Sr. AI Architect, San Francisco, California, United States

About AI & Analytics: Artificial intelligence (AI) and the data it collects and analyzes will soon sit at the core of all intelligent, human-centric businesses. By decoding customer needs, preferences, and behaviors, our clients can understand exactly what services, products, and experiences their consumers need. Within AI & Analytics, we work to design the future—a future in which trial-and-error business decisions have been replaced by informed choices and data-supported strategies.

By applying AI and data science, we help leading companies to prototype, refine, validate, and scale their AI and analytics products and delivery models. Cognizant’s AIA practice takes insights that are buried in data and provides businesses a clear way to transform how they source, interpret and consume their information. Our clients need flexible data structures and a streamlined data architecture that quickly turns data resources into informative, meaningful intelligence.

*Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future*

Job Summary

We are seeking an AI Architect to lead the design, development, and delivery of enterprise-scale Generative AI and agentic AI solutions on Google Cloud Platform. This role focuses on defining end-to-end AI/ML architecture strategy, building scalable LLM and multi-agent systems, and driving innovation using Vertex AI. You will play a key role in enabling intelligent automation through advanced AI frameworks while ensuring production readiness, governance, and business alignment. The position requires strong technical leadership, deep hands-on expertise, and client-facing consulting experience.

In this role, you will:

· Define and lead enterprise AI architecture strategy for Generative AI and agentic AI solutions on GCP.

· Architect and implement LLM-based applications using Vertex AI services including Model Garden, Gemini API, and custom training pipelines.

· Design and develop multi-agent AI systems using Google ADK or equivalent frameworks (LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen).

· Build scalable Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines using Vertex AI Search, Vector Search, and BigQuery.

· Develop and manage LLMOps pipelines covering model versioning, evaluation, fine-tuning (SFT/RLHF/PEFT), and deployment using Vertex AI Pipelines.

· Leverage GCP-native services (Cloud Run, GKE, Dataflow, Pub/Sub, Apigee) to design and implement AI-first platforms.

· Provide technical leadership, mentor teams, and conduct architecture reviews ensuring governance and responsible AI practices.

· Define reusable design patterns, best practices, and reference architectures for LLM and agentic AI solutions.

· Collaborate with clients and stakeholders to define AI strategy, lead PoCs, solution demos, and RFP/RFI responses.

· Drive innovation adoption by evaluating emerging AI tools, models, frameworks, and enterprise AI capabilities.

What you need to have to be considered

· 15+ years of experience in AI/ML, cloud architecture, or enterprise digital transformation roles.

· Strong hands-on expertise in Google Cloud Platform including Vertex AI, BigQuery, Dataflow, GKE, Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, and IAM.

· Proven experience designing and delivering production-grade Generative AI and LLM-based applications.

· Deep knowledge of RAG architectures, embeddings, vector databases, prompt engineering, and model evaluation strategies.

· Experience building agentic AI systems using ADK or frameworks like LangGraph, CrewAI, or AutoGen.

· Strong programming skills in Python with experience in MLOps tools (Vertex AI Pipelines, MLflow, Kubeflow).

· Solid understanding of containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD pipelines.

· Strong leadership, stakeholder engagement, and consulting experience working with enterprise clients.

· GCP certifications (Professional Architect / ML Engineer) and experience in regulated industries are a plus.

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Applications will be accepted until 10 Jul 2026.

Salary and Other Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is between $[174,500 - 204,500] depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

· Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

· Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off

· 401(k) plan and contributions

· Long-term/Short-term Disability

· Paid Parental Leave

· Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Sobre a Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) é uma construtora de IA e fornecedora de serviços de tecnologia, criando a ponte entre o investimento em IA e o valor para as empresas por meio do desenvolvimento de soluções de IA completas para nossos clientes. Nossa profunda experiência em setores, processos e engenharia nos permite incorporar o contexto único de cada organização em sistemas tecnológicos que potencializam a capacidade humana, geram resultados tangíveis e mantêm empresas globais à frente em um mundo em rápida transformação. Saiba mais em cognizant.ai ou @cognizant.

A Cognizant é uma empregadora que investe em equidade. Sua candidatura não será pautada em raça, cor, gênero, sexualidade, credo, origem, deficiência, gravidez ou qualquer outra característica protegida pelas leis brasileiras.

Informações adicionais de emprego
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Embora nosso sistema permita a candidatura em todos os idiomas, o(s) idioma(s) e o(s) nível(is) de proficiência exigidos para o trabalho variam. No entanto, é necessário um nível básico de inglês para fins de comunicação em toda a empresa.

Se você tem uma deficiência que requer adaptações razoáveis para procurar uma vaga de emprego ou enviar uma candidatura, envie um e-mail para [email protected] com sua solicitação e informações de contato.