Director, Engineering - Head of Applied AI at Starburst

San Francisco, California, United States

Apply Now

Not SpecifiedCompensation

Senior (5 to 8 years)Experience Level

Full TimeJob Type

UnknownVisa

Data Platforms, AIIndustries

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

AI/ML SystemsData PlatformsInferenceRAGLLM LifecycleLangChainLlamaIndexNVIDIA NIMsIcebergTrinoArchitecture PrinciplesCommunicationExecution

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What is the location and work arrangement for this role?

The role is ideally based in Boston or San Francisco and follows a hybrid model, with an expectation of being onsite 2-3 days per week. Occasional in-person travel is required for onboarding, offsites, customer engagements, and company events.

What experience and skills are required for this position?

Candidates need 10+ years of engineering experience, including 5+ years in AI/ML systems, data platforms, or infrastructure, deep understanding of LLM lifecycle (embedding, inference, RAG, governance), proven leadership of platform or AI infra teams, and familiarity with frameworks like LangChain, LlamaIndex, or NVIDIA NIMs. Excellent communication and execution skills are also essential.

What does the compensation and benefits package include?

Starburst offers a competitive Total Rewards program including competitive pay, attractive stock grants, flexible paid time off, and more.

What is the company culture like at Starburst?

Starburst empowers All-Stars to realize their potential by building alongside top talent, taking ownership of careers, and driving industry disruption. The culture supports a rewarding work environment with a global workforce.

What makes a strong candidate for this Director role?

A strong candidate has 10+ years of engineering experience with 5+ in AI/ML, proven leadership in production AI infra or platforms, deep LLM expertise, and familiarity with tools like LangChain. Hands-on experience with data platforms like Iceberg or Trino is a plus, along with excellent communication skills.

Starburst

Data analytics and SQL engine distribution

About Starburst

Starburst specializes in data analytics by providing a distribution and support for the Trino SQL engine, which is designed for efficient and scalable analytics on data lakes and various data sources. Their products, Starburst Galaxy and Starburst Enterprise, allow clients to access and analyze data quickly, whether in the cloud or on-premises. Starburst connects seamlessly with popular data visualization tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Looker, making it easier for users to integrate and access their data. What sets Starburst apart from competitors is its enhancement of the open-source Trino engine with additional connectors, security features, and dedicated enterprise support. The company's goal is to help organizations achieve faster data insights and better decision-making through improved analytics capabilities.

Boston, MassachusettsHeadquarters

2017Year Founded

$402.7MTotal Funding

SERIES_DCompany Stage

Data & Analytics, Enterprise SoftwareIndustries

501-1,000Employees

Benefits

Competitive salary & attractive stock grants

Remote-friendly work options

Quality & affordable insurance

Flexible & generous paid time off

Environment of transparency, honesty & respect

Risks

Increased competition from companies like Dell could impact Starburst's market share.

The rapid growth of unique data vendors may lead to increased market complexity.

Enterprises moving towards single-cloud strategies could challenge Starburst's multi-cloud offerings.

Differentiation

Starburst offers both cloud-based and on-premises solutions, catering to diverse client needs.

The company enhances the open-source Trino engine with additional connectors and security features.

Starburst's platform integrates with popular data tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Looker.

Upsides

Starburst Galaxy achieved 3x year-over-year growth in active customers and usage volume.

The platform enables 10X faster data processing and 66% cost reduction for clients like Arity.

Starburst's Icehouse platform leverages open-source Trino and Apache Iceberg for scalability.

Land your dream remote job 3x faster with AI

Try Jobo Free