As an AI Architect within Thoughtworks' Data & AI Service Line, you will be at the forefront of helping our clients design, build, and scale enterprise-grade AI systems. You will operate as a trusted technical leader and advisor — shaping AI strategy, establishing architectural patterns, and delivering impactful solutions that create measurable business value. This is a hands-on, consulting-first role. You'll partner with client stakeholders across industries, lead multidisciplinary teams, and bring Thoughtworks' hallmark of technical excellence to every engagement — from early discovery through to production. # What You'll Do
AI Architecture & Solution Design
Architect scalable, production-ready AI and ML systems, including LLM-powered applications, agentic frameworks, and real-time inference platforms
Define and deliver end-to-end technical blueprints covering model development, data pipelines, serving infrastructure, monitoring, and governance
Lead the design of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, fine-tuning pipelines, and model evaluation frameworks
Evaluate and recommend AI/ML platforms, cloud-native services (AWS, GCP, Azure), vector databases, and open-source tooling
Client Advisory & Consulting
Act as a strategic AI advisor to C-suite and senior technical stakeholders, translating business challenges into AI-driven solutions
Lead architecture discovery workshops, technical due diligence, and capability assessments
Shape and present compelling technical proposals, RFP responses, and point-of-view documents
Navigate complex client organisations, managing stakeholder expectations and building lasting trust
Engineering Leadership
Lead and mentor cross-functional teams of engineers, data scientists, and ML practitioners on client engagements
Define engineering standards, architectural principles, and best practices for AI systems
Champion responsible AI practices including fairness, explainability, privacy, and security by design
Drive hands-on delivery — this is not a purely advisory role; you will write code, review designs, and unblock teams
Practice & Community
Contribute to Thoughtworks' AI practice development: thought leadership, internal accelerators, reusable frameworks, and IP
Represent Thoughtworks at conferences, publish articles, and engage with the broader AI community
Mentor and grow the next generation of AI practitioners within the firm
What You'll Bring
Technical Expertise
8+ years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, or ML engineering, with at least 3 years in a senior architecture or technical leadership role
Deep expertise in designing and deploying ML and AI systems at scale — spanning classical ML, deep learning, and generative AI
Strong command of LLM ecosystems: prompt engineering, fine-tuning, RLHF, RAG architectures, LangChain, LlamaIndex, or equivalent frameworks
Proficiency in Python and familiarity with ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, scikit-learn)
Solid grounding in data architecture: streaming (Kafka, Spark), lakehouses, feature stores, and vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector)
Hands-on experience with cloud AI services across AWS (SageMaker, Bedrock), GCP (Vertex AI), or Azure (Azure ML, OpenAI Service)
Familiarity with MLOps and LLMOps practices: CI/CD for ML, model registries, A/B testing, drift detection, and observability
Consulting & Leadership Skills
Demonstrated experience operating in a consulting or professional services environment, managing client relationships and delivering on commercial commitments
Ability to communicate complex AI concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
Proven track record of leading delivery teams in agile environments, with experience across the full software development lifecycle
Comfortable operating with ambiguity — adept at framing problems, structuring workstreams, and driving clarity
Nice to Have
Experience with autonomous AI agents, multi-agent systems, or AI orchestration frameworks
Contributions to open-source AI/ML projects or published research
Domain expertise in one or more verticals: financial services, healthcare, retail, or the public sector
Familiarity with AI governance frameworks, EU AI Act, or responsible AI toolkits (e.g. IBM AI Fairness 360, Microsoft Responsible AI)
Other things to know
Learning & Development
There is no one-size-fits-all career path at Thoughtworks: however you want to develop your career is entirely up to you. But we also balance autonomy with the strength of our cultivation culture. This means your career is supported by interactive tools, numerous development programs and teammates who want to help you grow. We see value in helping each other be our best and that extends to empowering our employees in their career journeys. ## Responsible Use of AI in Recruitment
At Thoughtworks, we use AI tools to support our recruitment team with administrative tasks such as drafting communications, scheduling interviews and writing job descriptions. Crucially, our AI tools do not screen, assess, rank or make hiring decisions. Every application is reviewed by our team and all selection decisions are made exclusively by our interviewers and hiring managers. We are committed to fairness and responsible AI. We actively manage our AI systems by testing, monitoring for biased outcomes and implementing mitigation measures. We hold our third-party vendors to these same high standards through a rigorous governance process. For additional information, please see our full Thoughtworks AI Policy for Recruitment. ## US - Work Authorization
Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment in the United States. ## Cancellations
As a technology consultancy, the projects we undertake are subject to change based on client needs and agreements. While we strive for consistency, please be aware that project scope or availability may shift, or projects may even be cancelled, during the recruitment and selection process, which is often outside of our direct control. Should the project related to this vacancy be significantly altered or cancelled, all impacted candidates will be promptly and duly informed of the change
The annual salary range posted is subject to many factors and may vary depending on experience, geographic location, job responsibilities, performance, skills and/or training. Salary
