Principal Engineer, AI/ML Platform

📋 Description

• • As a Principal Engineer on the AI/ML Platform team at Covey Technologies, you will be instrumental in shaping the future of artificial intelligence and machine learning across the organization. This is a pivotal role where you will define the architectural north star for our entire ML and Generative AI stack, establishing the long-term technical strategy that will guide multiple AI platform teams. Your expertise will be crucial in translating high-level company AI ambitions into clear, actionable architectural direction and cohesive standards. This encompasses critical areas such as distributed training, high-performance inference, and the development of cutting-edge generative AI systems.
• • You will operate at all levels of technical engagement, from articulating executive-level AI vision and fostering cross-organizational alignment to conducting deep dives into the performance of distributed systems, identifying and resolving training bottlenecks, and debugging complex production issues. This role demands a blend of strategic foresight and hands-on technical leadership.
• • A significant aspect of your responsibility will be leading the integration of advanced Generative AI capabilities. This includes incorporating and refining components like model gateways and routing mechanisms, fine-tuning frameworks, vector databases and infrastructure, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines, LLM evaluation systems, robust guardrails for responsible AI deployment, and the foundational elements of agent platforms. The goal is to weave these capabilities into a unified, powerful ML platform.
• • You will be a technical role model, setting an exceptionally high standard for engineering rigor, clarity of thought, and the quality of long-term design decisions. Your leadership will be vital in unblocking teams, providing decisive architectural guidance during periods of ambiguity, and ensuring that the AI platform is not only technically sound but also scalable, reliable, and cost-efficient on a global scale.
• • Success in this role means delivering a cohesive, scalable, and developer-friendly AI platform that significantly accelerates the velocity from research to production. You will empower teams across Covey Technologies to build and deploy high-impact AI-driven experiences for consumers, merchants, and delivery partners, ultimately enhancing the global logistics and commerce platform.
• • You will be responsible for architecting and implementing solutions that support the entire machine learning lifecycle, from data ingestion and preprocessing to model training, deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement. This includes ensuring the platform can handle massive datasets and complex computational workloads efficiently.
• • You will collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, and other engineering teams to understand their needs and translate them into platform requirements and features. Your ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders will be essential.
• • You will champion best practices in MLOps, including CI/CD for machine learning models, automated testing, model versioning, and robust monitoring solutions to ensure the reliability and performance of AI systems in production.
• • You will play a key role in evaluating and adopting new technologies and frameworks within the AI/ML space, staying abreast of the latest advancements to ensure Covey Technologies remains at the forefront of AI innovation.
• • This hybrid position requires you to be located in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, or Seattle, and you will report directly to the Director of Engineering, Machine Learning.