Director, Engineering - Head of Applied AI

Starburst • San Francisco, CA

97d

About The Position

We are hiring a Director of AI Engineering to lead all engineering initiatives related to Starburst’s rapidly expanding AI platform. This is a foundational role to drive execution across inference, agentic workflows, hybrid search, governance, and integration with customer ecosystems. As a Director, Engineering - Head of Applied AI at Starburst you will: Own engineering execution across AI workflows, agents, and model integrations. Partner with PM and GTM teams to define roadmap and co-own AI strategy. Build and manage a high-performing AI engineering team (across UX, backend, infra). Collaborate across Cloud, Platform, and Product teams to ensure AI cohesion. Establish architecture principles for inference, vector search, and agentic pipelines. Represent Starburst Engineering in customer briefings and strategic GTM efforts.

Requirements

• 10+ years engineering experience, 5+ in AI/ML systems, data platforms, or infra
• Deep understanding of LLM lifecycle: embedding, inference, RAG, governance
• Proven leadership of platform teams or AI infra in production
• Familiarity with LangChain, LlamaIndex, NVIDIA NIMs, or similar frameworks
• Hands-on experience with Iceberg, Trino, or other modern data platforms is a plus
• Excellent communication and execution skills

Responsibilities

• Own engineering execution across AI workflows, agents, and model integrations
• Partner with PM and GTM teams to define roadmap and co-own AI strategy
• Build and manage a high-performing AI engineering team (across UX, backend, infra)
• Collaborate across Cloud, Platform, and Product teams to ensure AI cohesion
• Establish architecture principles for inference, vector search, and agentic pipelines
• Represent Starburst Engineering in customer briefings and strategic GTM efforts

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Attractive stock grants
• Flexible paid time off

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees