Principal Platform Engineer
Job DescriptionOur client is an early-stage, venture-backed AI software company building a next-generation enterprise platform that leverages artificial intelligence, automation, and cloud-native technologies to transform how organizations manage complex digital operations.This is an opportunity to join a highly experienced leadership team at an exciting stage of growth, where you'll have significant influence over the architecture, engineering standards, and technical direction of a groundbreaking platform.As the company builds its engineering organization, they are seeking an exceptional Principal Platform Engineer to establish the technical bar, lead the most challenging engineering initiatives, and help build a secure, scalable platform from the ground up.Position SummaryThe Principal Platform Engineer is the organization's most senior individual contributor and technical authority for platform engineering.Working closely with executive technology leadership, architects, data scientists, and engineering teams, you will lead the design and delivery of the company's most critical systems.You will own the engineering pipeline from source code through production deployment, including CI/CD, infrastructure automation, cloud operations, and MLOps capabilities supporting machine learning model training and inference.This is a deeply hands-on technical role for an engineer who enjoys solving difficult engineering challenges. Rather than managing people directly, you will lead through technical excellence, architecture, mentorship, and engineering best practices.You will play a key role in transforming innovative ideas into production-grade software capable of supporting enterprise-scale environments while elevating engineering standards across the organization.Key QualificationsTechnical LeadershipAct as the technical lead on the organization's most complex and high-impact engineering initiatives.Drive platform engineering standards, patterns, and best practices.Partner with architecture and engineering leadership to translate technical vision into production-ready solutions.Identify technical risks, trade-offs, and opportunities while guiding pragmatic engineering decisions.Platform EngineeringDesign, build, and operate highly scalable cloud-native services.Build resilient, secure, high-performance distributed systems.Resolve complex scalability, reliability, and production challenges.Champion automation, observability, and operational excellence throughout the software development lifecycle.AI Platform & InfrastructureBuild infrastructure supporting AI and machine learning workloads.Develop frameworks for model deployment, orchestration, experimentation, and inference.Integrate AI services with enterprise applications and data platforms.Support scalable MLOps practices across development and production environments.Engineering ExcellenceEstablish high standards for architecture, code quality, testing, documentation, and security.Lead architecture reviews and code reviews.Improve engineering tooling and developer productivity.Balance innovation with long-term scalability and maintainability.Technical MentorshipMentor and coach engineers across the organization.Influence technical direction without direct people management.Assist with hiring and evaluating engineering talent.Serve as a trusted advisor to technical leadership.QualificationsRequired Experience10+ years of hands-on platform and software engineering experience.Deep expertise designing and operating distributed systems and cloud-native platforms.Proven experience delivering enterprise-scale software solutions.Strong proficiency in Python and modern software engineering practices.Demonstrated success leading complex technical initiatives as an individual contributor.Preferred ExperienceAI, machine learning, agentic AI, or large-scale data platform experience.Experience in cybersecurity, observability, cloud infrastructure, or platform engineering.Experience with LLM integrations, model inference, orchestration frameworks, and data pipelines.MLOps experience.Previous experience as a Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, Distinguished Engineer, or similar senior technical leadership role.Startup or high-growth technology company experience.Core CompetenciesTechnical LeadershipDistributed Systems ArchitectureEngineering ExcellenceSystems ThinkingCloud Platform EngineeringPragmatic Problem SolvingOwnership & AccountabilityMentorshipDecision Making in Ambiguous EnvironmentsTechnical CommunicationSuccess MeasuresDuring Your First Year, You WillDeliver foundational components of the company's core platform.Establish engineering standards adopted across the organization.Improve platform scalability, reliability, and security.Implement robust CI/CD and infrastructure automation practices.Successfully operationalize AI and machine learning capabilities in production.Mentor engineers and help raise the overall technical capability of the team.Affinity EarnKnow someone who’s great for this, or any of our open roles? Earn up to $4,000/year for each successful referral through Affinity Earn. You can also earn up to $50,000 for helping us find new clients. Learn about our referral program at https://affinity-group.ca/earn/ or browse our jobs & follow us at https://www.linkedin.com/company/affinity-staffing/jobs/About AffinityAffinity Group is a technology and business consulting and services company. We believe in creating long term relationships between clients and consultants that foster a mutually beneficial partnership. Affinity is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.For more information on Affinity, please visit www.affinity-group.caJob Number: 13754