Lead AI Architect; X-Shaped Multiplier

About the group

About the group:

Cognizant’s Cloud, Infrastructure, and Security Services Practice (CIS) is all about accepting digital transformation by driving core modernization holistically across layers. We help customers transform infrastructure and workplace to meet the constantly evolving needs of the digital era. Our broad approach delivers key results for our customers by achieving cloud driven modernization and workplace and operational transformation to own the business in a secure environment.

Role:
Lead AI Architect (X-Shaped Multiplier)

Location:
Irvine, CA

Mandatory skills: Agentic AI Architecture Design, AIOps Driven Triage & Auto Remediation (with RAG), Cloud & Platform Ops (GCP Focused), Observability, LLMOps & Evaluation Frameworks, EUC Agentification, Endpoint Automation, Incident & Runbook Automation

We are looking for a Lead AI Architect who functions as a force multiplier. You are not just an expert in code; you are a credible leader who bridges the gap between traditional enterprise software and the frontier of AI. Your primary mission is to build a self-sustaining ecosystem of AI talent—teaching your team how to "fish" in the world of AI Engineering and empowering them to pass those skills to the next generation.

• Design and maintain agentic AI architectures for Infra & EUC operations
• Lead AIOps driven triage & auto remediation initiatives using RAG
• Operate and enhance cloud & platform infrastructure (GCP focused)
• Establish observability and LLMOps evaluation frameworks
• Build and automate EUC endpoint operations and runbooks
• Prioritize and convert incidents into automation backlogs
• Implement strong security, governance & responsible AI controls
• Enable engineering teams to contribute new tools & workflows

• Deep Vertical:
  Java Full-Stack mastery (Spring Framework) and AI Engineering patterns.
• Broad Horizontal:
  Cross-team collaboration, Digital Engineering methods, and Product Strategy.
• The Core (Intersection):
  Leadership credibility, mentorship, and the ability to foster a "teaching culture."

• Teach to Fish:
  Actively pair with developers to transition them from traditional software roles to high-performing AI Engineers.
• Scale the Knowledge:
  Establish "mentor-the-mentor" programs to ensure AI Engineering practices are disseminated across the entire organization.
• Lead by Doing:
  Remain hands-on in the codebase, demonstrating how to apply Extreme Programming (XP)—such as Pair Programming and TDD—to non-deterministic AI outputs.

• Context & Prompt Engineering:
  Architect complex, structured prompt engineering and context engineering pipelines that move beyond simple chat inputs into sophisticated agentic workflows.
• AI-PDLC Mastery:
  Drive the AI Product Development Lifecycle, utilizing spec-driven development and agent-as-code patterns to ensure AI features are predictable, testable, and aligned with business goals.
• Data Set Engineering:
  Oversee the curation and engineering of high-quality data sets for model grounding and fine-tuning.

• Java Full-Stack:
  Leverage deep experience in the Spring Framework to build robust, scalable backends that treat AI models as integrated system components.
• AI Tooling & Frameworks:
  Deploy and manage advanced tools including Google Vertex AI, Langchain, CrewAI, MCP, A2A and Git Hub Copilot. (We should consider adding Python as most of the frameworks are also Python based)

Tools: Git Hub Copilot, MCP (Model Context Protocol), Vector Databases (e.g., Pinecone or Vertex Vector Search).

Salary and Other Compensation: Applications will be accepted until 2/6/2026

The annual salary for this position is between $135,000- $160,000 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

Disclaimer
:
The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.