Staff Engineer / Technical Architect (Brahma Studio)
Location: Remote — UTC+0 to UTC+3 time zones
Brahma AI operates at the intersection of enterprise Media Asset Management (MAM) and generative media, managing over 100 million assets and 100 PB archives.
We are seeking a pragmatic, hands-on Staff Engineer / Technical Architect to serve as the system design authority for Brahma Studio. In this role, you will own the architectural blueprint and technical standardisation of our Studio platform—ensuring systems are rigorously thought through, architected, and documented before execution begins. While you will be the authority on architecture, you will remain close to the codebase, writing high-impact Python software and leading technical execution by example in an agile environment free from top-down bureaucracy.
Core Strategic Objectives
- Own System Design Authority: Establish single-source technical truth across Brahma Studio by leading upfront system design, service boundary definitions, and architectural documentation (ADRs/RFCs).
- Cross-Domain Architectural Alignment: Collaborate with peer architects across the broader organization to evaluate dependencies, negotiate technical constraints, and ensure Studio platforms integrate cleanly with shared company infrastructure.
- Drive Pragmatic Simplification: Replace expedient workarounds with maintainable design patterns, streamlining build pipelines and optimizing oversized Docker containers.
- Mastery of Python & GCP: Drive the architectural evolution of high-volume data processing systems built on Python and native GCP infrastructure.
- Lead Through Production Code: Balance architectural leadership with hands-on development, writing clean production code and mentoring engineering teams.
Technical and Operational Responsibilities
1. System Design & Governance
- Lead end-to-end system design for Studio initiatives, evaluating scalability, data flows, and trade-offs before implementation begins.
- Partner with Product leads, Studio engineers, and peer architects across Brahma AI to align on cross-platform features, evaluate technical trade-offs, and negotiate interface contracts.
- Author and maintain technical specs, RFCs, ADRs, and clear API contracts to establish reproducible design patterns and standardized software patterns across the team.
- Factor performance limits, stress testing considerations, and system resilience directly into upfront solution designs and technical specs prior to build kickoff.
2. Codebase Hygiene & Refactoring
- Audit and optimize production Docker builds to drastically reduce container footprints and deployment complexity.
- Systematically replace expedient workarounds with maintainable abstractions, enforcing automated testing and code quality standards.
3. GCP Architecture & High-Volume Data Systems
- Architect, profile, and optimize distributed, high-throughput data processing pipelines leveraging native Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services.
- Implement robust observability, logging, and error handling across cloud-native microservices to ensure data reliability.
4. Software Engineering & Mentorship
- Actively write production-grade Python code for core platform modules and critical frameworks.
- Review code with a focus on system design and maintainability, mentoring senior engineers in structured architectural thinking.
Experience and Qualifications
1. Professional Background
- 8+ years of software engineering experience, focused on backend system design and high-volume enterprise data processing.
- Proven track record as a system design authority (Staff Engineer, Principal Engineer, or Architect) with experience evaluating complex edge cases before building.
2. Technical Skills
- Expert Python: Idiomatic mastery of modern Python (asyncio, type hinting, performance profiling, memory management).
- GCP-Native Expertise: Deep experience designing and operating architectures on Google Cloud Platform.
- Containerization: Strong expertise in multi-stage Docker builds and container optimization.
- Working Knowledge of Go: Ability to read, write, or integrate Go-based microservices where concurrency demands it.