Principal Architect, AI Factory (Physical AI)

Caterpillar

Confirmed live today Trusted

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
Irving, TX
Salary
$159,120–$258,570 / yr
Posted
12 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live today
Closes
Nov 29, 2026

Market check

Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $228k
This role $209k
$145k $289k
below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays less than 58% of similar roles. Most pay $193,935–$263,000 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $209k versus about $228k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. is the world''s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Industry: Heavy Equipment & Manufacturing

Caterpillar currently has 131 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $128,470–$192,710 across 125 roles with salary data.

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View all roles at Caterpillar

At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Architect, AI Factory (Physical AI)

JOB TITLE: Principal Architect - AI Factory (Physical AI) The Principal Architect - AI Factory (Physical AI) joins the Technology, Digital and Data team to define the data architecture enabling Physical AI and autonomous systems to learn and operate at scale. This role involves establishing data domains, canonical models, and architectural standards to transform jobsite, machine, sensor, and telemetry data into reusable assets. You will design technical infrastructure using databases, programming languages, and testing approaches while leading the deployment of new digital capabilities. Key technologies include multi-node GPU clusters, Kubernetes, PyTorch, Spark, and Ray, alongside MLOps tools like MLflow and Kubeflow. You will solve complex problems in construction autonomy by building a data foundation for machines to perceive environments and make informed decisions in dynamic, real-world jobsites.

What does a Architect earn?

Median $225000 from 45 postings across 26 companies.

See salary data

What you'll do

  • Define the data architecture for Physical AI and autonomous systems to enable learning and reasoning at scale.
  • Establish canonical data models and architectural standards to transform raw sensor and telemetry data into reusable assets.
  • Design technical infrastructure including specific databases, programming languages, utilities, and testing approaches.
  • Lead the evaluation and deployment of new technologies to enhance existing digital technical capabilities.
  • Develop detailed architecture deliverables and IT blueprints to solve complex business problems.
  • Create scalable data products for training, fine-tuning, and validating next-generation AI models.
  • Translate architecture into implementation plans and reference standards across various platform teams.
  • Manage the end-to-end MLOps lifecycle including model registry, deployment, monitoring, and governance.

What we're looking for

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
  • Master’s or doctoral degree (preferred).
  • 8+ years of experience architecting distributed AI infrastructure on-premises and in the cloud (preferred).
  • Proficiency in Python and working knowledge of C++.
  • Expertise in data architecture, platform architecture, and requirements analysis.
  • Experience with Kubernetes, Slurm, Terraform, Ansible, and Helm (preferred).
  • Experience with PyTorch, TensorRT, DeepSpeed, and MLflow (preferred).
  • Experience with NVIDIA ecosystems, including DGX, CUDA, and Triton (preferred).

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