Principal AI Software Engineer
Department:
WDTech - R&DWe are Walker & Dunlop. We are one of the largest providers of capital to the commercial real estate industry, enabling real estate owners and operators to bring their visions of communities - where people live, work, shop, and play - to life. We are committed to creating meaningful social, environmental, and economic change in our communities.
Department Overview
WDTech is W&D’s in-house technologyteam- a group of collaborative and highly skilled technology professionals, all of whom are leading experts in real estate data, data science, and technology.
WDTechEngineering builds solutions thatimpactnot only our products but also the people and processes across our organization. A commitment to innovation and a passion for disrupting the old-fashioned real estate industry are our highest priorities.
The Impact You Will Have
As aPrincipalAI Software Engineer on our AI Development Team, you will help shape the future of our Loan Origination and Servicing platform and the AI systems that support how we build,deploy,andoperatesoftware across the business. You will design scalable applications, intelligentworkflowsand agentic systems that deliver real-time insights and improve operational efficiency for our teams and clients.
You will also contribute to Atlas, our AI collaboration platform that powers reusable skills,agentsand AI capabilities acrossWDTech. This role requires deep technicalexpertise, soundjudgmentand the ability to independently solve complex problems, ship reliablesolutionsand raise the engineering bar through your work and mentorship.
Primary Responsibilities
Own complex AI and platform initiatives end-to-end, delivering business-facing capabilities while strengthening the underlying context and agent platform.
Design, build andmaintainagentic workflows for business-critical processes such as loan intake, documentreviewand servicing.
Helpestablishnew platform patterns and capabilities by defining approaches, proving them through production usecasesand scaling them for broader adoption.
Lead model selection and routing, evaluating models based on cost, latency and quality, and evolving solutions as new models and capabilities become available.
Design interfaces and capabilities used by other teams, including MCP tool servers, agent handoffs, subagents, long-runningstateand human-in-the-loop checkpoints.
Establish evaluation and reliability practices, including evaluation sets, LLM-as-judge approaches whereappropriate, regression testing and ongoing performance measurement.
Operate with minimal oversight, proactivelyidentifyingrisks, making sound technicaltrade-offsand escalating when needed, while raising the engineering bar through collaboration and mentorship.
Perform other duties as assigned
Attendance isgenerally requiredfrom 8:30 am - 5:30 pm local time, Tuesday through Thursday, with theoptionto work remotely on Mondays and Fridays.
Education and Experience
12+ years of software development experience, including experience as a senior individual contributor delivering production systems.
Bachelor’s ormaster’s degree in Computer Scienceor a related field, or equivalent experience.
Extensive experience deliveringproductionAI/ML systems, including LLM-powered applications and agentic workflows.
Deep experience with modern agent frameworks and SDKs, such as Claude Agent SDK,LangGraphandPydanticAI, as well as MCP and A2A.
Experience with prompt and context engineering, including RAG, embeddings, hybrid search and reranking.
Experience with model evaluation,observabilityand guardrails forproductionAI systems.
Experience using agentic development tools, including skills,subagentsand harness configurations.
Experience in Real Estate, Financial Services or Capital Markets preferred.
Knowledge,Skillsand Abilities
Deepproficiencyin Python and modern backend frameworks such asFastAPI, with a strong focus on scalable and maintainable architecture.
Strongexpertisewith SQL databases, including schema design, queryoptimizationand performance tuning.
Experience testing non-deterministic systems, including LLM call fixtures, evaluationsuitesand strategies for controlling flaky behavior.
Strong judgment indeterminingwhich capabilities belong within a shared platform versus individual applications.
Ability tooperateeffectively in ambiguity,establishemerging patterns and independently move from business problem definition through solution delivery.
Experience with Event Sourcing and Domain-Driven Design principles.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to show ownership of your work, take on challenges and acknowledge growth opportunities, anddemonstratepatience when learning new processes
Courtesy, respect, and thoughtfulness in teaming with colleagues and other stakeholders
This position has an estimated base salary of $250,000 - $300,000 plus a discretionary bonus. An employment offer is based on the applicant’s relevant work experience, applicable knowledge, skills, abilities, internal equity, and alignment with market data.
What We Offer
The opportunity to join one of Fortune Magazine’s Great Places to Work winners
Comprehensive benefit options* that have earned Walker & Dunlop the gold level of the 2025 Cigna Healthy Workforce Designation™, some of which include: - Up to 83% subsidized medical payroll deductions - Competitive dental and vision benefits - 401(k) + match - Pre-tax transit and commuting benefits - A robust health and wellness program - earn cash rewards and gain access to resources that promote health, engagement, and balance - Paid maternity and parental leave, as well as other family paid leave programs - Company-paid life, short and long-term disability insurance - Health Savings Account and Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending
Career development opportunities
Empowerment and encouragement to give back - volunteer hours and donation matching
*Eligibility may vary based on average number of hours worked
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
We are committed to equity in all steps of the recruitment and employment experience. We believe in equal access to opportunities in our workplace. We do not tolerate discrimination, including harassment, based on any characteristic protected by applicable law, such as race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, age, disability, veteran or military status, and genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We strive to be a safe place to ask questions, build professional relationships, and develop careers.
SPAM
Please be wary of recruitment scams. An indication of a scam might be a request for sensitive or bank information at the time of application or emails coming from a non walkerdunlop.com email address. Please call us at 301.215.5500, if you have any concerns about information requested during or after the application process.
Fair Chance Hiring
Background checks, including any questions related to infractions, arrests, or conviction records, will not be conducted until after a conditional offer of employment has been accepted. We will consider for employment qualified applicants regardless of arrest and conviction records, in accordance with federal, state, and local laws.