Senior Data Engineer

Kai; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Kai is hiring a Sr. Data Engineer to join our data infrastructure team. This hands-on role focuses on ingesting and processing data at machine speed, owning systems that enable Kai's security platform at scale.

You will design, build, and optimize pipelines across major enterprises, architecting for high throughput, low latency, and cloud-agnostic deployment. You will influence how the data function evolves and collaborate with Backend teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of data engineering experience.
• Hands-on with 200M+ entries in materialized views asynchronously.
• Proficient in Python and SQL.
• Strong data modeling and scalable storage design.
• Experience with NoSQL databases at scale (CosmosDB, MongoDB).
• Proven ability to design/build large-scale distributed data pipelines (batch & streaming).
• Hands-on with Flink, Kafka, Spark or similar frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable data pipelines for batch and real-time processing.
• Own and optimize high-volume data infrastructure with low latency and high reliability.
• Build and maintain data models and storage systems for large security data workloads.
• Identify bottlenecks and drive architecture optimization.
• Lead Terraformization for cloud-agnostic deployment (Azure, AWS, GCP).
• Integrate and manage cloud data services with secure permissions and connectivity.
• Collaborate with Backend Engineering on ingestion and consumption sides.
• Ensure data quality, consistency and reliability across pipelines.
• Contribute to code reviews, docs, and best practices.
• Propose solutions and start building proactively.

Skills

Data engineering

Python

SQL

Data modelling

NoSQL databases

Distributed pipelines

Batch & streaming

Kafka/Flink/Spark

Tools

CosmosDB

MongoDB

Azure

AWS

GCP

Job description

Kai is the AI company rebuilding cybersecurity for the machine‑speed era. Founded by second time founders and trusted by Fortune 500 enterprises, Kai is building a future where security has no categories, no silos, and no human speed bottlenecks. The Kai Agentic AI Platform replaces fragmented, human‑limited workflows with agentic AI systems that continuously contextualize, assess, reason, and execute security work at machine speed - making human defenders superhuman.

Why Join Kai

• Well‑funded: With $125M raised, we have the capital, runway, and resolve to rebuild cybersecurity from first principles.
• Proven: We’ve earned the trust of Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies, and we’re just getting started. Their confidence in Kai reflects what we’ve built: an AI‑powered cybersecurity platform that performs at the scale and speed the enterprise demands.
• Experienced founders: Our founding team consists of second‑time entrepreneurs, each with over 20 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry. Their proven expertise and vision drive our ambitious goals.
• World‑class leadership team: Our Heads of AI, Engineering, and Product bring extensive experience from some of the world’s most influential companies, ensuring top‑tier mentorship, direction, and vision.
• Frontier AI Applied Research Team: Our researchers operate at the leading edge of agentic AI systems, translating breakthrough capabilities into real‑world cybersecurity applications.
• Generous compensation: We offer highly competitive salaries, equity options, and a supportive work environment. Your contributions will be valued and rewarded as we grow together.

The Role

Kai is hiring a Sr. Data Engineer to join our data infrastructure team. This is a hands‑on, high‑ownership role at the core of what we do — we live on ingesting and processing data at very high speed, and this person owns the systems that make that possible.

You will design, build, and optimize the data pipelines and infrastructure that power Kai's security platform across some of the largest enterprises in the world. This is not an advisory role. You are expected to architect and implement, to identify what needs to change, and start working on it.

We are building a world‑class data function. The person who joins now will have real influence over how that function evolves.

What You'll Do

• Design and build scalable data pipelines for batch and real‑time processing across Kai’s agentic AI platform.
• Own and optimize high‑volume data infrastructure handling hundreds of millions of entries with low latency and high reliability.
• Build and maintain data models and storage systems optimized for large‑scale, high‑throughput security data workloads.
• Identify bottlenecks in the current architecture and drive optimization — reduce processing time, improve reliability, and make the customer experience better.
• Lead the Terraformization of data pipelines to enable cloud‑agnostic deployment across Azure, AWS, and GCP.
• Integrate and manage cloud data services, ensuring secure service principles, permissions, and cross‑service connectivity.
• Collaborate closely with Backend Engineering teams on both the ingestion and consumption sides of the data pipeline.
• Ensure data quality, consistency, and reliability across all pipelines.
• Contribute to code reviews, technical documentation, and best practices.
• Bring a point of view — propose solutions, not just problems, and start building before you’re asked.

What You'll Bring

Required

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering or data platform engineering.
• Must have hands‑on experience handling up to 200M+ entries in materialized views in an asynchronous manner.
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL — these are how our systems are written.
• Strong data modeling skills — you can design schemas and storage systems that hold up at scale.
• Experience with NoSQL databases at scale — CosmosDB, MongoDB, or equivalent.
• Proven experience designing and building large‑scale distributed data pipelines in both batch and streaming modes.
• Hands‑on experience with Flink, Kafka, Spark, or similar stream and batch processing frameworks.