As a Principal AI Engineer, you will lead the design and evolution of Ecolab’s GenAI and agentic AI systems at a strategic level. You will set architectural direction, establish AI governance protocols (including security, context control, and responsible use), and influence how Ecolab integrates advanced AI across its digital ecosystem. This role is ideal for deep technical experts who also bring system thinking, hands-on delivery experience, and strong cross-functional influence.
Core Responsibilities
• Define enterprise-wide architecture for GenAI systems, agent frameworks, LLM integration, and multi-agent orchestration
• Establish AI governance standards — including security, ethical usage, context management (MCP), agent-to-agent protocols (A2A), and explainability
• Lead evaluation and integration of emerging AI tooling and frameworks, from retrieval infrastructure to observability platforms
• Serve as a cross-functional advisor on LLM implementation across product teams, engineering pods, and data science
• Develop reusable components, SDKs, or templates that standardize GenAI deployment patterns
• Review and challenge architectural proposals from Lead Engineers and ensure alignment with long-term AI strategy
• Build and drive internal capability around GenAI innovation, including mentoring, tech talks, and hackathons
• Support cross-region scalability, data sensitivity considerations, and deployment performance benchmarking
• Stay abreast of industry trends and translate them into actionable design or investment recommendations
Required Skills:
• 8+ years of experience in AI/ML system design, with solid implementation in GenAI, LLMs, or agentic architectures
• Proven experience in architecting production-grade GenAI platforms or frameworks at scale
• Deep proficiency in Python, with mastery over GenAI libraries: OpenAI, transformers, Pydantic, Lang chain, faiss, pinecone, etc.
• Demonstrated experience integrating AI into cloud environments (Azure preferred: Databricks, Azure Foundry)
• Strong knowledge of AI security, privacy frameworks, hallucination mitigation, and governance
Nice-to-have skills:
• Hands-on implementation of MCP, A2A orchestration, or autonomous agent workflows
• Contributor to open-source or community-based GenAI projects
• Experience driving AI strategy across a multi-product or multi-cloud ecosystem
• Strong executive presence with the ability to translate deep tech to business impact
• Published thought leadership (papers, blogs, talks) in the AI/LLM space
• Define enterprise-wide architecture for GenAI systems, agent frameworks, LLM integration, and multi-agent orchestration• Establish AI governance standards — including security, ethical usage, context management (MCP), agent-to-agent protocols (A2A), and explainability• Lead evaluation and integration of emerging AI tooling and frameworks, from retrieval infrastructure to observability platforms• Serve as a cross-functional advisor on LLM implementation across product teams, engineering pods, and data science• Develop reusable components, SDKs, or templates that standardize GenAI deployment patterns• Review and challenge architectural proposals from Lead Engineers and ensure alignment with long-term AI strategy• Build and drive internal capability around GenAI innovation, including mentoring, tech talks, and hackathons• Support cross-region scalability, data sensitivity considerations, and deployment performance benchmarking• Stay abreast of industry trends and translate them into actionable design or investment recommendationsSkills Required
- 8+ years of experience in AI/ML system design
- Hands-on implementation experience with generative AI, LLMs, or agentic architectures
- Experience architecting production-grade generative AI platforms or frameworks at scale
- Deep proficiency in Python
- Mastery of generative AI libraries and tools including OpenAI, Transformers, Pydantic, LangChain, FAISS, and Pinecone
- Experience integrating AI into cloud environments
- Azure experience, preferably with Databricks and Azure AI Foundry
- Strong knowledge of AI security, privacy frameworks, hallucination mitigation, and governance
- Hands-on implementation of MCP, A2A orchestration, or autonomous agent workflows
- Contribution to open-source or community-based generative AI projects
- Experience driving AI strategy across a multi-product or multi-cloud ecosystem
- Strong executive presence and ability to translate deep technology into business impact
- Published thought leadership in the AI/LLM field
Ecolab Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Ecolab and has not been reviewed or approved by Ecolab.
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Retirement Support — Feedback suggests the company provides strong retirement programs, including a 401(k) with employer matching and a pension, alongside options like an employee stock purchase plan. Offerings such as retiree healthcare benefits and diverse investment choices reinforce long-term financial support.
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Healthcare Strength — Feedback suggests medical coverage is broad, with HSA plan options and company contributions, prescription benefits, dental and vision, and virtual care and mental health support. Company-paid wellness programs and income protection (short- and long-term disability, life and accident) further strengthen core coverage.
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Parental & Family Support — Family-focused programs include fertility support, adoption assistance, and paid parental leave, complemented by counseling and resource services. These offerings are positioned as supportive of employee well-being across different life stages.
Ecolab Insights
What We Do
A trusted partner at nearly three million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. With annual sales of $12 billion and more than 44,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions, data-driven insights and personalized service to advance food safety, maintain clean and safe environments, optimize water and energy use, and improve operational efficiencies and sustainability for customers in the food, healthcare, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com, or follow us on twitter.com/ecolab, facebook.com/ecolab or instagram.com/ecolab_inc.
