Principal AI Architect

Join iA – Transforming Pharmacy Fulfillment with Innovation and Care

Are you ready to revolutionize pharmacy with cutting-edge automation technology? At iA® (Innovation Associates®), we are at the forefront of transforming how pharmacies manage prescription fulfillment. With over 30 years of experience and innovation, iA is advancing pharmacy automation with solutions such as the NEXiA® Enterprise Software Suite, enabling pharmacists to focus more on patient care while improving operational efficiency. Whether it's in commercial retail, health systems, or government pharmacy settings, we empower our partners to do more with less. We’re looking for passionate and driven individuals like YOU to help shape the future of healthcare. Join us and be part of a team that's changing the way pharmacy works—for the better.

Your Role & Its Purpose

As Principal AI Architect, you will be the senior hands-on technical leader advancing AI adoption and platform modernization across every division. We are moving beyond AI experimentation to establish AI as a durable, governed capability while modernizing the platform that supports it. You will architect and build production-grade AI agents and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, own the agentic AI architecture, and drive modernization projects.

Your accountability extends beyond delivery

you will help make AI a lasting part of how our teams and customers work. This cross-divisional role combines hands-on execution with real technical decision-making authority—not solely architectural review.With a clear mandate, executive visibility, and ownership of key performance indicators (KPIs), you will turn

AI capabilities into measurable business impact

stronger margins, improved performance against customer service-level agreements (SLAs), and sustained improvements in how our teams work every day.

How You’ll Contribute

• Agentic AI architecture for iA: agent frameworks, tool and integration patterns, evaluation and guardrail standards, model and vendor selection, and the governed path from prototype to production.
• Production-grade AI agents and MCP servers: designing and building the agents that automate high-value workflows across divisions, and the Model Context Protocol servers that expose NEXiA data, tools and operations to them securely, with the reliability, observability and access controls production demands.
• Retained Workflow Adoption across divisions: the company KPI that >80% of a team’s high-value recurring workflows with an AI-assisted step remain in routine use 60+ days after introduction. You will define how it is measured, publish it, and drive it.
• Platform modernization roadmap: sequencing the retirement or re-platforming of legacy NEXiA components to shift R&D spend toward the >40% innovation target.
• AI governance framework in partnership with Security and Compliance: HIPAA/PHI data handling, FDA software boundaries, DEA requirements, and customer/government security obligations, built so teams can ship without a bespoke review each time.
• AI-assisted customer support capabilities (triage, telemetry analysis, self-healing patterns) that improve On-Time Resolution, Mean Time to Resolve, and Resolution Rate.
• Upgradability and backward-compatibility standards that keep customers on NEXiA N-2 or newer.

What You Will Deliver in Your First Year

• A published agentic AI reference architecture and shared component library adopted by every division, with no new AI workload shipping outside it.
• At least two production-grade AI agents live in divisional workflows, backed by MCP servers for core NEXiA capabilities, with evals, guardrails and monitoring in place.
• A quarterly division-level AI adoption scorecard, with Retained Workflow Adoption at or above 80% in the top three divisions.
• An approved and funded modernization roadmap with at least two legacy components retired or re-platformed.
• At least one AI-assisted support capability in production with measured MTTR improvement.
• Zero Critical or High severity field defects attributable to AI features, enforced through eval and guardrail release gates.
• An architecture guild and AI pattern library that measurably raise AI fluency across engineering and operations.

How You Will Work

• Partner daily with division engineering leads, Product, Support, Cloud Engineering, Data/Analytics, and Security/Compliance.
• Make and document architecture decisions (ADRs), build/buy/partner analyses, and option memos that leadership can act on.
• Prototype when it de-risks a decision; delegate and coach when it scales a pattern.
• Mentor senior engineers into the architect track and build succession depth for AI and architecture roles.
• Brief executives and the board on AI direction, progress against KPIs, and risk.

What You Bring to the Table

• 12+ years in software engineering with 5+ years in architecture leadership across multiple teams or business units.
• Hands-on experience designing and shipping LLM-based or agentic systems to production, including tool/function calling, MCP or equivalent tool-integration protocols, evaluation, observability, guardrails, and cost/latency management.
• Track record of modernizing a large, revenue-bearing platform (monolith decomposition, re-platforming, API and event architecture) while it stayed in service.
• Experience in a regulated domain (healthcare, pharmacy, medical devices, financial services) and fluency in what HIPAA/PHI, FDA software, or equivalent constraints mean for architecture.
• Demonstrated ability to drive adoption of standards across teams you do not manage, and to measure whether adoption persisted.
• Clear written and verbal communication with engineers, executives, and customers alike.

Even Better If You Bring

• Pharmacy automation, supply chain, robotics/PLC integration, or industrial software background.
• Experience with .NET and cloud-native modernization (Azure or AWS), and with data platforms that feed AI workloads.
• Prior ownership of a company-level AI governance program or AI center of excellence.
• Experience with Microsoft 365 Copilot, Claude, OpenAI, or similar enterprise AI platforms and their governance tooling.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. Employer will not sponsor applicants for work visas.

Compensation Details

The estimated base annual salary range for this position is $170,850 to $231,150, though a candidate’s base annual salary shall be determined on a range of factors, including, but not limited to, qualifications and experience. This position may additionally be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus.

Environmental Conditions

iA follows a comprehensive Job Safety Assessment (JSA) to ensure software and IT environments comply with OSHA standards. This includes prioritizing ergonomics, proper lighting, and safe workspaces to minimize potential hazards. For remote employees, iA supports appropriate home office setups that align with OSHA guidelines for a safe and productive environment.

Safety Protocols

Safety protocols include ensuring workstations are ergonomically designed to prevent repetitive strain injuries, encouraging regular breaks to reduce eye strain, implementing robust cybersecurity measures to protect data, and providing regular training on ergonomic practices and cybersecurity.

Who We Are

iA is not just a technology company – we're a pharmacy fulfillment partner that provides software-enabled solutions and modular hardware to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the patient-pharmacist relationship. Our products and solutions streamline the prescription process from start to finish, allowing pharmacists to focus on what matters most: their patients.

What excites many people about iA is that we're doing more than responding to changes in the industry. We're helping drive them. Our solutions support pharmacies of all types, and our vision is centered on making pharmacy more efficient, effective, and accessible for everyone it touches.

What Drives Us

• Customer Centric – Be bold with calculated decisions to drive value for our partners.
• Champion Diversity – Seek diversity within our team, our partners, and our community to strengthen who we are and what we will accomplish, together.
• Empower Ownership – Take ownership at every level and within every action to achieve excellence.
• Solutions Driven – Understand the problem and anticipate challenges, with a resolve to provide innovative solutions for our partners.
• Trust Daringly – Operate with trust of our team, our partners, and our strategy from day one.

Benefits that Matter

• Work-Life Balance – Generous time-off, paid volunteer days, and wellness programs to support your well-being.
• Comprehensive Benefits – Medical, dental, vision insurance, 401(k) with match, up to 12 weeks of 100% paid parental leave, pet insurance, and more.
• Career Growth – Invest in your future through iA University, tuition reimbursement for eligible degree programs and certifications, professional development funding, and ongoing opportunities to learn and grow.
• Culture of Ownership – At iA, we empower our employees to take charge and drive change.
• Impactful Work – Be part of a team that is transforming the pharmacy industry and improving patient care every day.
• Collaborative Environment – Work alongside passionate, like-minded individuals in a company that values teamwork and creativity.

Not the right fit? Explore other opportunities at https://iarx.com/careers

Want to learn more about iA's innovative products, talented people, and culture? Visit us at iARx.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, or YouTube. We’d love to share our story with you!

iA provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

iA is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities throughout the job application process. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability, please reach out to us at iatalent@iarx.com.

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