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About This Role
At Snowflake, we are powering the era of the agentic enterprise. To usher in this new era, we seek AI\-native thinkers across every function who are energized by the opportunity to reinvent how they work. You don’t just use tools; you possess an innate curiosity, treating AI as a high\-trust collaborator that is core to how you solve problems and accelerate your impact. We look for low\-ego individuals who thrive in dynamic and fast\-moving environments and move with an experimental mindset — who rapidly test emerging capabilities to discover simpler, more powerful ways to deliver results. At Snowflake, your role isn't just to execute a function, but to help redefine the future of how work gets done.
Our Solution Engineering organization is seeking an AI Specialist who can provide hands\-on expertise and support while working with technical decision makers and data scientists to design and architect AI solutions built on the Snowflake AI Data Cloud.
This is a strategic role that works closely with cross\-functional teams, including product, engineering, and the broader field organization to ensure successful execution and customer adoption of Snowflake’s AI \& ML solutions.
IN THIS ROLE YOU WILL GET TO:
- Be the technical expert in the room that positions Snowflake’s AI and ML features and value to technical stakeholders at Snowflake’s customers across the Americas.
- Partner with Snowflake account team teams and customer champions to scope and drive POCs to success and technical wins that prove the value of Snowflake’s capabilities, including executive readouts and business value cases.
- Collaborate with Snowflake’s product and engineering teams to influence Snowflake’s AI and ML roadmaps based on customer feedback.
- Publish content that helps the team and company scale beyond your individual efforts, like blog posts, presentations at conferences, or technical collateral like notebooks and demos.
- Influence, tailor and maintain Sales Engineering AI and ML selling assets, including customer presentations, demonstrations, and customer stories.
ON DAY ONE, WE WILL EXPECT YOU TO HAVE:
- 10\+ years of experience building and deploying machine learning and generative AI solutions in the cloud.
- Familiarity and associated knowledge of generative AI techniques like RAG, few shot learning, prompt engineering, or fine\-tuning that are used to operationalize enterprise AI use cases like interactive chat applications or text processing.
- Deep knowledge of Python and common ML packages (such as LangChain, pandas, sklearn, and PyTorch) as well as data engineering tools and technologies like dbt, Airflow, and Spark.
- Strong presentation skills to both technical and executive audiences, whether whiteboarding sessions or formal readouts and demos.
- Bachelor’s Degree required, Masters Degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics or related fields, or equivalent experience preferred.
BONUS POINTS FOR EXPERIENCE WITH THE FOLLOWING:
- Working knowledge of tools in the LLM ecosystem such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, or other OSS packages.
- Experience and understanding of large\-scale infrastructure\-as\-a\-service platforms (e.g. AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP, etc.)
- 1\+ years of practical Snowflake experience.
- Knowledge of and experience with large\-scale database technology (e.g. Snowflake, Netezza, Exadata, Teradata, Greenplum, etc.)
Snowflake is growing fast, and we’re scaling our team to help enable and accelerate our growth. We are looking for people who share our values, challenge ordinary thinking, and push the pace of innovation while building a future for themselves and Snowflake.
How do you want to make your impact?
For jobs located in the United States, please visit the job posting on the Snowflake Careers Site for salary and benefits information: careers.snowflake.com
The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:
- This role is eligible to participate in Snowflake's commission plan and it is common for employees in this role to receive total on\-target earnings of $252,000 \- $330,750\. The estimated base salary for this role is $189,000 \- $248,062\.
- Additionally, this role is eligible to participate in Snowflake’s equity plan.
The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non\-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location. This role is also eligible for a competitive benefits package that includes: medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance; 401(k) retirement plan; flexible spending \& health savings account; at least 12 paid holidays; paid time off; parental leave; employee assistance program; and other company benefits.
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Salary Context
This $189K-$330K range is above the 75th percentile for AI Architect roles in our dataset (median: $169K across 31 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
This role sits at the intersection of AI and engineering, building systems that bring machine learning capabilities into production environments. The scope varies by company, but the common thread is applying AI technology to solve real business problems at scale. Most AI roles today require a combination of software engineering fundamentals and domain-specific ML knowledge, with the exact mix depending on the team's maturity and the product they're building.
The AI job market is evolving fast. New role categories emerge as companies figure out what they need to ship AI-powered products. What matters most is the ability to learn quickly, build working systems, and iterate based on real-world performance data. The specific title matters less than the skills you bring and the problems you can solve. Companies are past the experimentation phase and want engineers who can deliver production-quality systems that work reliably at scale.
Across the 3,823 AI roles we're tracking, AI Architect positions make up 1% of the market. At Snowflake, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI hiring keeps growing across industries. Companies in tech, finance, healthcare, and retail are all building AI teams. The strongest demand is for people who can bridge the gap between AI research and production engineering. The shift toward generative AI has created new role types (LLM Engineer, Prompt Engineer, AI Agent Developer) that didn't exist three years ago, while traditional roles (Data Scientist, ML Engineer) have evolved to incorporate LLM capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
Day-to-day work involves a mix of building, debugging, and collaborating. You'll write code, review pull requests, participate in design discussions, and work with cross-functional teams (product, design, data) to define what AI features should do and how they should behave. Expect to spend time on both technical implementation and communication. Most AI teams operate in two-week sprint cycles, with regular demos and retrospectives. The ratio of heads-down coding to meetings and reviews varies by seniority, with senior roles spending more time on architecture decisions and mentorship.
AI hiring keeps growing across industries. Companies in tech, finance, healthcare, and retail are all building AI teams. The strongest demand is for people who can bridge the gap between AI research and production engineering. The shift toward generative AI has created new role types (LLM Engineer, Prompt Engineer, AI Agent Developer) that didn't exist three years ago, while traditional roles (Data Scientist, ML Engineer) have evolved to incorporate LLM capabilities.
Skills Required
Python and cloud platform experience are common requirements. Specific skill needs vary by company and focus area, but familiarity with ML frameworks, data pipelines, and API design covers the basics for most roles. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), vector databases, and LLM API integration are increasingly standard requirements across role types.
Beyond the core stack, communication skills matter more than many technical candidates realize. The ability to explain AI capabilities and limitations to non-technical stakeholders is a differentiator at every level. Technical writing, documentation, and clear thinking about tradeoffs are underrated skills in AI roles. Experience with evaluation methodology (how to measure whether an AI system is working well) is becoming a core requirement, especially for roles that involve LLM integration.
Look for job postings that specify the problems you'll work on, the tech stack, and the team structure. Vague postings that list every AI buzzword are often a sign the company hasn't figured out what they need. Strong postings describe the product context, the team you'd join, and the specific challenges you'd tackle.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Architect roles pay a median of $212,500 based on 108 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400. This role's midpoint ($259K) sits 22% above the category median. Disclosed range: $189K to $330K.
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.
Snowflake AI Hiring
Snowflake has 5 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer, AI Architect, AI/ML Engineer. Positions span Bellevue, WA, US, New York, NY, US, Menlo Park, CA, US. Compensation range: $180K - $330K.
Location Context
AI roles in New York pay a median of $211,000 across 2,643 tracked positions. That's 5% above the national median.
Career Path
Common paths into AI Architect roles include Software Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Analyst.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Senior Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager, Principal Engineer.
Focus on building things that work. A deployed project that solves a real problem is worth more than any certification. Contribute to open-source, build portfolio projects, and invest in fundamentals (software engineering, statistics, systems design) rather than chasing the latest framework. The AI field moves fast, but the engineers who succeed long-term are the ones with strong fundamentals who can adapt to new tools and paradigms as they emerge.
What to Expect in Interviews
AI interviews typically combine coding challenges (Python-focused), system design questions tailored to the role, and discussions about your experience with relevant tools and frameworks. Strong candidates demonstrate both technical depth and the ability to make pragmatic engineering tradeoffs. Prepare portfolio projects that demonstrate end-to-end capability rather than isolated skills.
When evaluating opportunities: Look for job postings that specify the problems you'll work on, the tech stack, and the team structure. Vague postings that list every AI buzzword are often a sign the company hasn't figured out what they need. Strong postings describe the product context, the team you'd join, and the specific challenges you'd tackle.
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 hiring keeps growing across industries. Companies in tech, finance, healthcare, and retail are all building AI teams. The strongest demand is for people who can bridge the gap between AI research and production engineering. The shift toward generative AI has created new role types (LLM Engineer, Prompt Engineer, AI Agent Developer) that didn't exist three years ago, while traditional roles (Data Scientist, ML Engineer) have evolved to incorporate LLM 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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