+ years of experience in AI/ML software engineering, with demonstrated impact at Senior Principal or equivalent level. Deep expertise in distributed systems and cloud-native architectures. Strong understanding of classical AI, GenAI, agentic systems, retrieval architectures, evaluation, and monitoring. Hands-on experience building LLM systems and RAG pipelines in production. Expertise with cloud platforms, with Azure strongly preferred. Strong system design skills, including APIs and developer platforms. Experience building reusable SDKs, MCPs, and multi-agent orchestrations. Proven ability to influence technical decisions across teams without direct authority. Experience operating in regulated SaaS environments.

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline; advanced degree preferred. Industry experience in tax or other regulated domains (insurance, fintech, or healthcare). Experience with vector databases and retrieval optimization. FinOps for GenAI: experience modeling and optimizing LLM token and inference costs. Data science or classical AI background (beyond prompt engineering). Strong executive communication and technical storytelling skills. Equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant professional experience accepted in lieu of a formal degree. Disclaimer: The above statements describe the general nature and level of work performed in this role. Other duties may be assigned. Other Qualifications: The Winning Way behaviors that all Vertex employees need in order to meet the expectations of each other, our customers, and our partners.

• Communicate with Clarity - Be clear, concise and actionable. Be relentlessly constructive. Seek and provide meaningful feedback.
• Act with Urgency - Adopt an agile mentality - frequent iterations, improved speed, resilience. 80/20 rule – better is the enemy of done. Don’t spend hours when minutes are enough.
• Work with Purpose - Exhibit a “We Can” mindset. Results outweigh effort. Everyone understands how their role contributes. Set aside personal objectives for team results.
• Drive to Decision - Cut the swirl with defined deadlines and decision points. Be clear on individual accountability and decision authority. Guided by a commitment to and accountability for customer outcomes.
• Own the Outcome - Defined milestones, commitments and intended results. Assess your work in context, if you’re unsure, ask. Demonstrate unwavering support for decisions.

Comments: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals in this position. Other functions may be assigned, and management retains the right to add or change the duties at any time. Pay Transparency Statement: US Base Salary Range: $229,800.00 - $298,700.00 Base pay offered to new hires may vary based upon factors including relevant industry and job-related skills and experience, geographic location, and business needs.* The range displayed does not encompass the full potential of the role, which allows for further growth and career progression. In addition, as a part of our total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Vertex Bonus Plan (VOB), a role-specific sales commission/bonus, and/or equity grants. Learn more about Life at Vertex and connect with your recruiter for more details regarding Vertex's compensation and benefit programs. *In no case will your pay fall below applicable local minimum wage requirements.