Principal Engineer Financial Crime - AI & Modernization

About this role:
Wells Fargo is embarking on a transformative journey to redefine how financial crime risks are detected, assessed, and mitigated through the power of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and modern engineering. We are seeking an exceptional Technical Principal Engineer to serve as the foremost technical leader driving the architecture and evolution of our next-generation Financial Crime platforms.
This is a rare opportunity to influence the strategic technology direction of critical enterprise capabilities spanning anti-money laundering, fraud detection, sanctions screening, customer risk assessment, transaction monitoring, and investigative operations. The successful candidate will operate at the intersection of cutting-edge AI innovation and large-scale distributed systems, designing intelligent platforms that enable faster decision making, improve risk outcomes, and enhance operational effectiveness across the organization.
As the one of the highest levels of technical authority within the engineering organization, you will define architectural vision, establish engineering standards, and lead the design and delivery of cloud-native, AI powered platforms that serve as foundational capabilities for the enterprise. This role is ideal for a distinguished engineer who combines deep technical expertise with a passion for solving some of the industry's most complex and consequential challenges.
While strategic leadership is essential, success in this role also requires a hands-on mindset. You will actively influence architecture, develop prototypes, review critical designs and code, mentor engineering teams, and help accelerate the delivery of innovative solutions that will shape the future of financial crime prevention.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Define and drive the long-term technology strategy for Financial Crime modernization initiatives.
• Lead architecture and implementation of AI-powered investigation platforms, decisioning engines, and agentic workflows.
• Establish engineering standards, design patterns, and reference architectures across Financial Crime platforms.
• Serve as the highest-level technical reviewer for architecture, security, scalability, resiliency, and performance decisions.
• Lead technical design reviews and influence enterprise architecture direction.

AI & Agentic Engineering

• Design and implement GenAI and Agentic AI solutions for:
  • Investigator copilots
  • Alert triage and disposition
  • Risk assessment
  • Entity resolution
  • SAR narrative generation
  • Customer screening
  • Knowledge retrieval and decisioning
• Evaluate and implement modern AI frameworks including LLM orchestration, agent frameworks, vector databases, RAG architectures, model routing, guardrails, and observability.
• Partner with Data Science teams to operationalize AI/ML models into scalable production platforms.

Engineering Excellence

• Write and review high-quality production code when necessary.
• Lead proof-of-concepts, rapid prototyping, and technical spikes.
• Mentor senior engineers and establish best practices for software engineering.
• Drive automation, CI/CD, DevSecOps, testing, and operational excellence.
• Resolve complex technical challenges across multiple platforms and teams.

Platform Modernization

• Lead migration from legacy Financial Crime applications to cloud-native architectures.
• Architect scalable microservices, event-driven systems, and API-first platforms.
• Design enterprise capabilities for:
  • Real-time risk assessment
  • Customer screening
  • Case management
  • Regulatory reporting
  • AI orchestration
  • Data ingestion and processing
• Drive modernization using cloud technologies and enterprise platforms.

Stakeholder Partnerships

• Collaborate with Product, Compliance, Risk, Operations, Data Science, and Engineering leadership.
• Translate business needs into scalable technical solutions.
• Present architecture strategies and modernization roadmaps to senior technology executives.

Required Qualifications:

• 7+ years of Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
• 7+ years architecting, designing and leading the delivery of large-scale solutions
• 4+ years' experience presenting technology strategy and concepts to C-level executives and large audiences
• 5+ years' experience delivering cloud ready and cloud native solutions

Desired Qualifications:

• 2+ years of experience developing or deploying AI-powered tools, chatbots, LLM-based automation, or agentic workflows, including understanding of AI risks, observability needs, and stakeholder communication
• 4+ years of Financial Services industry
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to prioritize work, meet deadlines, achieve goals, and work under pressure.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to solve complex technical problems.

Job Expectations and Core Values:

• Be Humble: You're smart yet always interested in learning from others
• Work Transparently: You always deal in an honest, direct, and transparent way.
• Take Ownership: You embrace responsibility and find joy in having the answers
• Learn More: You regularly self-educate and improve your skill set.
• Show Gratitude: You show appreciation and respect to those you work with

This position offers a hybrid work schedule
Relocation assistance is not available for this position
Pay Range
Reflected is the base pay range offered for this position. Pay may vary depending on factors including but not limited to demonstrated examples of prior performance, skills, experience, or work location. Employees may also be eligible for incentive opportunities.
$159,000.00 - $305,000.00
Benefits
Wells Fargo provides eligible employees with a comprehensive set of benefits, many of which are listed below. Visit Benefits - Wells Fargo Jobs for an overview of the following benefit plans and programs offered to employees.

• Health benefits
• 401(k) Plan
• Paid time off
• Disability benefits
• Life insurance, critical illness insurance, and accident insurance
• Parental leave
• Critical caregiving leave
• Discounts and savings
• Commuter benefits
• Tuition reimbursement
• Scholarships for dependent children
• Adoption reimbursement

Posting End Date:
6 Aug 2026
* Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
We Value Equal Opportunity
Wells Fargo is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected characteristic.
Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit, Market, Financial Crimes, Operational, Regulatory Compliance), which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures, appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations, timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues, and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring, governance, risk identification and escalation, as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business unit's risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements.
Applicants with Disabilities
To request a medical accommodation during the application or interview process, visit Disability Inclusion at Wells Fargo .
Drug and Alcohol Policy
Wells Fargo maintains a drug free workplace. Please see our Drug and Alcohol Policy to learn more.
Wells Fargo Recruitment and Hiring Requirements:
a. Third-Party recordings are prohibited unless authorized by Wells Fargo.
b. Wells Fargo requires you to directly represent your own experiences during the recruiting and hiring process.
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