Principal Applied AI Engineer - Internal Tools

Introduction 

Are you searching for an opportunity to play a key role in driving the dramatic growth of a highly successful software company? 

At Poppulo, we’re working on what’s next in communications and workplace technology. As a pioneer in this industry, we understand that meaningfully reaching every employee is hard. And so is managing office space in a hybrid world. And so is improving the customer and guest experience. We exist to make each of these things easier. We exist to bring harmony to our customers. 

And we do that at enterprise scale. Our omnichannel employee communications, customer communications, and workplace experience platform is trusted by over 6,000 organizations today, reaching more than 35M employees and delivering content to 500,000+ digital signs.

We know there’s no such thing as a “perfect" candidate - we’re all a work in progress and are growing new skills and capabilities all the time. We encourage you to apply for a position with Poppulo even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We believe in fostering an environment where there is a diversity of perspectives, in hopes that we can all thrive. 

Job Summary

The Principal Applied AI Engineer will lead the development of internal AI capabilities that empower teams across Poppulo to work faster, smarter, and securely. This role partners with business leaders, engineers, and IT teams to identify high-value opportunities for AI and translate them into practical solutions including GPT assistants, AI agents, and automated workflows while protecting company data, customer trust, and regulatory compliance.

Reporting to the Chief Information Security Officer, this position focuses on driving internal AI innovation effectively and safely across the organization.

The ideal candidate combines strong AI skills & security engineering with a passion for turning cutting-edge AI capabilities into real outcomes.

Primary Responsibilities

• Define the technical direction and implementation standards for internal AI solutions, ensuring consistent, secure, and scalable adoption across teams.
• Provide technical leadership across internal AI initiatives by evaluating solution approaches, guiding technical decisions, and balancing business value, feasibility, and risk.
• Lead the design and deployment of internal AI solutions such as GPT assistants, AI agents, integrations, and automated workflows.
• Implement technical controls, monitoring, and safeguards for AI-enabled systems.
• Develop integrations between AI systems and enterprise platforms including internal tools, knowledge bases, and business applications.
• Partner with business teams to identify and deliver AI solutions that improve productivity and operational efficiency.
• Work with Security, Privacy, and Legal teams to ensure AI solutions align with internal policies, compliance requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Collaborate with IT, Engineering, and DevOps teams to ensure AI solutions are reliable, secure, and scalable.

Leadership Responsibilities

Although this role is an individual contributor, the Principal Applied AI Engineer will:

• Be a technical advisor to the CISO and business leaders on AI capabilities and risks.
• Encourage experimentation and innovation while ensuring AI solutions are deployed with appropriate safeguards.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration between IT, Security, Engineering, Product Development, and business units.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in AI engineering, or machine learning engineering.
• Hands-on experience designing and implementing AI security controls and guardrails, including mitigation of prompt injection, data exfiltration risks, output validation, monitoring and access control for AI systems.
• Experience designing and deploying AI assistants, GPT-based tools, or agent-driven workflows integrated with enterprise systems or internal data.
• Strong experience securing and integrating APIs, MCP, automation frameworks, and enterprise systems.
• Experience working with AI model platforms or APIs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, or similar technologies.
• Experience building systems within cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Ability to translate business requirements into scalable AI solutions while considering speed, security, reliability, and enterprise operational needs.

Who We Are

We are a values-driven organization that encourages our employees to bring their authentic selves to work every day and empowers everyone to make a tangible impact on our products, clients, and culture. We offer a dynamic environment with driven, fun, and flexible individuals who thrive on challenge and responsibility. This is an opportunity to contribute to our culture and join a company that’s on the move.

We live the Poppulo values each day, as they are key to everything we do.

• Bring Your Best Self
  We show up authentically, are self-aware and always strive to be better.
• See it. Own it. Solve it.
  We proactively innovate and solve for our customers and each other. We set an example with high standards for our work. We foster a culture of learning, acknowledging our successes and our failures.
• Together We’re Better
  We value and celebrate our diversity. We learn from others, respecting their expertise, and focus on building trust. That's what makes us a team.

Named a Great Place to Work in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, we are a fast-growing global technology company, with offices in Ireland, the US, the UK and India.

Poppulo is an equal opportunity employer.

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