Lead Engineer, Computational Knowledge Graph

Avathon; Pleasanton (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock Option Grants

Medical Coverage

401k with Employer Match

Monthly Technology Allowance

Renovated office space

Job summary

Avathon is looking for a CKG Lead Engineer in Pleasanton, CA. This role involves full-stack development of their knowledge graph platform, focusing on design, optimization, and integration. Ideal candidates will have 5-7 years of experience, particularly with graph technologies and Python.

You'll be responsible for designing schemas, optimizing queries, and mentoring team members in knowledge graph best practices. Avathon offers a dynamic work environment with substantial benefits including stock options and a competitive salary.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years of software engineering experience, including 2 years with graph technologies.
• Experience with graph databases or knowledge graph platforms.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work in cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Design knowledge graph schemas and ontologies.
• Develop and optimize IQL queries for graph traversals.
• Collaborate with data science teams to translate business requirements.

Skills

Graph technologies

Python programming

Query optimization

Data modeling

Problem-solving

Education

BS or MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Neo4j

Amazon Neptune

GCP

Job description

Who We Are & Why Join Us

Avathon is the leading Industrial AI autonomy platform, helping customers across heavy industries – energy, mining, manufacturing, aerospace, defense, and logistics – accelerate the journey toward autonomous operations. Our platform is built on a Computational Knowledge Graph foundation that contextualizes and connects operational data across siloed systems, bringing together time series, structured, unstructured, and machine vision data to power AI‑driven applications in asset performance management, supply chain intelligence, visual AI, and global trade management. With capabilities spanning digital twins, normal behavior modeling, natural language processing, and computer vision, Avathon delivers real‑time predictive intelligence and agentic decision‑making at industrial scale.

Cutting‑Edge AI Innovation – Join a team at the forefront of AI, developing groundbreaking solutions that shape the future. High‑Growth Environment – Thrive in a fast‑scaling startup where agility, collaboration, and rapid professional growth are the norm. Meaningful Impact – Work on AI‑driven projects that drive real change across industries and improve lives.

Learn more at: avathon.com

About Neon – Our Computational Knowledge Graph Platform

Neon is Avathon's proprietary Computational Knowledge Graph (CKG) platform that combines:

• Knowledge Graph – A network of connected facts, entities, and relationships
• Computation Graph – Complex analytics and computations defined on top of the knowledge graph

Neon powers decision‑intelligence applications across supply chain, manufacturing, and energy domains. It enables multi‑hop graph traversals, nested data operations, real‑time analytics, and seamless integration with ML/AI pipelines.

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced CKG Lead Engineer to help design, develop, and scale our Neon platform. In this role, you will work on the full‑stack development of our knowledge graph platform, from ontology design and schema modeling to query optimization and Python integration. You will collaborate with data scientists, product managers, and customers to build solutions that leverage Neon's unique computational capabilities. This is a mid‑senior level position (5–7 years experience) that combines technical leadership with hands‑on development.

You Will

• Design and implement knowledge graph schemas, ontologies, and data models for complex domains (supply chain, manufacturing BOM, logistics)
• Develop and optimize IQL (Intermediate Query Language) queries for multi‑hop graph traversals, joins, and aggregations
• Build data ingestion pipelines to populate and maintain knowledge graphs from diverse data sources
• Implement computational functions and analytics on top of the knowledge graph
• Integrate Neon with Python/NumPy for advanced analytics and ML model integration
• Design and build APIs to expose knowledge graph capabilities to downstream applications
• Optimize query performance for large‑scale datasets (1M+ records)
• Collaborate with product and data science teams to translate business requirements into graph solutions
• Mentor team members on IQL, graph modeling, and Neon best practices
• Contribute to platform roadmap and architectural decisions

You'll Have

• 5–7 years of software engineering experience, with at least 2 years working with graph technologies or knowledge graphs
• Strong proficiency in Python programming
• Experience with graph databases or knowledge graph platforms (Neo4j, Amazon Neptune, TigerGraph, or similar)
• Understanding of ontology design, schema modeling, and graph data structures
• Experience with SQL and query optimization
• Familiarity with REST APIs and web services architecture
• Experience with cloud platforms (GCP preferred, AWS or Azure acceptable)
• Strong problem‑solving skills and ability to translate complex business requirements into technical solutions
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with cross‑functional teams
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with RDF, SPARQL, or semantic web technologies
• Knowledge of NLP/NER pipelines for entity extraction and relationship mining
• Experience with ML model integration and MLOps
• Familiarity with supply chain, manufacturing, or BOM data structures
• Experience with time series data and IoT integration
• Knowledge of graph algorithms (shortest path, centrality, community detection)
• Experience with data visualization for graph structures
• Contributions to open‑source graph or knowledge management projects

Key Technologies

Category: Technologies

Languages: Python (primary), Scala, IQL

Graph Platforms: Neon/Maana (proprietary), Neo4j concepts

Cloud: GCP (primary), AWS, Azure

Data: SQL, NoSQL, Time Series DBs

APIs: REST, GraphQL concepts

ML Integration: TensorFlow, PyTorch, NumPy

CI/CD: Travis CI, Jenkins

Interview Process

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to complete a technical assessment.

Benefits & Perks

• Evolving culture with the opportunity to drive new ideas and technology
• Stock Option Grants
• Medical Coverage and Parental Leave Plans
• 401k with Employer Match
• Monthly Technology Allowance
• Newly renovated office space located near Pleasanton, CA – including fully stocked beverage and snack areas

Contract and temporary roles are not eligible for the above benefits.

Compensation

Pay Range: $150k – $220k salary annually. Pay for this position is based on a number of factors including geographic location and may vary depending on job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Location

This role is not remote. Candidates must be based in the Bay Area, CA and are expected to report to our Pleasanton office five days a week.

Avathon is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Avathon is committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us to discuss how we can assist you.