Principal ML Platform Engineer
Appian · McLean, Virginia
About this role
**Principal ML Platform Engineer (Appian)** **About the Role** Lead the engineering of software that matters—driving AI automation for the world’s largest enterprises. **Location & Work Model** This role is based at Appian’s headquarters in **McLean, Virginia**. Employees hired for this position are expected to be in the office **5 days a week** to support in-person collaboration. **About the Team** Appian Engineering spans the full depth of the platform—from foundational layers that power enterprise scale to AI capabilities redefining what automation can do. You’ll work in a collaborative, fast-paced environment focused on technical precision, continuous learning, and high code quality. **The Opportunity** As a **Principal Software Engineer**, you’ll be a technical linchpin—bringing deep expertise in **cloud-native architecture** and influencing engineering direction beyond your immediate scope. You’ll drive the design and delivery of high-complexity solutions, set the technical bar, and help lead other engineers to deliver **enterprise-grade orchestration**. **What You’ll Do** - **Develop Clean Software:** Architect, build, and optimize high-performance systems while maintaining a strong technical presence. - **Lead Platform Modernization:** Drive strategic changes and champion refactoring to keep the core codebase modern and performant. - **Engineer with AI:** Use AI coding tools to generate, review, and evaluate AI-assisted code without compromising quality. - **Lead Architecture & Delivery:** Break down technical stories, define acceptance criteria, and design complex multi-tier solutions. - **Optimize Performance & Scale:** Improve availability, latency, scalability, and efficiency through reliability engineering and system tuning. - **Drive Engineering Excellence:** Promote best practices, perform meticulous code reviews, and build automation to prevent recurring issues. - **Lead & Grow Engineers:** Coach and mentor engineers, identify skill gaps, and accelerate team technical growth. - **Influence Technical Documentation:** Share expertise and publish high-quality content to the engineering documentation site. **Required Qualifications** - **Education:** B.S. in Computer Science (or related technical/analytical discipline). *Equivalent experience is not accepted in lieu of a degree.* - **Experience:** 10+ years of relevant software development experience with a B.S. (or 8+ years with a Master’s in Computer Science or related field). - **Technical Mastery:** Expert coding/scripting/debugging in **Java**, **Python**, or **Go**. - **Domain Expertise:** Deep working knowledge of **distributed systems** and **cloud infrastructure**; able to contribute at a senior individual contributor level. - **Cross-Team Influence:** Proven ability to drive technical decisions and shape practices beyond a single team. - **AI-Augmented Development:** Experience using AI coding assistants and evaluating/teaching others how to apply AI-generated code in production. - **Production Mastery:** Experience developing, optimizing, and maintaining high-volume, mission-critical production services. - **Communication & Alignment:** Ability to communicate complex architectures verbally, visually, and in writing. **Preferred Qualifications** - **Cloud Architecture:** Microservices, containerization (**Docker**, **Kubernetes**), and modern **CI/CD** pipelines. - **Cloud Platforms:** Experience with **AWS**, **Azure**, and/or **GCP**. - Experience with ent
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