Principal Engineer, Product

Makers Fund; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 230,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Significant equity

Health benefits

Monthly stipends

Company retreats

Collaborative office culture

Job summary

Pika is seeking a Principal Product Engineer in Palo Alto to lead the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for user-facing systems. In this senior leadership role, you’ll guide the engineering direction for features serving millions of creators—from intuitive UIs and collaboration tools to real-time interactions and advanced generative AI experiences.

You’ll work closely with product, design, and engineering leadership to deliver robust, scalable experiences, influencing both user

Qualifications

• 8+ years in professional software engineering.
• Led design, execution, and scaling of high-impact web or mobile products.
• Strong systems design across distributed services and cloud infra.
• Experience with ML/AI workflows and AI tooling.
• Excellent communication and leadership across teams.

Responsibilities

• Own and define architecture and technical strategy for Pika's web and multi-platform products
• Spearhead real-time collaboration, messaging, and live multi-user interactions
• Drive product features from ideation through scoping, development, launch, and iteration
• Integrate complex generative AI workflows into creative tooling
• Partner with product and design leaders to deliver accessible creative workflows
• Mentor engineers and uphold high architectural standards
• Oversee cross-service metrics, tracing, and observability for critical features

Skills

Senior engineering experience

Web/mobile product leadership

React/TypeScript

Node.js/Go

System design & cloud infra

ML/AI infrastructure

Tools

React

TypeScript

Node.js

Go

Python

AWS

GCP

Docker

Kubernetes

Postgres

Redis

Job description

About Pika

At Pika, we’re building the next generation of AI creative tools to empower human creativity. Our mission is to make video creation seamless, intuitive, and accessible to everyone, leveraging the power of advanced AI. We believe that AI should amplify creative expression—enabling everyone to create, collaborate, and communicate across media. Our team includes engineers, artists, and product thinkers, all passionate about building tools that unlock new creative possibilities.

Location

Palo Alto HQ

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

On-site

Department

Engineering

About The Role

We’re seeking a Principal Product Engineer to lead the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for user-facing systems at Pika. In this high-impact, senior leadership role, you’ll guide the engineering direction for features that serve millions of creative users—from intuitive UIs and collaboration tools to real-time interactions and advanced generative AI experiences.

You’ll work closely with product, design, and engineering leadership to deliver features that are robust, scalable, and delightful to use. You’ll influence both the immediate user experience and long-term product vision, taking ideas from strategic conception to launch and ongoing iteration.

What You’ll Do

• Own and define the architecture and technical strategy for Pika’s web and multi-platform products


• Spearhead the development of real-time collaboration capabilities, messaging, and live multi-user interactions


• Drive product features from ideation through scoping, development, launch, and continuous improvement


• Integrate complex generative AI workflows (LLMs, models, agentic tools) into creative tooling


• Partner deeply with product and design leaders to deliver groundbreaking, accessible creative workflows


• Champion technical excellence through high standards, architecture reviews, mentorship, and proposals


• Oversee and improve cross-service metrics, tracing, and observability for critical product features

What We’re Looking For

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with substantial time in senior/principal engineering and product-focused roles


• Distinguished track record leading the design, execution, and scaling of high-impact web or mobile products (React, TypeScript, Node.js, Go, or similar)


• Demonstrated strategy and execution in building robust, user-centric features for creative applications


• Comprehensive expertise in systems design: distributed systems, scalable APIs, and cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP)


• Experience working across the stack, including ML/AI infrastructure (Python, GPU-backed workflows) as required


• Exceptional product intuition and a strategic mindset—driven by deep understanding of user and business needs


• Excellent communication and leadership skills; able to influence across disciplines and build consensus


• Strong sense of ownership and passion for delivering delightful creative experiences at scale

Nice to Have

• Experience building or integrating generative AI, agentic workflows, or ML inference platforms (Python/PyTorch)


• Creative background (design, art, architecture, or similar)


• Expertise in media-rich and real-time collaboration applications


• Startup experience and proven ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments

Our Stack

React, TypeScript, Python, Go, Postgres, Redis, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS/GCP

What We Offer

• Competitive salary in the AI industry


• Significant equity in a rapidly growing startup shaping the future of AI and creativity


• Comprehensive health benefits, monthly stipends, and company retreats


• Supportive, collaborative office culture—we’re building and launching together