Principal Data Platform Engineer

Principal Data Platform Engineer San Francisco, CA (Remote Eligible – US Only)$230K–$280K base + equityAre you ready to lead the design and build of a world-class data platform from the ground up?A high-growth, product-led tech company is looking for a Principal Data Platform Engineer to lead the buildout of a modern, scalable data platform from the ground up. If you’re excited about solving massive data challenges and shaping the infrastructure that supports real-time analytics and AI/ML at scale, this role is for you.As the most senior technical IC on the Data Platform team, you'll partner with leadership across Engineering, Product, Security, and Compliance to design a low-latency, cloud-native data architecture using best-in-class tools like Kafka, Iceberg, ClickHouse, Tinybird, and Snowflake.Why this role?Join a growing Data Platform teamOwn the technical vision and architecture end-to-endTackle petabyte-scale data challenges and real-time streaming use casesWork with a cutting-edge tech stack (Kafka, Iceberg, ClickHouse, Snowflake, etc.)Drive platform evolution to support AI/ML and company-wide analyticsWhat You’ll DoDesign and build a next-gen data platform to power product and internal use casesArchitect for batch + streaming, scalability, fault tolerance, and low latencyLead data modeling, warehousing, governance, and ingestion best practicesChampion engineering excellence and mentor senior engineersAlign technical decisions with long-term business strategyOptimize for performance, cost, and resiliency in a modern cloud environmentWhat We’re Looking For8+ years of experience in data engineering or platform architecture5+ years at the Principal Engineer level or equivalentDeep expertise with Kafka (and its ecosystem), streaming data systemsStrong experience with ClickHouse, Iceberg, Snowflake, or similar toolsCloud-native architecture expertise (AWS, GCP, or Azure)Track record of designing data systems for compliance and governanceExperience scaling systems to support petabyte-level workloadsExcellent communication, collaboration, and leadership skillsBonus: Experience enabling AI/ML platforms or preparing for IPO-scale growth