Principal Data Engineer - Data & Platform Architecture

Title: Principal Software Engineer - Data & Platform Architecture

Location: Remote

Type: Direct Hire - No C2C or third party candidates at this time.

Comp Range: 150k - 200k + 10% Bonus

Reporting To: Senior Engineering Leadership / Platform or Architecture Leadership

General Description

We are seeking a seasoned Principal Software Engineer to drive data architecture excellence across a distributed engineering organization. This role supports teams transitioning toward greater autonomy by providing hands on technical leadership and guidance around scalable, well designed data systems.

Rather than functioning as a centralized or ivory tower architect, this position is embedded with delivery teams. You will collaborate directly with backend and full stack engineers who are actively designing, building, and operating production systems. Success in this role requires strong application architecture fluency paired with deep expertise in modern data platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with product and application teams to design pragmatic, scalable data architectures


• Develop and review logical and physical data models aligned to domain ownership and service boundaries


• Review application implementations with a focus on data access patterns, performance, and scalability


• Evaluate and recommend data storage solutions across relational, NoSQL, document, and analytical platforms


• Improve system performance through query optimization, indexing strategies, execution plan analysis, and capacity planning


• Advise teams on selecting data technologies based on read/write patterns, throughput needs, and growth expectations


• Define standard approaches for data access including APIs, ORMs, messaging, and synchronization patterns


• Design and guide data movement strategies such as CDC, event streaming, and batch integrations


• Provide architectural guidance for AI and ML use cases, including vector databases, embeddings, and retrieval workflows


• Plan and execute data platform migrations and modernization efforts with minimal operational disruption


• Troubleshoot and resolve complex performance, scalability, and reliability issues in production


• Establish best practices for data quality, monitoring, and operational observability


• Mentor and enable engineers through technical reviews, documentation, design sessions, and knowledge sharing forums

Skills & Qualifications

• 10+ years building and supporting data intensive software systems


• Strong background in application development (backend, full stack, or data centric platforms)


• Advanced knowledge of both relational databases and NoSQL data stores


• Proven experience optimizing data platforms for performance and reliability at scale


• Strong fundamentals in data modeling, schema design, and schema evolution


• Solid understanding of modern application architectures, APIs, and CI/CD pipelines


• Hands on experience with cloud based data platforms across major providers


• Familiarity with AI assisted development tools and emerging software engineering workflows


• Demonstrated ability to influence data standards and best practices across multiple teams


• Strong communication skills with the ability to guide and educate without direct authority

Nice to Have Qualifications

• Prior experience at the Staff or Principal Engineer level


• Proficiency in one or more modern programming languages (Python, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, or C#)


• Experience with managed cloud data services or modern analytics platforms


• Exposure to advanced data modeling techniques such as event driven or temporal models


• Background in streaming architectures and change data capture


• Experience building or supporting data transformation pipelines and orchestration tools


• Familiarity with environments that include regulatory or data governance requirements

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, age, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, or military or veteran status. We consider all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with state and local laws, including the California Fair Chance Act, City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance.