Principal Generative AI Platform Architect

About the Role & Team
"We Power the Magic!" That's our motto at Disney Experiences (DX) Tech & Digital. Our team creates world-class immersive digital experiences for the Company's premier vacation brands. We deliver experiences to consumers through Disney's Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Lines, and Disney Vacation Club. We are responsible for the end-to-end digital and physical Guest experience for all technology & digitally led initiatives across the Attractions & Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Resorts & Transportation, and Merchandise lines of business, as well as other innovative initiatives such as Hey, Disney!
This role is part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence within DX Tech & Digital. As the Principal AI Platform Architect, you will report directly to Sr. Manager, Technology and have a dotted line into the Director of AI Solutions & Development. This dynamic position places you at the forefront of technological innovation, driving transformative AI solutions that enhance guest experiences and operational efficiencies.
You will be positioned as an expert in Generative AI across the team, leading innovative solutions for complex problems with significant impact. This role involves direct collaboration with multi-disciplinary senior leaders across the segment, working on high-profile strategic projects that shape the future of Disney's digital landscape.
You'll be part of a vibrant and collaborative team that thrives on creativity, innovation, and the magic of technology. Join us to be at the heart of crafting experiences that delight millions of guests worldwide, blending the art of storytelling with the latest advancements in AI.
What You Will Do

• Lead the end-to-end ownership of the Generative AI Platform, driving the architectural vision and ensuring its scalability, robustness, and flexibility to support the full lifecycle of Generative AI solutions.
• Exercise full autonomy in designing and defining the platform's architecture, creating comprehensive blueprints, and setting the technical direction in collaboration with multiple teams.
• Strategically influence the selection and integration of technologies, frameworks, and tools, ensuring the platform remains innovative, secure, and cost-effective amidst the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
• Lead the development and implementation of critical platform components, including data pipelines, model training and serving infrastructure, API gateways, and monitoring systems, with a focus on innovation and efficiency.
• Establish and implement best practices and standards for platform development, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and ethical AI guidelines.
• Mentor and lead a team of developers and engineers, fostering an environment of continuous learning, innovation, and excellence in Generative AI.
• Stay at the forefront of advancements in Generative AI and related technologies, proactively incorporating relevant innovations into the platform's design and strategy.
• Continuously evaluate emerging AI trends, ensuring the enterprise architecture adapts and evolves, maintaining a future-ready state.
• Lead and co-innovate with internal and external partners, including industry leaders, to align the platform with responsible AI practices and business goals.
• Partner with the product team to prioritize and define platform features, balancing technical feasibility with business needs and user feedback.
• Ensure platform scalability and security, implementing measures to handle large-scale data processing and robust model serving.
• Oversee the deployment and management of the platform in cloud environments, optimizing for cost-effectiveness, reliability, and performance.
• Drive the continuous improvement of platform capabilities, using new developments and innovations to maintain a leading edge in the AI domain.
• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively, influencing and persuading team members across the organization to adopt the vision and strategy.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Minimum of 10 years of experience designing and architecting large-scale, distributed systems
• Minimum of 3 years designing and deploying in AI/ML/ NLP/Deep Learning solutions.
• Recognized as an industry expert in AI, with a consistent record of leading the architecture of multiple LLM and Generative AI solutions.
• Expertise in LLM ecosystems, including platforms like Azure OpenAI, Google Vertex, and AWS Bedrock, and mastery of relevant tech stacks.
• Proficient in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) with experience in deploying and leading complex AI/ML workloads.
• Great foundation in agile methodologies and DevOps practices, particularly in the context of AI/ML.
• Implemented Production applications using Retrieval-augmented generation(RAG) concepts and managed large Knowledge Bases (KBs) with embeddings, chunking and other optimization techniques within VectorDBs.
• Expert programming skills in languages such as Python, Java, or C++, and working knowledge of deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Hugging Face.
• In-depth knowledge of MLOps, including model versioning, training pipelines, and deployment strategies.
• Experience in collaborating with data engineers, implementing advanced AI, ML, and NLP techniques using industry-standard frameworks.
• Deep familiarity with vector databases and data processing techniques for LLMs, including model chunking.
• Hands-on experience with LLM application frameworks, such as Langchain.
• Proven expertise in CI/CD pipeline management within the Generative AI space, including LLMOps.
• Comprehensive understanding of machine learning and NLP algorithms, with hands-on experience in frameworks like Scikit-Learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch.
• Strong knowledge of generative AI techniques, including deep generative models, auto regressive models, and reinforcement learning for generative tasks.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and the ability to design scalable, efficient solutions for complex challenges.
• Outstanding communication and leadership abilities, capable of influencing multi-functional teams and senior partners.
• Strategic thinker with a passion for staying ahead in Generative AI research, applying state-of-the-art techniques to solve real-world problems.

Required Education
Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study and/or equivalent work experience
#DISNEYTECH
The hiring range for this position in Glendale/Anaheim, CA is $180,700 to $242,300 per year and in Seattle, WA is $189,300 - 253,800 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.