DreamWorks Technology - Principal Engineer, AI

About the Role

Lead next-generation AI-assisted agentic workflows at DreamWorks Technology. You'll design and own the architecture for AI-powered frameworks and automation across the entire studio pipeline and platforms. This hands-on principal-level role requires deep technical leadership and genuine passion for animation and creative production. Salary: $190,000–$230,000/yr.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate and advise on next-generation AI-assisted agentic workflows strategy alongside product owners, developers, and creatives
• Design and own the architecture for AI-powered frameworks and automation across the Studio pipeline and platforms
• Define end-to-end architecture for ingestion, processing, and routing of operational telemetry (metrics, logs, traces)
• Integrate solutions with popular industry DCC tools
• Prototype solutions for high-friction tasks: asset tagging, scene prep, render queue management, shot setup, and versioning
• Define technical standards and integration patterns for AI tooling across departments and shows
• Evaluate and select AI frameworks, foundation models, and automation technologies
• Build and maintain a library of reusable AI components and automation patterns
• Write, test, and deploy production-ready tools that run reliably inside active show pipelines
• Drive adoption across both technical and creative departments
• Establish metrics for automation impact and report results to studio leadership

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
• 10+ years building production systems, with 2+ years building AI/ML systems for real workflows
• Expertise with containerization, orchestration, Python, TypeScript, React, and AI frameworks (LangGraph, Spring AI, MCP)
• Deep understanding of LLM model integration and tuning
• Proven ability to influence senior engineers without authority

Preferred

• 2+ years in a Principal, Staff, or Lead role responsible for AI or pipeline automation, ideally in a creative studio
• Strong understanding of the animation production pipeline