Principal AI Architect
Hybrid San Francisco Full-time Senior AI Engineering
At a glance
Senior AI Engineering role at Hop. San Francisco · full-time · no salary stated · we estimate $205,000–$277,500.
Estimated pay
Hop has not published a salary for this role. The figure below is our estimate, not theirs.
$205,000 – $277,500
What the middle half of senior AI engineering roles in San Francisco paid, among postings that did state a salary.
Worked out from 53 postings that stated pay, median $232,500. Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
RoleAI Engineering
SenioritySenior
LocationSan Francisco
WorkplaceHybrid
EmploymentFull-time
PostedApr 22, 2026 · 6mo ago
Role brief
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set the architecture for new AI systems, including agent designs, reasoning methods and proprietary models
- Build and test predictive models, autonomous signal synthesis and multimodal capabilities for defensible intellectual property
- Lay out data, model-serving, agent-orchestration and inference foundations for future products
- Assess emerging approaches such as multi-agent reasoning, RLHF and retrieval-augmented fine-tuning for early adoption
- Create team standards for architecture reviews, engineering and documenting intellectual property
What you bring
- A computer science, AI/ML or related degree at the BS, MS or PhD level
- At least five years in AI/ML engineering, including two years as a principal engineer or lead architect
- A record of taking original AI systems into products, rather than implementing established patterns
- Strong command of LLM training and fine-tuning, agent design, knowledge graphs and large-scale data modeling
Who this fits
This senior, high-ownership role suits someone comfortable shaping new systems amid ambiguity, with research depth or shipped work that shows proprietary differentiation. You’ll work in person in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood at least four days each week. You must already be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship now or in the future.
From the employer
Draup is a Series A-funded agentic AI company building the intelligence layer for how global enterprises make workforce and go-to-market decisions. We work with 250+ enterprise clients — including 5 of the Fortune 10 — processing 1B+ job descriptions, 850M+ professional profiles, and signals from 100+ labor databases.
We are now building our Silicon Valley engineering team — a small, senior group focused on next-generation AI research and product.
Location: San Francisco, SoMa — minimum 4 days per week in-office.
What you'll do
• Define and own the architectural vision for next-generation AI systems: novel agent architectures, reasoning systems, and proprietary model development.• Prototype and evaluate breakthrough AI capabilities — predictive modeling, autonomous signal synthesis, multi-modal intelligence — that create defensible IP.• Set the technical foundations: data architecture, model serving, agent orchestration, and inference infrastructure for a multi-year product horizon.• Evaluate and adopt emerging AI paradigms (multi-agent reasoning, RLHF, retrieval-augmented fine-tuning) before they are mainstream.• Establish engineering standards, architecture review processes, and IP documentation practices for the team.
What we require
• BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, AI/ML, or related field. PhD or equivalent research depth preferred.• 5+ years in AI/ML engineering with at least 2 years in a principal engineer or lead architect role.• Demonstrated history of building original AI systems that became products — not implementations of existing patterns.• Deep expertise across: LLM training and fine-tuning, agentic system design, knowledge graph construction, large-scale data modeling.• Comfort operating in greenfield conditions: high ambiguity, high ownership.• Patents, published research, or shipped products with clear proprietary differentiation are strong signals.• No visa sponsorship. Must be authorized to work in the US without current or future employer sponsorship.
We are now building our Silicon Valley engineering team — a small, senior group focused on next-generation AI research and product.
Location: San Francisco, SoMa — minimum 4 days per week in-office.
What you'll do
• Define and own the architectural vision for next-generation AI systems: novel agent architectures, reasoning systems, and proprietary model development.• Prototype and evaluate breakthrough AI capabilities — predictive modeling, autonomous signal synthesis, multi-modal intelligence — that create defensible IP.• Set the technical foundations: data architecture, model serving, agent orchestration, and inference infrastructure for a multi-year product horizon.• Evaluate and adopt emerging AI paradigms (multi-agent reasoning, RLHF, retrieval-augmented fine-tuning) before they are mainstream.• Establish engineering standards, architecture review processes, and IP documentation practices for the team.
What we require
• BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, AI/ML, or related field. PhD or equivalent research depth preferred.• 5+ years in AI/ML engineering with at least 2 years in a principal engineer or lead architect role.• Demonstrated history of building original AI systems that became products — not implementations of existing patterns.• Deep expertise across: LLM training and fine-tuning, agentic system design, knowledge graph construction, large-scale data modeling.• Comfort operating in greenfield conditions: high ambiguity, high ownership.• Patents, published research, or shipped products with clear proprietary differentiation are strong signals.• No visa sponsorship. Must be authorized to work in the US without current or future employer sponsorship.