Lead architectural vision and technical execution across engineering; design and scale complex systems, mentor engineers, and spearhead Generative AI projects.
About the Role
We are looking for a Senior Principal Engineer who will define the architectural vision and lead technical execution across our engineering organization. This role is ideal for a seasoned technologist who has designed, implemented, and scaled complex systems; collaborated deeply with cross-functional stakeholders; and delivered high-impact projects — including Generative AI initiatives built using open-source LLM models.
As a senior-most individual contributor, you’ll operate as a hands-on technical leader — setting the company’s technical direction, mentoring engineers across teams, and developing high-quality, production-grade code. You’ll act as a multiplier by pairing deep technical expertise with strong cross-functional
Key Responsibilities
- Architectural Leadership: Define and evolve the company’s long-term architectural vision. Provide technical direction that balances innovation, scalability, and maintainability.
- System Design and Scalability: Design, implement, and scale distributed systems and core services to handle growth in data, users, and features.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Partner with Product, Engineering and business teams to align technical roadmaps with business objectives. Act as a trusted advisor to Engineering Managers and Staff Engineers.
- Generative AI Initiatives: Lead or contribute to projects leveraging open-source LLMs (e.g., Llama, Mistral, Falcon, or similar): own model integration, fine-tuning, and scalable deployment pipelines.
- Technical Excellence: Establish best practices for architecture reviews, design documentation, and system observability to ensure optimal performance and reliability. Drive adoption of modern development frameworks and standards.
- Hands-on Development: Write clean, efficient, and well-tested code. Contribute directly to core systems and frameworks that enable teams to move faster and deliver higher-quality software.
- Mentorship & Influence: Coach senior engineers and influence decision-making across teams through technical reviews, design sessions, and hands-on prototyping.
- Execution and Delivery: Work closely with leadership and stakeholders to turn complex ideas into reliable, production-ready systems that deliver measurable business impact.
Qualifications
- 12+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 4+ years in principal or staff-plus roles.
- Proven track record designing, implementing, and scaling distributed systems or platforms.
- Experience driving architectural initiatives across multiple teams and domains.
- Deep understanding of backend architectures, data modeling, and system reliability patterns.
- Demonstrated success in delivering GenAI or ML-driven applications using open-source LLMs and cloud-native infrastructure.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Passion for mentorship, technical leadership, and hands-on coding.
- Bonus Qualifications
- ● Experience with multi-tenant SaaS architecture and microservices at scale.
- ● Familiarity with vector databases, prompt engineering, and AI orchestration frameworks
- (LangChain, LlamaIndex, etc.).
- ● Prior experience in shaping technical strategy within high-growth startups or enterprise
- environments.
Bonus Qualifications
- Experience with multi-tenant SaaS architecture and microservices at scale.
- Familiarity with vector databases, prompt engineering, and AI orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, etc.).
- Prior experience in shaping technical strategy within high-growth startups or enterprise environments.
What Success Looks Like
- You’ve defined and evangelized a cohesive architectural roadmap adopted across teams.
- You’ve guided at least one major Generative AI initiative from prototype to production.
- You’re a sought-after mentor and thought leader within the engineering organization.
- Systems you design are measurable in their scalability, reliability, and developer productivity gains.
Top Skills
Ai Orchestration Frameworks
Cloud-Native Infrastructure
Distributed Systems
Microservices
Open-Source Llm Models
Vector Databases
Unusual Ventures Menlo Park, California, USA Office
200 Middlefield Rd, Menlo Park, CA, United States, 94025
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