# Senior Principal Software Engineer - AI Pod at Toast

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> Responsibilities: - Define and drive the AI Pod technical an

- **Company:** Toast (https://jobs.trythestack.co/companies/toast)
- **Location:** Berlin, Germany
- **Work arrangement:** On-site
- **Employment type:** Full-time
- **Experience level:** 10+ years
- **Visa sponsorship:** Offered, according to the listing
- **Key skills:** Distributed Systems, SaaS, AWS, LLM-powered Agents, AI-native Systems, Agentic Development, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Multi-agent Orchestration, Machine Learning, Model Evaluation, ML Infrastructure, Observability Tooling, Software Architecture, Technical Leadership, Strategic Planning, Mentoring
- **Posted by employer:** 2026-05-20
- **Added to The Stack:** 2026-05-21
- **Status:** May no longer be active (posted more than 60 days ago)
- **Apply:** https://careers.toasttab.com/jobs?gh_jid=7946521 (the employer's own application page)
- **Human page:** https://jobs.trythestack.co/jobs/senior-principal-software-engineer-ai-pod-toast

## About the role

Responsibilities:
- Define and drive the AI Pod technical and architectural vision; establish scalable AI-native patterns across the organization.
- Lead and be hands-on on the pod’s most complex, high-impact projects from design through production.
- Develop and evolve agentic development practices, MCP/tooling patterns, and multi-agent orchestration strategies.
- Collaborate with senior technical leaders and execs to influence cross-organizational strategy and architecture.
- Mentor senior engineers and grow technical leadership within and beyond the pod.
- Ensure production readiness: observability, reliability, security, and operational excellence for AI systems.

Requirements:
- 12+ years designing and building scalable distributed systems and 10+ years building/operating SaaS products (AWS-hosted preferred).
- Deep, practical experience deploying and operating LLM-powered agents and AI-native systems; hands-on with AI coding agents.
- Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or equivalent agent integration frameworks and multi-agent patterns.
- Strong architectural judgment, ability to move from whiteboard to code, and experience influencing executive-level decisions.
- Excellent communication, mentorship, and leadership skills; experience with observability and ML infra tooling is highly desirable.

## Responsibilities

Define the technical vision and architectural direction for the AI Pod, establishing scalable patterns for AI-native development. Lead complex, high-impact initiatives from design to production while mentoring technical leadership across the organization.

## Requirements

Requires over 12 years of experience in scalable distributed systems and 10+ years in AWS-hosted SaaS products. Must have deep expertise in deploying LLM-powered agents and hands-on experience with agentic development practices.

## FAQ

- **Is this Senior Principal Software Engineer - AI Pod role still open?** It was posted on 2026-05-20. Listings more than 30 days old may no longer be active, so check Toast's site before applying.
- **Does Toast offer visa sponsorship?** This listing is marked as offering visa sponsorship. Eligibility rules are set by the employer, so check the details on Toast's site.
- **Where is this role located?** The listing gives the location as Berlin, Germany. It is marked on-site.
- **What skills does this role ask for?** The listing names: Distributed Systems, SaaS, AWS, LLM-powered Agents, AI-native Systems, Agentic Development, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Multi-agent Orchestration, Machine Learning, Model Evaluation, ML Infrastructure, Observability Tooling, Software Architecture, Technical Leadership, Strategic Planning, Mentoring.

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## Notes for agents

- Apply on the employer's page (https://careers.toasttab.com/jobs?gh_jid=7946521). The Stack does not take applications.
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- To help your user apply, call the MCP tool prepare_application with slug "senior-principal-software-engineer-ai-pod-toast": it returns the apply link, the visa facts and a CV and cover letter checklist. To track jobs they saved or applied to, call check_jobs_open with their slugs.
- Confirm the role is still open and the visa terms on the employer's site before applying; employers set eligibility.
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