Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform & AI Enablement

Airwallex • Seattle, WA

1d • $180,000 - $240,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Platform Engineering team is architecting Airwallex’s next-generation foundational infrastructure. We are moving beyond standard pipelines to build a high-performance, distributed ecosystem that powers real-time AI enablement and global financial data. We aim to push the boundaries of distributed storage, stream processing, and service-layer interfaces. We are looking for "Engineers’ Engineers"—builders who enjoy diving into the internals of distributed systems, optimizing JVM performance, and implementing robust architectural patterns like Lakehouse and real-time data.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience building and operating large-scale distributed systems or infrastructure platforms.
• A deep understanding of computer science fundamentals, including distributed systems, memory management, and networking protocols.
• Proficiency in Java, Kotlin, or Go.
• Hands-on experience (or the desire to deep-dive) into the internals of Kafka, Flink, Spark, Kubernetes, or OLAP engines.
• A proven track record of taking 0-1 ownership of complex technical challenges, from initial design to production stability.
• Intrinsically motivated to explore emerging tech in AI/ML infrastructure and real-time systems to create tangible business impact.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical decision-making and custom development for core infrastructure components, extending from foundational storage to high-availability service layers.
• Deep-dive into performance tuning and systems internals—such as state management, checkpointing, and exactly-once semantics—to ensure millisecond-level accuracy at global scale.
• Develop and integrate the "Knowledge Platform," enabling AI-driven products through scalable vector indexing, agentic workflows, and real-time data streaming.
• Own the full SDLC for high-performance distributed systems (batch and streaming) that process petabytes of data across 30+ global regions.
• Advocate for elite software engineering practices, contributing to shared tooling, SDKs, and automation frameworks that enhance the productivity of engineering teams company-wide.
• Act as a technical beacon and mentor for mid-level engineers, driving project delivery through design reviews and technical leadership.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed