Principal Data Platform Engineer

salesforce.com, inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 197,000 - 314,000; Full time

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking a Principal Data Platform Engineer in San Francisco to design and build backend services and AI agent systems powering a Snowflake-based lakehouse. You will drive technical direction, develop RAG pipelines, and scale automation for data teams.

Ideal candidates have 15+ years in backend systems, expert Python/Go/Java, and strong cloud/IaC/CI/CD experience, plus security and multi-tenant knowledge. This role sits at the core of Agentforce and data platforms.

Qualifications

• 15+ years designing, building, and operating production backend services at scale.
• Expert-level Python, Go, or Java.
• Hands-on production AI/LLM applications with RAG pipelines.
• Cloud infrastructure (AWS), IaC, and CI/CD for containerized services.
• Identity and security practices including OAuth/OIDC, least-privilege, and multi-tenant isolation.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend services and event-driven systems for the data platform.
• Build retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines and tool-calling AI agents.
• Extend automation, tooling, and utilities used by data teams.
• Set technical direction through system and API design, code reviews, and mentoring; own reliability and cost efficiency.

Skills

Python

Go

Java

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

dbt

Airflow

Snowflake

Iceberg

Job description

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.

Job Category

Software Engineering

Job Details

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn't a buzzword - it's a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You're in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

The Experience

The Developer Experience team builds the tooling, paved paths, and automation that let Salesforce's data teams ship discoverable, governed, and consumable data products quickly and safely. As our Principal Data Platform Engineer, based in San Francisco, you'll design and build the backend services, data-platform automation, and AI agent systems that power our Snowflake-based lakehouse - setting technical direction for how the rest of the org builds on top of it.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

• Design and build backend services and event-driven systems that support our data platform, including AI agent runtimes and API integrations.
• Build retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines and tool-calling AI agents that make our data products and catalog easier to discover, query, and trust.
• Extend the platform's automation, command-line tooling, and shared utilities that data teams rely on as their day-to-day interface to the platform.
• Set technical direction through system and API design, code review, and mentoring, while owning service reliability, delivery, and cost efficiency.

You're Our Person If...

• You have 15+ years of experience designing, building, and operating production backend services at scale, with expert-level Python, Go, or Java.
• You have hands-on experience building and deploying production AI/LLM applications, including RAG pipelines and tool-calling agents - not just research or prototypes.
• You have deep experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS), infrastructure as code, and CI/CD pipelines for containerized services.
• You have strong knowledge of identity and security practices, including OAuth/OIDC, least-privilege access, and multi-tenant isolation.
• A related technical degree required.

Even Better If...

• You have hands-on experience with dbt, Airflow, Snowflake, or Iceberg-based lakehouse architectures.
• You've worked with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or built conversational/agentic tools on a platform like Slack.
• You have experience layering AI capabilities into existing production systems.
• You have experience with data observability or data-quality/governance tooling.

Unleash Your Potential

When you join Salesforce, you'll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we'll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love.

Accommodations

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form.

Posting Statement

Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that's inclusive, and free from discrimination. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications - without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.

Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal.

In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.

The typical base salary range for this position is $197,300 - $313,700 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $237,700 - $344,700 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.