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About This Role
Position Summary
The AI Operations \& Enablement team is the engine for Bentley Systems' internal AI transformation. Our mission is to accelerate the adoption and impact of artificial intelligence across every part of the organization. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will be a senior technical leader and visionary, shaping the future of our enterprise AI capabilities.
You will not only build the core platforms that empower our colleagues to create innovative, AI\-powered solutions but also drive the overarching technical strategy and mentor the next generation of engineers. From developer\-first agent build\-pipelines and automation platforms to self\-service features such as Gemini Enterprise, you will architect the foundational technology that underpins Bentley's transformation into an AI\-fluent company.
Responsibilities
- Lead the engineering effort across a blended team, which includes internal engineers, external consultants, and key third\-party vendors, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement whilst providing technical leadership and mentorship to senior and junior engineers, elevating the team's capabilities.
- Define and own the long\-term architectural vision and strategy for our enterprise AI platforms. You will guide the design of the full solution, from sophisticated AI agents to the intuitive UIs that drive their adoption, ensuring solutions are scalable, resilient, and secure at an enterprise level.
- Own the full lifecycle of our technology partnerships and strategy. This includes leading complex build\-vs\-buy analyses, running strategic RFPs, negotiating high\-value contracts and SoWs with vendors, and evaluating greenfield technologies to shape the future of our enterprise AI stack.
- Create well\-designed, testable, and efficient code with a focus on solid technical designs. Set the standard for and champion advanced engineering practices like agent\-driven development (ADD), test\-first approaches, and secure coding practices across the development lifecycle.
- Partner with global product teams and business stakeholders to break down business needs into technical requirements and actionable tasks for the engineering team.
- Architect unified solutions and secure integrations at the AU level, leading complex projects involving cross\-functional dependencies and managing end\-user escalations to a successful resolution.
- Implement comprehensive unit tests and perform end\-to\-end testing to ensure quality and reliability. Architect and implement an operating model that allows the team to maintain high velocity.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- 10\+ years of professional software development experience, with at least 4 years in a technical leadership, staff, or principal engineer role.
- Extensive experience leading hybrid software engineering teams, with a strong emphasis on managing external vendors to ensure accountability and value delivery.
- Proven expertise in architecting, designing, and building large\-scale, complex, and distributed systems, with a deep knowledge of object\-oriented programming and the proper application of design patterns.
- Deep expertise in one or more object\-oriented programming languages such as Python, Java, or C\#.
- Extensive and deep experience with cloud computing platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP) and architecting for the cloud.
Preferred Qualifications
- Proven experience leading software teams in greenfield technology evaluations and successfully delivering proof\-of\-concept projects that have defined and influenced long\-term technical roadmaps and business strategy.
- Demonstrated mastery in the commercial aspects of technology, including running RFPs, negotiating complex consultant SoWs or application licensing agreements, and managing strategic vendor relationships.
- A strong track record of influencing technology strategy far beyond your immediate team, establishing cross\-functional architectural standards and best practices that are adopted company\-wide.
- Significant experience in mentoring senior engineers and a passion for building a high\-performing technical team, with a proven track record of contributing to their growth and development into future leaders.
What We Offer
- A great Team and culture – please see our colleague video.
- An exciting career as an integral part of a world\-leading software company providing solutions for architecture, engineering, and construction \- watch this short documentary about how we got our start.
- An attractive salary and benefits package.
- A commitment to inclusion, belonging and colleague wellbeing through global initiatives and resource groups.
- A company committed to making a real difference by advancing the world’s infrastructure for better quality of life, where your contributions help build a more sustainable, connected, and resilient world. Discover our latest user success stories for an insight into our global impact.
\#LI\-SH1
\#LI\-Remote
About Bentley Systems
Around the world, infrastructure professionals rely on software from Bentley Systems to help them design, build, and operate better and more resilient infrastructure for transportation, water, energy, cities, and more. Founded in 1984 by engineers for engineers, Bentley is the partner of choice for engineering firms and owner\-operators worldwide, with software that spans engineering disciplines, industry sectors, and all phases of the infrastructure lifecycle. Through our digital twin solutions, we help infrastructure professionals unlock the value of their data to transform project delivery and asset performance. www.bentley.com
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Bentley is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, pregnancy, protected veteran status, religion, national origin, age, genetic information or any other protected characteristic. This commitment extends to all aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, compensation, and training. Know Your Rights as an applicant under the law.
Bentley Policy on EEO, Affirmative Action and Pay Transparency Non\-Discrimination
Bentley participates in e\-Verify / Bentley participate in e\-Verify / Right to Work Notice
Request an Accommodation:
As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Bentley is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. We encourage you to request a reasonable accommodation if you are not able to fully use or access our online application system. You can make an accommodation request by calling 610\-458\-5000 or sending us an email at [email protected]
Role Details
About This Role
AI Software Engineers build the applications and systems that AI models run inside. They own the API layers, data pipelines, frontend integrations, and infrastructure that turn a model into a product users interact with. Every AI company needs engineers who can build the software around the AI.
The challenge is building reliable systems around inherently unreliable components. Models are probabilistic. They'll give different answers to the same question. They hallucinate. They're slow. They're expensive. Your job is to build an application layer that handles all of this gracefully while delivering a product that users trust and enjoy.
Across the 3,823 AI roles we're tracking, AI Software Engineer positions make up 7% of the market. At Bentley Systems, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: building API endpoints that serve model inference with caching and fallback logic, designing the data pipeline that feeds context to a RAG system, implementing streaming responses in the frontend, debugging a race condition in the async inference pipeline, and optimizing database queries for the vector search layer. It's full-stack engineering with AI at the center.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
Skills Required
Full-stack engineering skills with AI integration experience. Python and TypeScript are the most common requirements. You'll need to understand API design, database architecture, and how to build reliable systems around probabilistic outputs. Experience with streaming, async processing, and caching patterns is increasingly important as real-time AI applications proliferate.
Knowledge of vector databases, embedding APIs, and LLM integration patterns (function calling, structured outputs, retry logic) differentiates AI software engineers from general software engineers. Understanding cost optimization (caching strategies, model routing, batched inference) is valuable since inference costs can dominate application economics.
Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Software Engineer roles pay a median of $232,000 based on 797 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $200,100. Top-quartile compensation starts at $253,500. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Engineering Manager ($275,000) and AI Safety ($274,200). By seniority level: Entry: $97,880; Mid: $165,000; Senior: $227,400; Director: $247,800; VP: $250,000.
Bentley Systems AI Hiring
Bentley Systems has 2 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer, AI/ML Engineer. Based in PA, US.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 15% (590 positions) offer remote work, while 3,217 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (2,643 roles, $211,000 median); San Francisco (2,168 roles, $253,000 median); Los Angeles (1,792 roles, $191,580 median).
Career Path
Common paths into AI Software Engineer roles include Software Engineer, Full-Stack Developer, Backend Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Staff Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager.
If you're a software engineer, you're already 80% there. Learn the AI integration patterns: RAG, streaming inference, function calling, structured outputs. Build a project that demonstrates you can wrap an AI model in a production-quality application with proper error handling, caching, and user experience. That's the portfolio piece that gets you hired.
What to Expect in Interviews
Technical screens look like standard software engineering interviews with an AI twist. Expect system design questions about building reliable applications around probabilistic models: handling streaming responses, implementing retry logic for API failures, and designing caching strategies for LLM outputs. Coding rounds test standard algorithms plus practical integration patterns like async processing and rate limiting.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 3,823 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 112 entry-level, 1,798 mid-level, 1,516 senior, and 397 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (590 positions). The remaining 3,217 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $200,100. Top-quartile compensation starts at $253,500. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. Highest-paying categories: AI Engineering Manager ($275,000 median, 41 roles); AI Safety ($274,200 median, 55 roles); Research Engineer ($260,000 median, 434 roles).
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 3,823 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,629), Data Scientist (322), AI Software Engineer (279). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (112) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,798) and senior (1,516) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 397 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (590 positions), with 3,217 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $200,100. Top-quartile roles start at $253,500, and the 90th percentile reaches $307,500. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Engineering Manager roles lead at $275,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,979 postings), Aws (1,190 postings), Azure (899 postings), Rag (839 postings), Gcp (726 postings), Pytorch (595 postings), Prompt Engineering (595 postings), Claude (540 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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