Principal Engineer, AI Platform

About the Role

As a Principal Engineer on the AI Platform team, you'll help architect the infrastructure that powers both Generative AI and Recommender Systems across Pinterest's entire product suite. Our team builds the end-to-end engines for petabyte-scale data orchestration, model training and fine-tuning, and high-performance inference, ensuring our models scale seamlessly to hundreds of millions of inferences per second in service of over 600 million monthly active users.

What you'll do

• Set the technical vision and roadmap for the Pinterest AI Platform, aligning with business priorities and long-term company strategy.
• Drive cross-functional strategic initiatives that advance our platform capabilities across:

- Generative AI: multimodal data management, post-training, evaluation, and batch/online inference.
- Recommender Systems: feature stores, training infra, and large-scale high performance inference.
- AI-powered tools that automate the user experience across our platforms, connecting every stage of the AI/ML lifecycle to enhance productivity and accelerate development.

• Cultivate a collaborative and inclusive culture where every team member feels welcome and empowered, and provide candid, constructive feedback that accelerates individual and team growth.

What we're looking for

• Deep expertise in AI/ML infrastructure and distributed systems: Hands-on experience designing, building, and operating highly available, production-grade systems at large scale; strong technical judgment; and proficiency in at least one of C++, Java, or Rust.
• Proven track record of company-wide impact: Experience leading cross-organizational initiatives, navigating ambiguity, defining technical strategy, influencing architecture decisions, and aligning cross-functional partners and executives around a shared direction.
• Strong ownership and a high engineering bar: Sets and upholds high standards for engineering quality, integrity, and accountability, and takes end-to-end ownership of outcomes.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field.

In-Office Requirements

This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times per quarter and therefore needs to be in a commutable distance from one of the following offices: Palo Alto, CA or San Francisco, CA.