Principal AI Engineer

Donaldson is committed to solving the world’s most complex filtration challenges. Together, we make cool things. As an established technology and innovation leader, we are continuously evolving to meet the filtration needs of our changing world. Join a culture of collaboration and innovation that matters and a chance to learn, effect change, and make meaningful contributions at work and in communities. ​

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Principal AI Solution Developer to join Donaldson's AI Center of Excellence (AI-CoE) and lead the design, development, and deployment of enterprise AI solutions that drive measurable business impact. The successful candidate will own the complete AI solution lifecycle, from identifying and defining business problems through architecture, development, deployment, governance, and continuous improvement.

This role requires a strong combination of technical leadership, hands-on development, solution architecture, and team mentorship. You will help establish AI engineering standards, guide senior and junior developers, and accelerate AI adoption across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical leader inside AI-CoE, driving the architecture, design, and delivery of enterprise AI solutions, influencing global AI technology direction.
• Lead discovery sessions with business stakeholders to identify opportunities, define problem statements, assess process and data readiness, and translate business needs into scalable AI solutions.
• Lead the full AI solution lifecycle, from discovery, architecture, and prototyping through development, deployment, adoption, and continuous improvement.
• Partner closely with the global team to align & own enterprise AI architecture, engineering standards, and technology strategy.
• Architect, design and develop enterprise-grade AI solutions, including agentic AI systems, multi-agent workflows, tool integrations and workflow automations.
• Rapidly build and validate prototypes to demonstrate business value, accelerate decision-making, and guide investment priorities.
• Establish AI engineering standards, best practices, reusable frameworks, and development accelerators.
• Ensure AI solutions are secure, reliable, scalable, observable, and aligned with responsible AI principles.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, models, frameworks, and platforms, and provide recommendations on their applicability to enterprise use cases.
• Mentor and develop senior and junior AI engineers, providing technical guidance through architecture reviews, code reviews, solution design, and best-practice adoption.
• Collaborate with global AI, Data, IT, Security, and Architecture teams to drive successful AI adoption across the enterprise.
• Foster an AI-driven culture by enabling teams across the organization to build and scale AI solutions using approved standards and best practices.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field (or equivalent experience) with 7+ years of software engineering experience in total including 3+ years of experience designing and delivering AI, ML and Generative AI solutions in production environments.
• Strong proficiency in Python and modern software engineering practices & AI frameworks.
• Experience leading technical design, architecture decisions, and solution delivery.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to mentor developers and provide technical leadership across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft Agent Framework, LangChain, LangGraph, or similar technologies.
• Experience with Snowflake Cortex AI and enterprise data platforms.
• Experience with Copilot Studio, Power Platform, Microsoft 365 integrations, and enterprise automation.
• Exposure to MLOps, LLMOps, AI observability, evaluation frameworks, and AI governance practices.
• Experience integrating AI solutions with ERP, CRM, manufacturing, supply chain, or business applications.
• Knowledge of AI security, data privacy, prompt injection risks, and responsible AI principles.

What Success Looks Like

• Delivering production-ready AI solutions that create measurable business value.
• Establishing and driving AI development standards across the organization.
• Providing technical leadership and mentorship to the AI development team.
• Enabling faster delivery through reusable frameworks, patterns, and best practices.
• Serving as a trusted technical advisor for AI architecture, solution design, and enterprise adoption.

Employment opportunities for positions in the United States may require use of information which is subject to the export control regulations of the United States. Hiring decisions for such positions are required by law to be made in compliance with these regulations. Applicants for employment opportunities in other countries must be able to meet the comparable export control requirements of that country and of the United States.

Donaldson Company has been made aware that there are several recruiting scams that are targeting job seekers.  These scams have attempted to solicit money for job applications and/or collect confidential information, Donaldson will never solicit money during the application or recruiting process.  Donaldson only accepts online applications through our Careers | Donaldson Company, Inc. website and any communication from a Donaldson recruiter would be sent using a donaldson.com email address.  If you have any questions about the legitimacy of an employment opportunity, please reach out to [email protected] to verify that the communication is from Donaldson.

Our policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, gender, color, disability, national origin, age, religion, union affiliation, sexual orientation, veteran status, citizenship, gender identity and/or expression, or other status protected by law.