Principal Data Platform Engineer at Vivacity Labs

At VivaCity, we are dedicated to making urban environments smarter, safer, and more sustainable. Our team utilizes a global network of over 5,000 AI sensors to gather anonymous, real-time data on traffic flow and transport patterns. These insights empower decision-makers to improve global transport networks through community-centric, privacy-first solutions. We are currently seeking a Principal Data Platform Engineer to join our team in the United Kingdom. This role offers a hybrid work arrangement, primarily based out of our London office, and focuses on designing and maintaining the critical infrastructure that handles trillions of messages every year.

Key outcomes

• Take primary responsibility for our cloud data pipeline and underlying infrastructure, including Apache Kafka, Kubernetes, and PostgreSQL.
• Ensure the reliability, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness of our systems while managing high-throughput data streams.
• Lead architectural decision-making and establish technical standards across the engineering department.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to fellow engineers to foster a culture of continuous learning.
• Collaborate closely with the Cloud and AI team to optimize system performance and maintainability.
• Manage operational tasks including observability, logging, metrics, and live incident response.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in Apache Kafka, specifically regarding broker management, scaling, and high-throughput integration.
• Extensive experience designing and managing cloud infrastructure on Google Cloud Platform with a focus on Kubernetes.
• Strong proficiency in Unix and Linux environments, particularly Ubuntu.
• Exceptional communication skills with a proven track record of mentoring team members and collaborating with diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to resolve complex technical incidents within unfamiliar production systems.
• Experience managing production software components and maintaining high-quality technical documentation.

Preferred qualifications

• Proficiency with Hashicorp Vault for secret and role management.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, specifically TimescaleDB, query optimization, and SQL.
• Programming experience in languages such as Go or TypeScript.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code tools like Terraform.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure management tools like Ansible.
• Background in information security principles or experience working within a start-up or scale-up environment.

Compensation

The salary range for this position is £92,000 to £122,000. In addition to the base salary, we offer a flexible working environment that includes hybrid office attendance and flexible working hours.

How to apply

If you are passionate about building sustainable smart city infrastructure and thrive in a collaborative environment, we would love to hear from you. Our hiring process includes an initial screening, a system design interview, and a final round focused on technical experience and soft skills. Please reach out to us to submit your application and join our mission to improve global transport through data.