Senior Principal Engineer - Data and AI Platforms

Job Description

We are seeking a dedicated Senior Principal Engineer with a passion for data engineering, to lead and manage our critical Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platform. As part of the Data & Software Engineering (DSE) Team, you will be responsible for developing and maintain the infrastructure and tools required for the deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement of data and AI platforms.

You will work closely with data engineers and software engineers to scale the Vertex Data Platform (VDP), which is Vertex’s cutting-edge technology ecosystem for Data Engineering, Data Science, and Advanced Analytics. Using the VDP, you will help ensure the seamless development, operations, and monitoring experience for data engineers, software engineers, and end users. You will help Vertex scale and support data products across our organization to fuel insights & innovation. You will partner with data engineers, data scientists, and operations teams to build, deploy, manage and scale modern data and AI platforms – helping provide teams with best practices, guidance, and support.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is in a transformational period where we are accelerating our capabilities, technologies, and data to augment our scientific mission, enable Vertex to grow in scale, and continue to be on the forefront of science, medicine, and technology. As part of this effort, it is critical to ensure that the Vertex’s data and AI platform continues to accelerate and enable our data engineers to drive innovation and insight.

Key Responsibilities:

• Platform management - Manage, maintain, and improve Vertex’s core data platform with a focus on security, DevOps, and enabling best practices for users to design, implement, and manage end-to-end data pipelines
• Technology expert – Accountable for developing, deploying, & maintaining Vertex Data Platform components that enable & support the full development and deployment cycle for advanced Data Engineering and Artificial Intelligence solutions
• Delivery management – Estimate, architect, and execute on delivery of critical projects & solutions, in partnership with the DSE leadership team, that support and enable data engineers
• Operations Management – Manage & partner with a team of Data Engineers to maintain the Vertex Data Platform. Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to data product deployment, execution, and performance
• Innovation champion - Advocate for process enhancements and opportunities to improve our Data Engineering capabilities. Partner closely with Director, Data Platforms for defining, architecture and designing data platform components. Collaborate with data scientists and data engineers to integrate best practices into the development lifecycle

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience working as a Software Engineer, DevOps Engineer, or Data Engineer within a production ecosystem
• 5+ years working in Principal Engineering role leveraging Snowflake, AWS, or equivalent cloud data platforms
• Demonstrated experience with model pipeline technologies like Astronomer / Airflow
• Demonstrated experience in developing (or supporting) Data engineering solutions leveraging DBT cloud
• Demonstrated experience in data integration solutions like Fivetran
• Strong experience monitoring and optimizing the security and performance of modern data platforms
• Experience automating model training, validation, and deployment processes to enhance efficiency and reproducibility
• Demonstrated experience working in agile environments (5+ years)
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and manage multiple projects that require collaboration across functional areas.
• Skillful, collaborative team player able to develop rapport and credibility with stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to teach, engage and support others as they learn new technologies and concepts.
• Enthusiasm for and the ability to quickly learn new technologies and tackle difficult problems.
• Strong presentation, verbal, and written communication skills
• Working knowledge of key workflow tools, including JIRA and Confluence

Pay Range:

$164,300 - $246,400

Disclosure Statement:

The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary pay range for this job at the time of posting. This role is eligible for an annual bonus and annual equity awards. Some roles may also be eligible for overtime pay, in accordance with federal and state r