Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Data Platform)

Perplexity AI2 weeks ago

Location

San Francisco

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 220,000 – 405,000

Level

Senior

Role

Data Engineer

Posted

Jun 3, 2026

Full TimeSenior

The role

Summary

Perplexity AI is seeking a senior-level Member of Technical Staff to join their Data Platform team, focusing on designing and operating large-scale data infrastructure that powers AI, product features, and analytics. The ideal candidate will drive architectural decisions, build self-serve data platforms, and create robust data processing systems using cutting-edge technologies.

What you'll do

Data Pipeline Architecture: Design and operate large-scale batch and streaming data pipelines that power Perplexity's product features, AI workflows, analytics, and experimentation

Event-Driven Systems: Build and manage event-driven and streaming systems for real-time data ingestion, transformation, and delivery, alongside batch frameworks for complex computations

Data Orchestration: Lead data orchestration architecture using tools like Airflow or Dagster, managing scheduling, dependencies, retries, SLAs, and end-to-end observability

Data Platform Development: Create self-serve data platforms enabling engineers, data scientists, and analysts to discover, define, and operate data pipelines with minimal friction

Technical Leadership: Drive architectural decisions across storage, compute, orchestration, and data APIs, partnering closely with product engineering and data science teams

Team Mentorship: Mentor engineers, review designs, and elevate the technical standards of data infrastructure through collaborative feedback and documentation

What we look for

Technical

Data Processing TechnologiesExtensive experience with batch and streaming data processing systems at scale

Programming LanguagesProficiency in Python and at least one additional backend language like Go or TypeScript

Data Orchestration ToolsDeep familiarity with orchestration systems such as Airflow or Dagster

Education

Degree PreferenceBachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field preferred

Experience

Industry Experience5+ years of software engineering experience, with strong background in production data infrastructure systems

ML/AI Workflow SupportExperience supporting machine learning and AI training pipelines or evaluation systems

Platform OwnershipPrevious ownership of internal platforms used by multiple teams

Skills

Required skills

Streaming TechnologiesExpertise in Kafka, Kinesis, or similar real-time data streaming platforms

Data Quality ToolsFamiliarity with data quality, lineage, observability, and governance tooling

Systems ArchitectureStrong systems thinking around reliability, latency, cost, and complexity tradeoffs

Nice to have

Cloud PlatformsExperience with cloud data platforms like Databricks, Snowflake, and open-source technologies

Big Data TechnologiesKnowledge of Spark, Flink, dbt, Iceberg, Delta Lake, and ClickHouse

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 220,000 – 405,000 (annual)

Benefits

Competitive Compensation

Salary range of $220K to $405K with equity options

Cutting-Edge Technology

Work with advanced AI and data infrastructure at an innovative startup

Professional Growth

Opportunities to mentor, lead architectural decisions, and work on complex data systems

Interview process

1
Initial Screening — Phone or video call with recruiting team to discuss background and role alignment
2
Technical Interview — In-depth technical discussion focusing on data engineering experience, system design, and architectural approaches
3
System Design Challenge — Architectural design exercise demonstrating candidate's ability to solve complex data infrastructure problems
4
Team Interviews — Meetings with potential teammates and technical leadership to assess cultural and technical fit
5
Final Interview — Comprehensive review with senior leadership and final decision-making