Staff AI Platform Engineer — Lead High-Impact Systems

Rippling; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Rippling is seeking a Staff Engineer to lead architecture and deliverables for Rippling AI. You will guide cross-functional pods across product, infra, and platform, translating AI work into scalable, observable systems and hands-on code contributions.

Join a fast-moving team shaping the next generation of autonomous enterprise software. The role emphasizes ownership of end-to-end architecture, mentoring peers, and collaborating with product to deliver trustworthy AI-powered surfaces.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience with a proven track record of technical leadership and org-wide impact.
• Deep expertise in platform and distributed systems engineering — you've built reliable, observable, large-scale systems
• Strong hands-on coding skills, you are an active contributor in the codebase alongside your leadership responsibilities
• Experience leading complex, cross-functional technical initiatives and driving alignment across multiple teams
• Strong product instincts, you translate ambiguous problems into durable platform capabilities and partner effectively with product teams
• Clear, precise communication to diverse audiences, both written and verbal
• Comfort with ambiguity and high velocity, the roadmap evolves as the technology evolves
• Recent hands-on experience building AI agents is a plus

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end technical architecture for high-impact AI platform initiatives from design through production
• Lead a cross-functional pod of highly talented engineers, interacting with product, infra, and platform organizations
• Build scalable agent infrastructure that automates repetitive, high-frequency workflows across Rippling's product surface
• Design systems that are observable, self-correcting, and capable of improving over time with minimal human intervention
• Develop harness and platform capabilities that encode business logic and institutional knowledge into reliable, automated workflows
• Partner closely with Product to ensure AI-powered surfaces are trustworthy, controllable, and intuitive for end users and admins
• Mentor engineers across the org, establish best practices for AI platform development, and raise the technical bar broadly
• Track the frontier, translate model capability improvements into architectural decisions and move quickly when new approaches unlock better outcomes

Skills

Platform engineering

Distributed systems

Leadership

AI integration

Job description

Rippling is seeking a Staff Engineer to lead architecture and deliverables for Rippling AI. You will guide cross-functional pods across product, infra, and platform, translating AI work into scalable, observable systems and hands-on code contributions.

Join a fast-moving team shaping the next generation of autonomous enterprise software. The role emphasizes ownership of end-to-end architecture, mentoring peers, and collaborating with product to deliver trustworthy AI-powered surfaces.