AVP , Principal Engineer - AI Agent Engineering (L11)

Responsibilities

• Build (hands-on, ~60%)
• Design and implement end-to-end agents on AWS Strands SDK and Bedrock AgentCore, including tool orchestration, multi-step reasoning, memory, HITL gates, and structured streaming. Use CrewAI or LangChain/LangGraph only where Strands does not fit, with explicit justification.
• Write clean, idiomatic, testable Python: typed (mypy/pyright), modular, async-aware, with strong package boundaries. Follow SOLID and apply the right design pattern for the job (Strategy, Adapter, Repository, Factory, Mediator, Circuit Breaker, Saga) - and apply the right agentic pattern (ReAct, Plan-and-Execute, Reflection, Router, Hierarchical Multi-Agent, Tool-Use, RAG-Fusion) deliberately rather than by default.
• Build agent backends as proper services (FastAPI), with clear domain models, dependency injection, hexagonal/ports-and-adapters separation between LLM/tool calls and business logic, and contract tests against platform APIs and MCP tools.
• Implement RAG correctly: chunking strategy, embedding choice, hybrid retrieval, grounding/citations, and eval-driven iteration. Use only platform-provided vector stores and follow data-classification and residency rules.
• Integrate with the model gateway, MCP/tool registry, identity (OIDC/OAuth2/SCIM), and observability SDK rather than calling model APIs or building auth/logging directly.
• Lead and guide (~40%)
• Set and enforce the engineering bar across 1-2 agile teams: code reviews, design reviews, ADR (architecture decision record) discipline, definition of done, and PR standards. Block merges that skip evals, observability, or guardrails.
• Decompose roadmap items into well-shaped backlogs; pair-program with mid/junior engineers; mentor on Python, cloud, and agentic concepts; grow the next tech leads.
• Own the team's technical roadmap in partnership with PM and the AI Platform architects; identify reusable primitives and push them upstream into the platform instead of forking.
• Driv

Benefits

Additional Information

Job Description: Role Job Title AVP , Principal Engineer - AI Agent Engineering (L11) Company Overview : Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a premier consumer financial services company delivering one of the industry's most complete digitally enabled product suites. Our experience, expertise and scale encompass a broad spectrum of industries including digital, health and wellness, retail, telecommunications, home, auto, outdoors, pet and more. - We have recently been ranked #2 among India's Best Companies to Work for by Great Place to Work. We were among the Top 50 India's Best Workplaces in Building a Culture of Innovation by All by GPTW and Top 25 among Best Workplaces in BFSI by GPTW. We have also been recognized by AmbitionBox Employee Choice Awards among the Top 20 Mid-Sized Companies, ranked #3 among Top Rated Companies for Women, and Top-Rated Financial Services Companies. - We provide best-in-class employee benefits and programs that cater to work-life integration and overall well-being. - We provide career advancement and upskilling opportunities for all to take up leadership roles. Organizational Overview: Synchrony's Engineering Team is a dynamic and innovative team dedicated to driving technological excellence. As a member of this Team, you'll play a pivotal role in designing and developing cutting-edge tech stack and solutions that redefine industry standards. The Credit Card that we use every day to purchase our essentials and later settle the bills - A simple process that we all are used to on a day to day basis. Now, consider the vast complexity hidden behind this seemingly simple process, operating tirelessly for millions of cardholders. The sheer volume of data processed is mind-boggling. Fortunately, advanced technology stands ready to automate and manage this constant torrent of information, ensuring smooth transactions around the clock, 365 days a year. Our collaborative environment encourages creative problem-solving and fosters career growth. Join us to work on diverse projects, from fintech to data analytics, and contribute to shaping the future of technology. If you're passionate about engineering and innovation, Synchrony's Engineering Team is the place to be Role Summary / Purpose We are looking for a hands-on Principal Engineer / Tech Lead who can both build and guide the build of production-grade agentic AI applications on AWS - primarily on the AWS Strands SDK and Bedrock AgentCore - and who treats agents as real software systems, not prompt experiments. This person owns the engineering quality bar for 1-2 delivery teams: design patterns, Python craft, testing, evals, CI/CD, observability, and on-call readiness. They write code roughly 60% of the time and lead/review/mentor the rest. They consume the primitives defined by the AI Platform / Cloud Solution Architect (model gateway, MCP/tool registry, memory store, eval harness, guardrails, identity, kill switch) rather than rebuilding them, and hold their teams to that same discipline.

Your Match

How well this role fits your profile.

Company Intel

What employees say

Worked at Synchrony? Share your experience