Shape the Future of AI in Healthcare
At Cigna, we use technology, data, and human insight to improve how people access and experience care. As a Senior Principal, Forward Deployed Engineer, you will serve as the technical leader for AI innovation within the AQUA organization. You will partner directly with business leaders to identify high-impact opportunities, design scalable AI solutions, and establish the engineering standards that enable teams to deliver measurable outcomes.
This is a highly visible leadership role where strategic thinking, technical excellence, and stakeholder influence come together to transform complex business challenges into practical AI-powered solutions.
Responsibilities
Drive AI Strategy and Technical Excellence
- Define the AI architecture, engineering standards, and reusable solution patterns that accelerate delivery across the AQUA portfolio.
- Lead the design and implementation of complex AI solutions, ensuring they are scalable, secure, reliable, and production-ready.
- Evaluate and apply the most effective technologies, including LLMs, RAG architectures, agentic systems, machine learning, and hybrid approaches.
- Establish best practices for evaluation, observability, governance, risk management, and cost optimization.
- Create reusable frameworks, documentation, and playbooks that improve delivery quality and speed across engagements.
Partner with the Business to Deliver Outcomes
- Collaborate closely with business stakeholders to identify opportunities where AI can create measurable value.
- Guide engagements from discovery and solution design through delivery and operational transition.
- Translate complex business requirements into practical technical solutions with clear success criteria.
- Provide executive-level updates on progress, risks, outcomes, and strategic recommendations.
- Make informed decisions in ambiguous situations while balancing business priorities, technical feasibility, and long-term value.
Influence, Mentor, and Scale
- Serve as the trusted technical advisor for senior leadership and key stakeholders.
- Lead architectural reviews, strategy discussions, and cross-functional alignment efforts.
- Mentor Principal and senior engineers, raising technical standards and fostering a culture of excellence.
- Identify repeatable solutions that can evolve into broader enterprise capabilities and platforms.
- Strengthen collaboration across product, engineering, security, legal, compliance, and data science teams.
Required Qualifications
- 12+ years of software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or related experience, including leadership of complex enterprise initiatives.