Principle Platform Engineer

About the Role

We are looking for a highly skilled and strategic Principal Platform Engineer to play a critical role in shaping our next-generation AI-powered content authoring and delivery platform. This content platform empowers authors, teachers, and professors to create dynamic learning experiences for students through cutting-edge AI, interactive assessments, asset management, APIs, and scalable content delivery solutions.

Reporting directly to the Director of Engineering, you will serve as a technical leader who deeply understands complex systems, ensures teams remain aligned with our mission, and drives the integration of AI across all aspects of our platform. You will spend 50% of your time coding (primarily front-end but full stack) and 50% leading technical direction, providing guidance, documentation, and solutions to ensure our platform is scalable, reliable, and innovative.

This is a hybrid role based out of our Durham, NC office, requiring in-person collaboration when needed.

What You’ll Do

✅ Lead & Direct – Provide technical leadership across the platform, ensuring engineering efforts align with AI integration, scalability, and our broader company initiatives.
✅ Architect & Build – Design and implement AI-driven solutions while maintaining a strong hands-on coding presence (React, TypeScript, APIs, backend services).
✅ Drive AI Integration – Work with AI models, automation tools, and ML-driven content generation to enhance the authoring experience and optimize platform capabilities.
✅ Cross-Team Collaboration – Engage with 20+ teams, ensuring alignment, surfacing risks, and advocating for efficient and scalable technical solutions.
✅ Problem-Solve & Align – Negotiate, advocate, and push back when necessary to keep teams focused and solutions aligned with business priorities.
✅ Guide & Influence – Lead technical discussions, ensuring teams understand the “why” behind AI-driven decisions while balancing trade-offs across usability, performance, and maintainability.
✅ Communicate Clearly – Translate complex AI and engineering concepts into clear, actionable strategies for diverse stakeholders.
✅ Document & Diagram – Create high-quality technical documentation and system diagrams that drive clarity and execution.

What Makes a Great Candidate?

🔹 AI-Driven Thinker – You have hands-on experience with AI-powered applications, LLMs, and ML-driven content workflows and can recommend, implement, and optimize AI solutions within an enterprise platform.
🔹 Full-Stack Expertise – You have strong front-end skills (React, TypeScript, CSS3, HTML5) but can comfortably work across the stack (backend, APIs, databases).
🔹 Systems Thinker – You understand complex ecosystems, anticipate challenges, and proactively find solutions before they become problems.
🔹 Excellent Negotiator – You can influence without authority, balancing competing priorities across multiple teams while maintaining a collaborative, fair approach.
🔹 Strong Communicator – You can distill complex technical and AI concepts into clear, actionable guidance for both engineers and business leaders.
🔹 Proactive & Independent – You take initiative, seek out information, and aren’t afraid to ask tough questions to ensure teams are making the right choices.
🔹 Execution-Oriented – You balance high-level technical vision with hands-on coding, ensuring progress isn’t just theoretical but results in real, working solutions.