Appian Corporation

Appian Corporation

Principal Applied AI Engineer

McLean, Virginia · Principal

Sponsorship not specified$200k-$350kDetected 22 days ago
Code ReviewLLMsLLMOpsSalesforceRecruitingCommunicationCollaborationMentoring

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odds of building a lasting career here

61Sponsors, lottery-bound
Cap-exempt (no lottery)0
Sponsors this role90
Entry-level history0
PERM / green-card track0
Lottery odds (Level IV)94
Fits your clock70

Sponsors, but it's cap-subject — you still face the weighted lottery (~61% per draw at Level IV). Good if you win; have a cap-exempt backup on your list.

Lottery odds assume a STEM candidate.

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H-1B wage level

the lottery is wage-weighted — each level is one more entry

Level IV · 4×
Level I$102,0861 entry
Level II$127,4622 entries
Level III$152,8383 entries
Level IV$178,2144 entries

This range already reaches Level IV — the maximum four lottery entries.

DOL prevailing wage, 2026-27 wage year · Software Developers (15-1252) · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV. Wage level is derived by USCIS from the offered wage, occupation and worksite; the occupation shown is inferred from the job title.

Employer immigration record

from this employer's Department of Labor filings

Green-card filing pattern in this occupation

Context, not a finding about this posting: of this employer's 3 green-card filings in this occupation, 100% were for a worker who already held the job.

Files H-1B transfers

2 transfer filings in the last year, covering 2 workers. Median labor-condition decision: 32 days. An employer that already files transfers is one that can take over an existing H-1B.

Sourced from Department of Labor LCA, PERM and prevailing-wage disclosure data. Employer matching is by name, so figures may be split across an employer's legal entities. Absence of a filing means none appears in our copy of the data, not that none exists.

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About the role

  • Appian Engineering spans the full depth of our platform: from the foundational layers that power enterprise scale, to the AI capabilities redefining what automation can do.
  • We operate in a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment focused on technical precision, continuous learning, and high code quality.

Responsibilities

  • Develop Clean Software: Architect, build, and optimize high-performance production LLM systems while maintaining a strong personal technical presence on the team.
  • Lead Platform Modernization: Spearhead strategic technological changes and champion code refactoring efforts to keep the core Appian codebase - and the AI systems built on it - cutting-edge, modern, and performant.
  • Lead Architecture & Delivery: Drive technical story breakdowns, acceptance criteria, and architectural design across complex, multi-tier and AI-powered application layers - from feature scoping through implementation.
  • Build prototypes to de-risk novel AI approaches and establish the standards others build on.
  • Optimize Performance & Scale: Manage product availability, latency, scalability, and efficiency by engineering deep reliability into our core software systems and performing advanced system tuning.
  • Drive Engineering Excellence: Radiate development best practices across the department, perform meticulous code reviews on design and implementation, and build automation frameworks to prevent problem recurrence.
  • Lead & Grow Engineers: Actively coach and mentor engineers at multiple levels, identify and close skill gaps on the team, and take ownership of accelerating the technical growth of those around you.
  • Influence Technical Documentation: Share your expert domain knowledge regularly across the department, building a reputation as a vital resource and publishing high-quality content to Engineering's permanent documentation site.
  • Develop Clean Software:
  • Architect, build, and optimize high-performance production LLM systems while maintaining a strong personal technical presence on the team.

Requirements

  • Production LLM Systems: Deep hands-on experience designing and operating production LLM systems.
  • AI Systems Expertise: Demonstrated expertise across code generation, agents, retrieval, structured generation, tool use, model routing, evaluation, and observability.
  • AI-Augmented Development: Demonstrated experience using AI coding assistants and a strong ability to evaluate, coach others on, and selectively apply AI-generated code in a production engineering context.
  • Domain Expertise: Strong distributed-systems, API, security, and reliability foundations, with the ability to contribute meaningfully at a senior individual contributor level within that space.
  • Communication & Alignment: Exceptional ability to communicate highly technical architectures verbally, visually, and in writing to diverse engineering audiences.
  • Minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science or a related technical/analytical discipline. (Equivalent experience is not accepted in lieu of a degree).
  • 10+ years of relevant software development experience with a BS (or 8+ years of experience paired with a Master of Science in Computer Science or related field).
  • Deep hands-on experience designing and operating production LLM systems.
  • AI Systems Expertise:

Nice to have

  • Compilers & Program Analysis: Experience with compilers, program analysis, formal or executable specifications, or legacy modernization is strongly preferred.
  • We value experience with enterprise platforms such as Salesforce or ServiceNow, as these skills translate well into our Enterprise-Grade Orchestration environment.
  • Tools and Resources
  • Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training.
  • This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities.
  • Community: We'll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one.
  • Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups.

Compensation

  • $200,000 - $350,000 USD

Benefits

  • Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and financial future.
  • Benefits vary by country-please ask your Talent Acquisition contact for details specific to the location you are applying to.

Company info

  • Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are.
  • We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality.
  • We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results.
  • When you join Appian, you'll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together.
  • Principal Applied AI Engineer
  • Lead the engineering of software that matters - driving AI automation for the world's largest enterprises.
  • This role is based at our ​h​eadquarters in ​McLean, Virginia.
  • Appian was built on a culture of in-person collaboration, which we believe is a key driver of our mission to be the best.
  • Employees hired for this position are expected to be in the office 5 days a week to foster that culture and ensure we continue to thrive through shared ideas and teamwork.
  • We believe being in the office provides more opportunities to come together and celebrate working with the exceptional people across Appian.
  • Appian Engineering spans the full depth of our platform:
  • from the foundational layers that power enterprise scale, to the AI capabilities redefining what automation can do.
  • By joining our team, you will solve real-world problems that directly shape how Appian delivers our AI-Powered Process Automation platform to enterprises around the world.
  • As a Principal Applied AI Engineer, you will serve as the technical linchpin for applied AI on the team, bringing deep hands-on expertise in designing and operating production LLM systems and a track record of influencing engineering direction beyond your immediate scope.
  • Equipped with cutting-edge AI tooling, you will drive the design and delivery of high-complexity AI systems - spanning code generation, agents, retrieval, structured generation, tool use, model routing, evaluation, and observability - set the technical bar for the team, and lead other engineers towards solutions of real complexity to ensure flawless Enterprise-Grade Orchestration.
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