Member of the Technical Staff - Data Platform

About Vercel

Vercel is the agentic infrastructure company. We free people and agents to ship what’s next.

For more than a decade, Vercel has shaped how the web is built. As the team behind Next.js, v0, and AI SDK, we create products that help builders move from idea to production with speed, security, and exceptional developer experience.

Now, software is entering a new era, and the next generation of products will not just be used by people. They will be built, extended, and operated by agents.

We are building the platform for that future, trusted by companies like OpenAI, PayPal, Ramp, Supreme, and millions of developers worldwide.

About the Role

We're looking for a Staff level Engineer to lead the design and development of a next-generation Data Platform at Vercel. This is a unique opportunity to architect a foundational system that will power data across our products and business, supporting everything from real-time analytics to AI/ML initiatives.

Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Data Engineering, you'll define the technical vision for our data ecosystem, work across the organization to align engineering strategy with product goals, and build scalable, reliable systems using modern technologies like Kafka, ClickHouse, Tinybird, and Snowflake.

You'll lead from the front, writing production-grade code, setting high standards for design and data governance, and mentoring a team of engineers as the organization grows.

What You Will Do

• Design & Implement: Build a next-generation data platform supporting batch and real-time integrations, advanced analytics, and multiple data types, leveraging Kafka and streaming technologies for real-time data movement.
• Collaborate & Align: Partner with engineering, product, and senior leadership to architect solutions that address business needs and ensure seamless data availability.
• Data Governance & Modeling: Define guidelines for data ingestion, creation, enrichment, and storage. Oversee data modeling, ETL processes, and data warehousing (ClickHouse, Tinybird, Snowflake) for low-latency analytics.
• Technical Leadership: Develop end-to-end solutions across the tech stack, setting the standard for engineering excellence, and mentoring the team.
• Security & Compliance: Partner with Security, Compliance, and Legal teams to ensure adherence to data protection standards, championing high availability and fault tolerance.
• Strategic Planning: Drive architectural decisions, evaluate build-vs-buy trade-offs, and establish multi-phase strategic roadmaps.
• AI/ML Infrastructure: Collaborate with data scientists and machine learning teams to evolve infrastructure supporting advanced analytics and AI initiatives.

About You

• Experience: 8+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, or related roles, with at least 5 years at the Principal Engineer level.
• Technical Expertise: Proven track record designing and operating large-scale data infrastructures using Kafka, Kafka Streams, Confluent Platform, ClickHouse, Tinybird, Snowflake, and broader big data frameworks.
• Cloud Platforms: Proficiency in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and associated big data services.
• Data Governance: Strong background in data governance, security, and regulatory compliance.
• Communication: Outstanding communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Leadership: A leadership mindset with a demonstrated ability to mentor teams and drive consensus.
• Education: A Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field is preferred.
• Bonus: Industry recognition or notable open-source contributions in data engineering is a plus.