DreamWorks Technology - Principal Engineer, AI
$190k - $230k • Glendale, CALIFORNIA, United States • Full-time
Posted 3d ago
Remote Work Policy
On-site
Employment Type
Full-time
Categories
AI Agent Engineer
About the job
DreamWorks Technology is seeking a Principal Engineer, AI to join their team. This role involves collaborating with product owners, developers, and creatives to define the strategy for next-generation AI-assisted agentic workflows. You will design and own the architecture for AI-powered frameworks and automation across the entire Studio pipeline and platforms, including defining end-to-end architecture for operational telemetry. The position requires prototyping solutions for high-friction tasks, defining technical standards for AI tooling, and evaluating/selecting AI frameworks and foundation models. You will also build and maintain reusable AI components, partner with platform teams to monitor system performance and security, and write/deploy production-ready tools. A key aspect is developing reference implementations and folding automation into existing artist-facing toolsets, while also driving adoption and creating training materials. You will establish metrics for automation impact and report results to leadership, championing continuous improvement and identifying new automation opportunities.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate and advise on next-generation AI-assisted agentic workflows strategy.
- Design and own the architecture for AI-powered frameworks and automation across the Studio pipeline.
- Define the end-to-end architecture for ingestion, processing, and routing of operational telemetry.
- Integrate solutions with popular industry DCC tools.
- Prototype solutions for high-friction tasks like asset tagging, scene prep, and render queue management.
- Define technical standards and integration patterns for AI tooling.
- Evaluate and select AI frameworks, foundation models, and automation technologies.
- Build and maintain a library of reusable AI components and automation patterns.
- Partner with platform, systems, and security teams to monitor model drift, system latency, and security.
- Write, test, and deploy production-ready tools for active show pipelines.
- Develop reference implementations for future pipeline AI work.
- Partner with engineers and TDs to integrate automation into existing artist-facing toolsets.
- Maintain and iterate on deployed tools based on feedback and production data.
- Drive adoption of tools across technical and creative departments.
- Create training and documentation for artists and engineers.
- Establish metrics for automation impact and report results to studio leadership.
- Champion continuous improvement and identify new automation opportunities.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
- 10+ years building production systems, with 2+ years building AI/ML systems for real workflows.
- Hands-on experience deploying enterprise software in AI, data, or integration environments.
- Expertise with containerization, orchestration, Python, TypeScript, React, and AI frameworks like LangGraph, Spring AI, and MCP.
- Deep understanding of LLM model integration and tuning.
- Experience designing automation to reduce manual work in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
- Proven ability to influence senior engineers and serve as a learning resource.
- History of building and supporting durable artifacts such as frameworks, templates, and open source contributions.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate between artists, management, and engineers.
- Genuine passion for animation, storytelling, or creative production.
Benefits
- Medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- 401(k)
- Paid leave
- Tuition reimbursement
- Variety of other discounts and perks