Senior Staff Software Engineer - Agentic AI

It all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried tears of joy. That moment inspired Fred to build a company that could do that for everyone—freeing people from busywork so they could focus on meaningful work. Today, ServiceNow is the AI control tower for business reinvention. Our ServiceNow AI platform brings together any AI, any data, and any workflow— helping 85% of the Fortune 500® work smarter, faster, and better. We're building an AI-native culture where technology and talent are unstoppable together. And we're just getting started. Join us to put AI to work for people. We are seeking a Senior Staff Engineer  (IC5) who will set the technical vision and architecture across AI-native and cloud-native systems. The IC5 engineer is a strategic technical leader who drives innovation, shapes engineering culture, and influences the direction of the platform. They work on the highest-impact, most complex problems—defining approaches for novel AI/ML challenges, establishing best practices at scale, and ensuring the organization's technical strategy aligns with business objectives. This role combines deep technical expertise with broad systems thinking, organizational influence, and the ability to mentor and develop senior engineers. IC5 engineers are trusted advisors to leadership and across the organization. What you get to do in this role: Technical Vision & Strategy •    Define technical vision and strategy for AI-native and cloud-native systems; establish multi-year technology roadmaps and architectural patterns •    Lead the development of core platforms and infrastructure that enable AI-native development at scale (evaluation frameworks, monitoring, security, deployment) •    Drive adoption of emerging AI/ML technologies, frameworks, and best practices; assess new services and tools for organizational fit •    Establish and evolve technical standards, architectural principles, and engineering excellence standards across the organization •    Own the technical roadmap for critical business initiatives involving AI; evaluate feasibility and set realistic timelines •    Champion investment in foundational improvements (refactoring, testing infrastructure, monitoring, security) that have organization-wide impact •    Influence platform-level decisions involving cost, latency, reliability, and model quality; balance business objectives with technical constraints •    Stay at the forefront of AI/ML research and industry trends; translate research into practical applications for the business Organizational Leadership & Mentorship •    Mentor and develop senior engineers (IC3/IC4) and engineering leaders; support their growth into leadership and architectural roles •    Lead technical hiring; assess candidates at senior levels and contribute to building a world-class engineering team •    Establish and enforce engineering culture focused on technical excellence, learning, ownership, and collaboration •    Lead by example in code quality, testing discipline, security practices, and responsible AI principles •    Support manager and team leadership development; provide technical guidance to engineering managers and team leads •    Conduct architectural and design reviews; provide critical feedback that shapes the quality of technical decisions across the organization •    Foster knowledge sharing through documentation, technical talks, open-source contributions, and community engagement •    Create and refine career paths and professional development opportunities for engineering team members Architecture & Systems Design •    Design and architect large, complex systems involving multiple teams, cloud infrastructure, and sophisticated AI/ML components •    Lead the design of evaluation frameworks, observability systems, and production monitoring for AI-driven features at scale •    Establish security architecture and responsible AI guardrails that scale across the platform •    Design high-performance data platforms, embedding systems, and retrieval pipelines that serve organization-wide needs •    Evaluate and guide adoption of new cloud services, managed AI services, and technologies •    Drive architectural decisions that balance competing concerns: performance, cost, scalability, reliability, developer experience, and business value •    Conduct research and prototyping on novel technical approaches; lead exploration of emerging AI/ML techniques •    Lead root cause analysis and architectural reviews for critical incidents; drive improvements to prevent recurrence Cross-Organizational Influence & Communication •    Communicate technical vision and strategy to executives, product leadership, and engineering teams; influence organizational priorities •    Partner with product, design, and domain specialists to define ambitious technical roadmaps aligned with business strategy •    Represent the engineering organization in high-stakes customer and partnership discussions; build credibility and trust •    Lead or contribute to technical due diligence for acquisitions, partnerships, and strategic technology evaluations •    Translate complex AI/ML concepts, trade-offs, and limitations for audiences ranging from technical engineers to executive leadership •    Advocate for technical health, engineering culture, and long-term sustainability over short-term pressures •    Participate in industry forums, conferences, and communities; enhance the organization's external reputation •    Lead technical interviews and design discussions; mentor interviewing skills across the engineering organization Software Development Excellence & Innovation •    Develop innovative solutions to the organization's most complex technical challenges, particularly around AI/ML integration and distributed systems •    Prototype and validate new approaches; share learnings and best practices across the organiz