Principal AI/ML Architect

Location: Portugal (Fully Remote)

TensorOps is an applied-machine-learning studio that helps organisations across Europe and North America design, train, and deploy production-grade GenAI systems. Our team blends research depth with pragmatic engineering, and we’re looking for a seasoned architect to lead our client engagements and technical teams in Portugal.

• Conversational Copilots: Intelligent assistants that augment and empower knowledge workers.

• Autonomous Agentic Systems: Sophisticated agents that perform complex research, analysis, and actions for market-leading platforms.

• High-Performance Search & Recommendation: Building large-scale, low-latency recommender systems, ad-tech platforms, and search solutions.

• Decision-Support Tools: High-stakes systems for critical applications in healthcare, finance, and e-commerce.

• Python, FastAPI, Docker

• TensorFlow, LightGBM, CatBoost

• Open-source & Commercial LLMs

• LangChain / LangGraph, Langfuse, LlamaIndex

• MLFlow, Kubeflow

• AWS and GCP

As a Principal ML Architect, you will be the senior technical leader for our most ambitious client projects. You will act as a trusted advisor to clients, a mentor to your engineering team, and the chief architect for complex AI systems. This is a hands-on leadership role that combines deep technical expertise with strategic client management.

You will:

• Lead Technical Strategy & Architecture: Partner with clients to understand their core business challenges and design sophisticated, scalable solutions leveraging machine learning, search, and agentic AI paradigms.

• Manage Client Engagements: Serve as the primary technical point of contact for client stakeholders, translating complex concepts, managing expectations, and ensuring project success from a technical and business perspective.

• Lead & Mentor Engineering Teams: Guide a team of talented ML engineers, fostering a culture of excellence, providing technical direction, and taking ultimate responsibility for project delivery.

• Drive Innovation: Move beyond conventional ML to architect and implement cutting-edge agentic workflows, agent-based modeling, multi-agent systems, and complex RAG pipelines that deliver transformative value.

• Oversee the Full Project Lifecycle: Steer projects from initial discovery and architectural design through to deployment, monitoring, and iteration, ensuring solutions are robust, efficient, and production-ready.

• 8+ years of professional experience in machine learning and software engineering, with a proven track record of architecting and delivering large-scale, production-grade AI/ML systems.

• Significant client-facing experience is essential. You are comfortable and effective in a consulting or architectural role, capable of leading technical discussions with C-level executives and engineering teams alike.

• Proven leadership and project management experience. You have successfully led engineering teams and managed the technical delivery of complex software projects.

• Deep expertise in Python and its data science ecosystem (e.g., Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn).

• Expert-level understanding of modern AI systems. You have deep, practical experience with Large Language Models (LLMs), agentic design patterns (e.g., LangChain/LangGraph), and classical ML at scale. You can speak with authority on topics like Learning to Rank (LTR), recommender algorithms, RAG, and fine-tuning.

• Strong architectural foundation in software engineering, MLOps, and cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP). You know how to design for scalability, reliability, and low-latency.

• A BSc/MS/PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience that demonstrates your deep expertise.

• Strategic Impact: Define the technical vision for high-stakes, real-world problems for industry-leading clients. Your work will directly shape client success and our company's reputation.

• Lead Expert Teams: Guide and collaborate with a team of experienced ML engineers and researchers. Shape our engineering culture and mentor the next generation of talent.

• Shape Our Future: As a senior leader, you will play a critical role in the direction of our technical offerings and growth. We offer competitive compensation and a clear path for professional and personal development.