Senior Analytics Platform Engineer (AI-Native Analytics)

Rivian and VW Group Technology•Palo Alto, CA

About The Position

The analytics landscape is shifting: from passive dashboards to active, agentic systems. The Core Data team is building a best-in-class platform to support that shift, enabling exploration, reporting, and decision-making across the enterprise. Our mission is to make everyone a data person. We build the platforms, products, and guardrails that allow thousands of users—engineers, operators, analysts, executives, and AI agents—to access, explore, and act on trusted data with speed and confidence. As a Senior Analytics Platform Engineer (AI-Native Analytics), you will own and evolve the analytics ecosystem that makes this possible. This is a hands-on engineering role with significant influence over the direction of our platform. You will operate at the intersection of data engineering, platform engineering, and AI—shaping how both humans and agents interact with data. This role goes beyond traditional platform operations. You will join the team that is defining and executing a multi-year vision for AI-native analytics, expanding our platform to support context- aware self-serve, conversational, and agent-driven workflows. Your work will lower barriers to entry, reduce friction, and enable a step-change in how data is used across the company.

Requirements

6+ years of experience building and scaling enterprise-grade analytical platforms and production data systems.
Strong proficiency in Python and SQL with the ability to write production-ready, scalable code.
Hands-on experience with Databricks eco system and mastery of dbt for ETL/ELT orchestration and large-scale data warehousing.
Proven ability to build and maintain infrastructure for agentic AI, enabling autonomous agents to perform complex discovery and conversational workflows.
Proficiency with Terraform (or similar tools) for managing and deploying analytics infrastructure, alongside standard Git workflows.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with Databricks eco-system and Hex
Exposure to Fivetran
Experience building reliable evaluation frameworks for AI systems and metadata layers.
Ability to lead the enterprise through the adoption of emerging best practices and AI-driven platform analytics.
Experience with Context Engineering and designing machine-readable metadata to minimize LLM hallucinations.
Demonstrated ability to move special projects from ambiguity to production-ready technical solutions quickly.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and operate a modern analytics ecosystem grounded in Databricks and dbt, integrating AI-native capabilities directly into the platform strategy.
Build and maintain infrastructure for agentic AI solutions, implementing patterns for context-aware analytics, high-quality metadata, and multi-step reasoning.
Drive performance, reliability, and scalability improvements across the Analytics AI Platform, ensuring the ecosystem stays ahead of best-in-class patterns.
Develop conversational analytics and intuitive platform tools to democratize data access, making everyone a "data person" through AI-driven discovery.
Implement robust Access Control List (ACL) frameworks and governance standards to ensure trusted, secure, and compliant data democratization.
Partner with teams to translate ambiguous business requirements into technical blueprints, moving special projects rapidly into production.
Provide training, support, and clear guidance to the broader data community to reduce friction and foster a culture of continuous learning.