Principal Engineer, Data Platform

Whirl AI, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Employer-paid health plan

Job summary

Whirl AI, Inc. seeks a Principal IC to own the data backbone powering our agents, from API ingestion to agentic insights. You’ll own end-to-end data platform responsibilities in a fast-moving, enterprise-focused environment.

Responsibilities include defining platform standards for performance, security, data governance, and observability; shaping data layer design; mentoring senior engineers; and representing the data platform in strategic customer conversations.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of industry experience in data platforms or distributed systems.
• Proven track record directing technical direction for long-lived systems.
• Experience building for enterprise customers with strong security and governance.

Responsibilities

• Own the full vertical from API ingestion to agentic data discovery and workflows.
• Define platform standards for performance, reliability, security and governance.
• Shape how agents interact with customer data and design the data layer.
• Elevate engineering through architecture reviews, writing and mentorship.
• Be the senior technical voice with customers and Product in strategic talks.
• Operate autonomously on open-ended problems and provide clarity to progress.

Skills

Data platform architecture

Distributed systems

Technical leadership

API design

Data modeling

Security/compliance

Job description

Company Description

Whirl AI helps Enterprise IT organizations deliver business change faster. Our platform gives enterprise teams AI agents grounded in a deep, continuously updated understanding of how their systems actually work - compressing discovery and documentation from weeks to hours without sacrificing quality or control. We are early-stage, moving fast, and building the team that will define how Enterprise IT operates in the AI era.

Role Description

You’ll own the data backbone powering our agents, from system of record to agentic insights. As a Principal IC, you'll be an integral part of developing our data platform, with end-to-end responsibility for how data enters our systems and how it’s surfaced, queried and acted on by users and agents.

Your Responsibilities

• Own the full vertical, from API ingestion to agentic data discovery, workflows, automation, etc.

• Define and drive platform standards for performance, reliability, security and data governance, including SLAs, observability and how sensitive enterprise data is handled from start to finish.

• Shape how our agents find, understand and act on customer data. Design the data layer that makes agentic workflows accurate and trustworthy.

• Raise the engineering bar across the org through architecture and design reviews, technical writing and mentorship of senior engineers, with influence that reaches past the data team.

• Be the senior technical voice with customers and Product. Turn ambiguous business and enterprise IT requirements into platform strategy, and represent the data platform in strategic customer conversations.

• Operate with high autonomy on open-ended problems where the right answer isn't yet defined, and bring clarity and structure to those problems to help drive the work forward

Qualifications

• 10+ years of industry experience, including several years as the technical lead or architect of of large-scale data platforms or distributed systems in production.

• A track record of setting technical direction for systems that outlived your involvement: platforms other teams built on, standards they adopted, and architecture decisions you can defend years later.

• Experience building for enterprise customers, where security, access control, compliance and data governance are central to the design.

• Proven ability to influence beyond your own team. You can align engineering, Product and customers on hard tradeoffs without formal authority.

• A strong, well-earned point of view on data modeling, infrastructure and API design, backed by systems you’ve built, operated and evolved.

Why Join us

• Own meaningful technical decisions at the ground floor of an AI company targeting a massive market

• Work directly with founders and have immediate, visible impact

• Competitive compensation including equity and benefits (100% employer-paid health plan coverage for employees)

Whirl AI is committed to equal employment opportunity. All hiring decisions are made on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need - never on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We build better products because our team doesn't all think the same way, and we want that to keep being true. Show up as yourself. We can't wait to meet you.