Principal Software Engineer

Who are we?

Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company®, shortening the path to connectivity to enable the innovations that enrich our work, life and planet.

A place where bold ideas are welcomed, human connection is valued, and everyone has the opportunity to shape their future.

Help us challenge assumptions, uncover bias, and remove barriers—because progress starts with fresh ideas. You’ll find belonging, purpose, and a team that welcomes you—because when you feel valued, you’re empowered to do your best work.

Job Summary

As a Principal Data Engineer at Equinix, you will be responsible for driving end-to-end delivery of enterprise-scale data solutions on Google Cloud Platform. This role combines hands-on technical expertise, requiring you to design sophisticated system architectures, lead cross-functional initiatives, and mentor data engineers. You will act as a trusted technical advisor for the team championing innovation across GCP, Data Engineering, AI, Agentic AI, and Model Context Protocol (MCP). The ideal candidate possesses unparalleled technical depth, exceptional strategic thinking, and a demonstrated history of delivering transformational data platform capabilities at a global scale.

Responsibilities

System Design & Architecture Leadership

Architect and evolve cloud-native, petabyte-scale data platforms and data products, with clearly defined and measurable SLOs for data freshness, availability, and reliabilityDesign data solutions balancing scalability, performance, cost, and operational excellence through clear architectural trade-offsEstablish reference architectures, architectural guardrails, and engineering standards adopted organization-wideLead architectural governance across all data engineering squads, ensuring consistency, scalability, and securityEvaluate and adopt emerging technologies (including Agentic AI/LLM and real-time systems) to improve engineering productivity and business outcomesDrive adoption of domain-oriented data architecture (e.g., data mesh principles) across business domains to enable ownership, consistency, and reuse

Technical Solutioning & Innovation

Design scalable data solutions using modern cloud-native technologies (e.g., BigQuery, Dataflow, dbt/Dataform, Pub/Sub), selecting the right tools based on problem contextOwn end-to-end delivery of complex data engineering initiatives from design through production, and continuous evolution.for real-time streaming, event-driven architectures, and unified batch-streaming pipelines at petabyte scaleEvaluate and adopt AI/LLM capabilities to improve engineering productivity and enable intelligent data consumption, using standard interfaces (e.g., Model Context Protocol) to integrate AI with data systemsEstablish engineering excellence frameworks covering performance engineering, cost governance, reliability, and observabilityLead proof-of-concept and rapid prototyping of breakthrough technologies before scaling org-wide

Team Leadership & Mentorship

Serve as a technical role model and multiplier — elevating the capabilities of Senior Staff, Staff, and Data Engineers across the organizationLead org-wide engineering communities of practice and knowledge-sharing initiativesPartner with engineering managers and HR to drive technical hiring strategy and raise the engineering talent barDrive culture of engineering excellence, innovation, and continuous learningEstablish mentorship programs that systematically grow the next generation of technical leaders

Data Governance & Compliance

Architect automated data quality platforms, end-to-end lineage tracking, and enterprise metadata management systemsEnsure compliance with GDPR, SOX, and emerging global data regulations through proactive architecture and policy designLead privacy-by-design initiatives, zero-trust data access models, and data anonymization at scaleEstablish cross-cloud security standards and enforce them through automated policy guardrailsDesign privacy-preserving techniques, data anonymization, and secure data sharing mechanisms

Strategic Influence & Stakeholder Management

Partner with business stakeholders to translate strategic objectives into scalable technical solutionsLead cross-functional initiatives spanning multiple engineering teams and business unitsPresent technical concepts and architectural decisions to executive leadershipRepresent Equinix externally — at industry conferences, in open-source communities, and in strategic vendor partnershipsDrive build-vs-buy decisions, vendor evaluation, and strategic technology partnerships at the enterprise level

Qualifications

Technical Expertise

GCP Platform Mastery: 8+ years of hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform, including deep expertise in BigQuery (advanced SQL, scripting, optimization, ML integration), Cloud Dataflow, Cloud Composer, Cloud Storage, Pub/Sub, Dataproc, and Vertex AIProgramming Excellence: Expert-level Python/Java programming, proficiency in Python/Scala for Spark developmentAdvanced Data Technologies: Deep expertise in Apache Beam, Apache Spark, Airflow, Kafka, and distributed computing architecturesInfrastructure: Extensive experience with Terraform, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud infrastructure managementDatabase & Data Modeling: Advanced knowledge of relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL systems (BigTable, Firestore, MongoDB); expertise in data modeling, normalization, and performance optimizationSystem Design: Proven ability to architect and deliver distributed, fault-tolerant, globally distributed data systems with rigorous security and cost governanceAI/ML Integration: Deep experience with MLOps, feature engineering platforms, model serving infrastructure, and integrating LLM-powered capabilities into production data pipelines

Professional Experience & Leadership

Master's or bachelor's degree in computer science, Engineering, or related field; Master's degree strongly preferred15+ years of Data engineering experience with 8+ years specifically on Google Cloud PlatformProven track record of leading end-to-end delivery of complex, enterprise-scale data platform initiativesExperience designing and implementing data governance, compliance, and security frameworksStrong architectural thinking with ability to make sound technical decisions and trade-offsProven ability to translate business requirements into scalable technical architectures and solutionsStrong business acumen — ability to connect technical architecture decisions to measurable business outcomesSolve complex, ambiguous data platform challenges and drive decisions that improve system reliability, performance, and cost at scale

Preferred Qualifications

Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer and Cloud Architect certificationsHands-on experience with Agentic AI frameworks, LLM orchestration, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) in production environmentsPublished thought leadership — technical blog posts, conference talks, or open-source contributions in data engineeringExperience with feature stores, model serving infrastructure, and AI/ML observabilityUnderstanding of data science workflows, statistical analysis, and advanced analyticsExperience with BI and visualization tools (Looker, Tableau, Power BI)Contributions to industry standards bodies, open-source foundations, or emerging technology working groupsExperience with multi-cloud or hybrid cloud architectures and data portability strategiesKnowledge of data mesh, data fabric, or other modern data architecture patterns

Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability. If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing this form.

Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law.

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This posting is for a backfill position, meaning it is to fill an existing vacancy within our organization.