Senior Platform Engineer

Job Posting Organization:
The Gates Foundation is the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty, disease, and inequity on a global scale. Founded with the mission that every individual, regardless of their identity or circumstances, should have the opportunity to lead a healthy and productive life, the Foundation emphasizes the importance of diversity among its employees to reflect the global populations it serves. Established in 2000, the Foundation has grown to employ thousands of individuals across various sectors and operates in numerous countries worldwide. It is committed to providing an exceptional benefits package that includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, and a foundation-paid retirement contribution. The organization also fosters a supportive workplace environment that encourages personal and professional growth through various employee communities and initiatives.

Job Overview:
The Senior Platform Engineer role at the Gates Foundation is pivotal in designing and scaling a modern data and AI platform that enhances the Foundation's impact across various sectors, including global health, development, education, gender equality, and humanitarian initiatives. This position involves leading the development of a secure, governed, and scalable platform utilizing Azure, Databricks, and Snowflake technologies. The engineer will be responsible for enabling advanced analytics and generative AI solutions, ensuring that insights from both structured and unstructured data are accessible through API-driven services and intelligent search functionalities. The role also emphasizes the importance of ethical data and AI systems that comply with global governance standards, utilizing tools like Collibra to maintain data integrity and security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Senior Platform Engineer will have a comprehensive set of responsibilities, including: leading the architecture and development of a cloud-native Data and AI platform on Azure, Databricks Lakehouse, and Snowflake; designing and implementing an API-first data platform to facilitate secure and governed data sharing across various teams and stakeholders; operationalizing generative AI solutions for knowledge discovery and decision support, including the development of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures and integration with OpenAI and Claude APIs; creating design patterns for document ingestion, parsing, OCR, metadata extraction, and enrichment; implementing data governance and stewardship practices using Collibra, focusing on data cataloging, lineage, and metadata management; establishing secure data access patterns while ensuring the protection of sensitive data; building reusable platform services and tools for self-service analytics and AI development; and optimizing platform performance and cost efficiency through FinOps dashboards.

Required Qualifications:
Candidates must possess a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science or a related field, or have equivalent experience. They should have a minimum of 12 years of experience in platform engineering or software engineering, with a strong focus on advanced analytics, AI/ML infrastructure, data security, and automation. Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, C#, .Net, and SQL is essential, along with hands-on experience with Azure services, Databricks, and Snowflake. Familiarity with API-driven data platforms, unstructured data processing, and tools like Docker and Kubernetes is also required. Additional qualifications include a strong understanding of RAG architectures, embeddings, vector databases, and experience with document processing and NLP pipelines.

Educational Background:
The position requires a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science or a related field. Equivalent experience in a relevant area may also be considered acceptable. The educational background should ideally include coursework or training in data engineering, software development, and AI technologies, providing a solid foundation for the technical demands of the role.

Experience:
Candidates should have at least 12 years of relevant experience in platform engineering or software engineering, particularly in areas related to advanced analytics, AI/ML infrastructure, and data security. This extensive experience should include a proven track record of designing and implementing data platforms, as well as managing and improving applications for data cataloging and discovery.

Languages:
While the job description does not specify mandatory languages, proficiency in English is likely essential given the global nature of the organization and its operations. Additional language skills may be beneficial but are not explicitly required.

Additional Notes:
The salary range for this role is between $157,400 to $236,000 USD, with specific adjustments for high-wage markets like Seattle and Washington D.C., where the salary range is between $173,100 to $259,700 USD. The Foundation emphasizes a balance between competitive pay and its mission-driven focus, typically placing new hires within the lower to midpoint of the salary range based on their skills and experience. Candidates must have unrestricted work authorization in the United States, as the Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. The hiring process includes a standard background check, and the organization is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates, offering accommodations as needed.