Principal AI Agent Engineer
Liberate · San Francisco, CA
- On site
- Full-time
- $200,000 / year
- San Francisco, CA
Job highlights
- Lead AI agent architecture and deployment.
- Own complex customer launches and recoveries.
- Define AI agent design and quality standards.
- Drive solutions for systemic gaps and toil.
- Mentor senior engineers and raise organizational bar.
About the role
Principal AI Agent Engineer
Liberate builds AI agents to automate manual tasks for the $2.7T insurance industry. We started with voice — the hardest and most valuable channel in insurance — and are now expanding into full workflow automation across sales, servicing, and claims. Our long-term vision is to build reasoning agents capable of handling the entire spectrum of insurance carrier and broker operations. We've raised $72M to date, including a $50M Series B in October 2025, backed by top-tier venture firms.Location: Boston or San Francisco (Berkeley), hybrid (2 days/week in office)
About The Role
As a Principal AI Agent Engineer, you define what “great” looks like for agent engineering at Liberate. You set the technical bar, shape how we deploy AI at scale, and ensure we build leverage instead of heroics.You operate across customers, teams, and initiatives. You are trusted with the hardest problems, the messiest launches, and the highest-risk decisions. Your impact shows up not just in what you ship, but in how the organization gets stronger around you.
What You’ll Do
- Act as the technical authority for agent architecture, quality, and deployment
- Own the most complex and high-risk customer launches and recoveries
- Define standards for agent design, prompts, evals, monitoring, and launch readiness
- Identify systemic gaps and drive solutions that reduce repeat incidents and toil
- Partner closely with Platform, Data Science, and Product to shape agent strategy
- Design reusable frameworks that turn customer work into durable platform leverage
- Lead by example in reviews, incidents, retros, and hard tradeoff decisions
- Mentor Staff and Senior engineers and raise the bar across the org
What We’re Looking For
Must Have
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, including senior technical leadership
- Proven track record of owning large, ambiguous systems in production
- Deep understanding of system design, failure modes, and operational excellence
- Strong intuition for AI agent behavior, evaluation, and risk management
- Ability to set standards and influence without formal authority
- Calm, decisive leadership during incidents and crunch time
- High bar for quality, leverage, and long-term system health
Nice to Have
- Experience designing or scaling agentic or LLM-powered platforms
- Experience in regulated, high-stakes, or customer-facing systems
- Prior Staff/Principal/Distinguished-level experience at a strong engineering org
Key skills/competency
- AI Agent Engineering
- System Design
- Technical Leadership
- Production Systems
- Operational Excellence
- AI Agent Behavior
- LLM Platforms
- Risk Management
- Mentorship
- Scalability
Skills & topics
- Principal AI Agent Engineer
- AI Engineering
- System Design
- Technical Leadership
- Production Systems
- AI Agents
- LLM
- Insurance Technology
- Software Engineering
- Automation
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight your 10+ years of software engineering and senior technical leadership experience, emphasizing ownership of large, ambiguous production systems.
- Showcase AI expertise: Detail your experience with AI agent behavior, evaluation, risk management, and LLM-powered platforms, especially in regulated environments.
- Demonstrate leadership: Provide examples of your ability to set standards, influence without authority, and provide calm, decisive leadership during incidents.
- Prepare for technical deep dives: Be ready to discuss system design, failure modes, operational excellence, and how you've mentored engineers.
- Understand Liberate's mission: Research how Liberate is automating the insurance industry with AI agents and be prepared to articulate your vision for agent engineering.
Technical preparation
Deep dive into system design principles.,Review AI agent behavior and evaluation methods.,Prepare for incident response and leadership scenarios.,Understand LLM platform scaling challenges.
Behavioral questions
Describe owning a large, ambiguous production system.,How do you set standards without formal authority?,Share an experience of leading during an incident.,How do you mentor engineers to raise the bar?
Frequently asked questions
- What are the key responsibilities for a Principal AI Agent Engineer at Liberate?
- As a Principal AI Agent Engineer at Liberate, you will be the technical authority for AI agent architecture, quality, and deployment. This includes owning complex customer launches, defining standards for agent design and evaluation, identifying and solving systemic issues, and mentoring other engineers. Your role is critical in shaping how Liberate deploys AI at scale and ensuring the organization's strength in this area.
- What technical skills are most important for this Principal AI Agent Engineer role at Liberate?
- The most important technical skills include a deep understanding of system design, failure modes, and operational excellence. You'll need strong intuition for AI agent behavior, evaluation, and risk management. Experience with agentic or LLM-powered platforms, especially in regulated or high-stakes systems, is also highly valued. Proven experience owning large, ambiguous systems in production is essential.
- What does Liberate do and what is their long-term vision?
- Liberate builds AI agents to automate manual tasks within the $2.7 trillion insurance industry. They started with voice automation and are expanding into full workflow automation for sales, servicing, and claims. Their long-term vision is to develop reasoning agents capable of managing the entire spectrum of insurance carrier and broker operations.
- What is the work arrangement and location for the Principal AI Agent Engineer role?
- This is a hybrid role, requiring 2 days per week in the office. The position is located in either Boston or San Francisco (Berkeley).
- How does Liberate approach AI agent development and deployment?
- Liberate focuses on building AI agents to automate complex tasks, starting with voice in the insurance industry. They emphasize defining standards for agent design, prompts, evaluations, monitoring, and launch readiness. The company aims to build scalable AI solutions and has raised significant funding to support its vision.
- What kind of leadership is expected from a Principal AI Agent Engineer at Liberate?
- Liberate expects calm, decisive leadership, especially during incidents and crunch times. You should be able to set standards and influence teams without formal authority, leading by example in reviews, incidents, and complex tradeoff decisions. Mentoring Staff and Senior engineers to raise the overall technical bar is also a key expectation.
- What does Liberate look for in terms of experience for this role?
- Liberate is looking for candidates with 10+ years of software engineering experience, including senior technical leadership. A proven track record of owning large, ambiguous systems in production is a must. Experience designing or scaling agentic or LLM-powered platforms, and prior Staff/Principal/Distinguished-level experience at strong engineering organizations are considered nice to have.