Principal Software Engineer (Efficiency)

Job Description:

DataRobot is the leader in Value-Driven AI, a unique and collaborative approach to generative and predictive AI that combines an open platform, deep expertise and broad use-case experience to improve how organizations run, grow and optimize their business. The DataRobot AI Platform is the only complete AI lifecycle platform that interoperates with an organization’s existing investments in data, applications and business processes, and can be deployed on prem or on any cloud environment. Global organizations, including 40% of the Fortune 50, rely on DataRobot to drive greater impact and value from AI.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will work across the product to drive and improve the efficiency of our AI Infrastructure.  In this critical role, you will own and lead the architectural direction across all layers of the platform, ensuring performance, scalability, reliability, and cost-efficiency at scale. You will be providing technical leadership, while collaborating with engineering teams to ensure cohesive, future-proof designs. You will also be responsible for guiding the evolution of DataRobot's infrastructure, that powers DataRobot’s unified platform for generative and predictive AI to meet the long-term technical and operational needs. Together with engineers assigned to key product areas for infrastructure, training, and predictions, you will discover, research, and implement major projects to dramatically reduce the total cost of our ownership for all our customers.

We are seeking an individual who can blend deep technical expertise with business acumen, creative thinking and leadership to drive innovation in application development, cloud operations, FinOps, and platform engineering. Our principal engineers are also responsible to lift up everyone around them and contribute to the excellence of every engineer in the organization. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, build and operate products for end-users powered by machine learning and Generative AI

• Shape the technical vision and long term roadmap for cloud infrastructure and DevOps across DataRobot, in alignment with our business goals and long-term growth strategies.

• Act as a technical advisor to cross-functional leadership, influencing DataRobot-wide technology decisions and ensuring cohesive strategies across different engineering teams. 

• Well-versed in one of the programming languages and writes maintainable and production-grade Python/Golang, Helm, and Terraform code.

• Drive innovation in observability and FinOps tooling to drive unit cost reductions

• Technically discover, scope, and lead high-value cost-avoidance projects across organizational boundaries

• Create an ownership model that clarifies boundaries of cost accountability and empowers engineering leaders to be fully accountable for their areas of the platform, with all the necessary tools for cost visibility as well as resources and levers to control them.

• Drive efficiency of storage, memory, network, GPU, and CPU across all services and clouds

• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to senior engineers and technical leads, influencing and guiding their work when needed

• Research and propose new technologies for improved efficiencies. Identify technical risks in our infrastructure, ensuring resilience, and working on strategies to mitigate these risks for large-scale, mission-critical systems.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Proficiency in programming languages, such as Python or Golang and experience with large-scale systems design.

• Strong experience and engagement in the Kubernetes ecosystem

• Experience with observability tools (Prometheus, CloudWatch, and OpenTelemetryl)

• Strong experience with scalability, performance optimization, and high availability in large-scale distributed systems across public and private clouds

• Ability to plan and lead projects from start to predictable completion, explain your design decisions

• Strong communication skills, sense of ownership, and the ability to collaborate across teams and departments

• Proactiveness in identifying and solving the most complex problems  

• Track record of improving software systems that are critical to the business

• Ability to anticipate implementation issues based on technical designs and offer suggestions

• Ability to stay on top of recent developments in Generative AI, effectively integrating them with existing platform

• Ability to plan several quarters ahead and build clear technical vision together with other stakeholders

• 10+ years of professional software development

• Experience working in a multi-cloud environment, building Kubernetes applications

• Experience optimizing Kubernetes applications and developing scale-to-zero strategies for a variety of service types (worker pools, timed tasks, occasionally used micro-services, etc)

• Experience optimizing infrastructure usage across storage, database, network, and CPU

• Experience building applications for various business domains

The talent and dedication of our employees are at the core of DataRobot’s journey to be an iconic company. We strive to attract and retain the best talent by providing competitive pay and benefits with our employees’ well-being at the core. Here’s what your benefits package may include depending on your location and local legal requirements: Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance, Flexible Time Off Program, Paid Holidays, Paid Parental Leave, Global Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and more!

DataRobot Operating Principles:

• Wow Our Customers
• Set High Standards
• Be Better Than Yesterday
• Be Rigorous
• Assume Positive Intent
• Have the Tough Conversations
• Be Better Together
• Debate, Decide, Commit
• Deliver Results
• Overcommunicate

Research shows that many women only apply to jobs when they meet 100% of the qualifications while many men apply to jobs when they meet 60%. At DataRobot we encourage ALL candidates, especially women, people of color, LGBTQ+ identifying people, differently abled, and other people from marginalized groups to apply to our jobs, even if you do not check every box. We’d love to have a conversation with you and see if you might be a great fit. 

DataRobot is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. DataRobot is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. Please see the United States Department of Labor’s EEO poster and EEO poster supplement for additional information.

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