Cloud Senior Principal Engineer

About the Opportunity
The Cloud Senior Principal Engineer serves as the organizations highest-level technical contributor and engineering leader for cloud platforms artificial intelligence solutions enterprise applications and digital transformation initiatives. This position provides strategic technical direction establishes engineering standards and architecture practices and leads the design and implementation of complex enterprise-wide technology solutions. The Senior Principal Engineer oversees the technical work of Cloud and AI Engineering team while fostering a culture of innovation engineering excellence and continuous improvement. The role serves as the primary technical advisor for emerging technologies cloud architecture AI strategy enterprise platform modernization and system-wide digital initiatives.

Working closely with executive leadership business stakeholders and technology teams the Senior Principal Engineer translates strategic objectives into scalable secure and sustainable technical solutions. This position maintains deep technical expertise while providing mentorship architectural governance and leadership across multiple technology domains including cloud computing artificial intelligence application development enterprise integration cybersecurity and platform engineering.

This position is a hybrid work arrangement and will work at least three days per week onsite at the Dillon building in downtown Raleighs Warehouse District. UNC System employees are generally required to reside in North Carolina within a 2-hour commuting distance of their assigned duty station.

About the UNC System Office
The UNC System Office includes the offices of the President and other senior administrators of the multi-campus University of North Carolina System. The UNC System is a treasured public institution dedicated to serving the people of North Carolina through world-class teaching research and community engagement. Today nearly 250000 students are enrolled in our 16 universities across the state and at the NC School of Science and Mathematics. System Office staff is responsible for executing the policies of the UNC Board of Governors and providing University-wide leadership in the areas of academic affairs business and financial management long-range planning student affairs research legal affairs and government relations. The UNC System Office also has administrative oversight of a number of University affiliates including PBS North Carolina the North Carolina Arboretum the NC State Education Assistance Authority and University of North Carolina Press.

About the Team
The Information Technology division works collaboratively with UNC constituent institutions to help ensure efficient and cost-effective integration of new technologies that meet common and unique needs of the 17 institutions. The division is also charged with managing the highly complex enterprise-wide data modernization efforts that will enable the System to better monitor evaluate and manage our enterprise; as well as facilitate timely comparisons across the 17 institutions and create better data-sharing capabilities for smarter and more efficient data-driven decisions.

The Digital Transformation Department drives innovation and modernization across the organization by leveraging emerging technologies cloud platforms data-driven solutions and artificial intelligence to improve operational efficiency enhance user experiences and advance strategic objectives. The department partners with business and technology stakeholders to identify opportunities for process improvement develop scalable digital solutions and implement enterprise-wide platforms that increase collaboration automation and service delivery. Through continuous evaluation of evolving technologies and best practices the department enables organizational transformation while ensuring solutions remain secure accessible sustainable and aligned with system goals.

Minimum Education Experience and Skills
Masters and 2-4 years experience; or Bachelors and 3-5 years experience; or will accept a combination of related education and experience in substitution.

Required Competencies
Minimum of three years of progressive experience in the information technology field including experience in technology support related or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred Education Experience and Skills
CloudArchitecture & Platform Engineering: Demonstratedexpertise designing implementing and governing enterprise-scale cloudsolutions utilizing AWS services and modern cloud-native establishing cloud engineering standards Infrastructure as Code(AWS CDK CloudFormation Terraform) multi-account governance platformengineering practices and operational excellence frameworks. Experienceleading cloud center-of-excellence (CCoE) platform engineering or digitaltransformation initiatives is preferred.

ArtificialIntelligence & Emerging Technologies: Demonstratedexperience evaluating designing and implementing enterprise AI solutions thatsupport organizational objectives. Knowledge of generative AI technologieslarge language models (LLMs) intelligent automation retrieval-augmentedgeneration (RAG) and AI governance principles. Experience with Amazon BedrockOpenAI Anthropic or similar enterprise AI platforms is highly to assess emerging technologies and translate innovation into practicalbusiness solutions.

EnterpriseApplication & Solution Architecture: Experiencearchitecting complex enterprise systems cloud-native applications APIsintegrations and shared technology platforms. Ability to align technicalarchitecture with business objectives while ensuring scalabilitymaintainability security and performance. Knowledge of modern softwareengineering practices application modernization strategies and enterpriseintegration patterns.

TechnicalLeadership & Engineering Excellence: Provenability to provide technical leadership across multidisciplinary engineeringteams establish engineering standards conduct architecture and code reviewsand mentor technical staff. Experience managing or leading teams consisting ofcloud engineers software developers architects AI specialists and othertechnical professionals. Ability to foster a culture of innovationcollaboration accountability and continuous improvement.

StrategicPlanning & Digital Transformation: Ability todevelop and execute technology roadmaps that support enterprise modernizationand digital transformation goals. Experience leading large-scale technologyinitiatives evaluating technology investments and guiding organizationsthrough complex technical change. Experience within higher education stategovernment public sector or similarly complex enterprise environments ispreferred.

SecurityGovernance & Risk Management: Strongunderstanding of cloud security architecture identity and access managementcompliance requirements governance frameworks and risk mitigation implementing security controls and governance processes that balanceinnovation operational efficiency and organizational compliance requirements.

Communication& Stakeholder Engagement: Exceptionalability to communicate complex technical concepts to executive leadershipbusiness stakeholders and technical teams. Experience building consensusinfluencing strategic decisions facilitating cross-functional collaborationand serving as a trusted advisor on technology-related matters.

Innovation &Continuous Improvement: Demonstratedcommitment to continuous learning technology evaluation and organizationalinnovation. Ability to identify opportunities for process improvementautomation AI adoption and platform modernization that increase efficiencyenhance user experiences and support organizational objectives.

• Classification: IT Architect/Engineer III
• Appointment Type: Permanent
• Full-Time/Part-Time: Full-Time
• Employment Type: EHRA
• EHRA Category:Exempt Professional Staff (EPS)
• Location: Raleigh NC USA
• Position Number:
• Special Instructions to Applicants: The posting remains open until filled but applications received by Thursday July 30 2026 will receive priority consideration.

Equal Employment Opportunity and Other Information
The UNC System Office (includes PBS NC NCSEAA and NC Arboretum) is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age color disability gender identity genetic information national origin race religion sex sexual orientation or status as a protected veteran.
The UNC System Office (includes PBS NC NCSEAA and NC Arboretum)is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
To claim veterans preference all eligible persons must indicate their eligibility as requested on the application. A DD Form 214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty may be required later in the selection process.
The UNC System Office (includes PBS NC NCSEAA and NC Arboretum)participates in E-Verify. Federal law requires all employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States.

Human Resources Contact Information
Applicants needing assistance with the application process are asked to contact:

Required Experience:

Staff IC