Principal Engineer - AI Platform Architecture

At Chain IQ, your ideas move fast. Chain IQ is a global AI-driven Procurement Service Partner, headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, with operations across main centers and 16 offices worldwide. We provide tailored, end-to-end procurement solutions that enable transformation, drive scalability, and deliver substantial reductions in our clients' indirect spend. Our culture is built on innovation, entrepreneurship, ownership, and impact. Here, your voice matters - bold thinking is encouraged, and action follows ambition. Role purpose We are building an AI-native procurement platform where intelligent applications, autonomous agents, and reusable platform capabilities evolve together. This role defines the technical architecture that enables that platform to scale reliably across products, engineering teams, and future AI capabilities.  You will establish the architectural direction for the platform, defining how agent runtimes, orchestration, APIs, platform services, observability, developer tooling, and engineering standards fit together. Working across Product Engineering, Platform Engineering, Data, Security, and Product Management, you will ensure teams build consistently on shared foundations while continuously improving the engineering system itself.  This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on architecture, engineering standards, and platform evolution rather than people management.  Why this role matters  The platform is the foundation on which every intelligent procurement capability will be built. As products, AI agents, workflows, and engineering automation continue to expand, consistent architecture becomes increasingly important. This role ensures teams build on shared capabilities rather than fragmented solutions, allowing the platform to scale while remaining maintainable, secure, observable, and adaptable as AI technologies continue to evolve.  Responsibilities  Define and evolve the architecture for the AI platform supporting intelligent procurement products. Establish reusable architectural patterns for agent orchestration, workflow execution, tool integration, memory, context management, and platform services. Define engineering standards covering APIs, distributed systems, observability, testing, deployment, documentation, and operational excellence. Guide architectural decisions across Product Engineering, Platform Engineering, Data, Security, and Product teams. Drive the evolution of the Agentic Software Development Lifecycle (ASDLC), ensuring engineering processes increasingly leverage automation and autonomous agents. Identify reusable platform capabilities that reduce duplication and accelerate product delivery. Review technical designs and provide architectural guidance for major initiatives. Partner with engineering teams to balance long-term platform evolution with pragmatic product delivery. Evaluate emerging technologies and frameworks, adopting…