Design and build scalable platforms for data ingestion and storage, collaborate with hardware engineers, and define engineering processes at Sift.
ABOUT US:
At Sift, we’re accelerating the development of next-generation machines with the world’s first end-to-end telemetry stack — and we’re expanding our team.
Sift’s founders started this company in order to enable private and government entities to make big, technological strides. Our focus is centered on creating a better world for tomorrow, and we’re making an impact with our highly specialized expertise.
By joining us, you’ll help shape future-focused data infrastructure that will power spacecraft, satellite constellations, renewable energy, autonomous transportation, and more.
Sift is currently looking for team members who are passionate about solving complex engineering problems and building a fast-growing startup.
OUR TEAM:
The Sift team includes top senior engineers and operators, with past experience at SpaceX, Google, Palantir, and Amazon. We believe that the best software is written by those close to the source of the problem. One of our founders, Karthik Gollapudi, was a Dragon flight software lead responsible for two Dragon missions to the ISS. His team used SpaceX’s end-to-end data platform before, during, and after every Dragon mission. Our other co-founder, Austin Spiegel, was a lead on Starlink’s tools team, responsible for the platform that collected data from over 2,000 Starlink satellites for exploration and data review.
OUR CUSTOMERS:
Backed by the best investors in the sector, Sift is positioned at the forefront of machine innovation, with customers who are pushing the boundaries of exploration on earth and in space. We’re providing scalable infrastructure and no-code visualization tools to companies across aerospace, aviation, defense, energy, and transportation sectors.
ABOUT THE ROLE:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, engineering, math, physics, or STEM discipline
- 7+ years of experience in software engineering or data engineering
- Experience working with in-stream data processing and analytics using Apache Kafka, Flink, Beam, or similar
- Experience with relational and non-relational databases, e.g. PostgreSQL, Druid, Pinot, Timescale, or similar
- Experience with data exploration tools like Grafana, Jupyter Notebooks, Metabase, PowerBI, or similar
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Design and build a horizontally scalable platform for ingesting millions of data points from hardware sensors per second and a robust and durable database solution for storing, reading, and analyzing those points
- Work closely with customers, including hardware engineers, to understand their problems and find efficient solutions
- Help define engineering culture, standards, and processes
- Experience designing and building large-scale, distributed systems or web applications using Go, Python, or an equivalent language
LOCATION:
The Sift team is based in Los Angeles (El Segundo). We collaborate in person two times per week, Monday and Thursday. We work closely with hardware companies, many of which are based in LA, building everything from autonomous vehicles to spacecraft. As a customer-centric company, being nearby for site visits and collaboration is essential.
BENEFITS:
- New hire stock equity
- Hybrid workplace
- Free lunch, snacks, & coffee
- Top-tier health insurance: Medical, Vision, Dental
Similar Jobs
Artificial Intelligence • Fintech • Software
Lead design and evolution of FloQast's core data platform and lakehouse, owning event streaming, batch and streaming ETL, storage, governance, and compute architecture (Spark). Define standards, mentor engineers, collaborate cross-functionally, and ensure scalable, secure, production-grade data infrastructure for product and analytics.
Top Skills:
AirflowAmazon AthenaAmazon S3Apache IcebergSparkAws GlueDbtKafkaMskMwaaPysparkScalaSnowflakeStructured StreamingTrino
Hardware • Information Technology • Semiconductor • Manufacturing
Lead design, development, and production deployment of advanced AI/ML and Generative AI solutions for engineering and manufacturing. Build scalable data pipelines, model training and inference systems, MLOps (CI/CD, monitoring, drift detection), and evaluation frameworks. Integrate semiconductor/NAND domain knowledge, collaborate cross-functionally, and mentor engineers and data scientists to operationalize models and deliver measurable business impact.
Top Skills:
Azure MlCi/CdDatabricksGenerative AiKubeflowLlmsMlflowMlopsPythonPyTorchRagScikit-LearnSparkTensorFlow
AdTech • Artificial Intelligence • Gaming • Machine Learning • Software • Virtual Reality • Metaverse
Design, build, and operate large-scale offline data infrastructure and pipelines for ML training and experimentation. Improve reproducibility, observability, performance, and cost-efficiency across batch and streaming workloads while integrating orchestration systems and partnering with ML engineers.
Top Skills:
AirflowData LakeData WarehouseFlinkFlytePythonRaySparkStreaming Platforms
What you need to know about the Los Angeles Tech Scene
Los Angeles is a global leader in entertainment, so it’s no surprise that many of the biggest players in streaming, digital media and game development call the city home. But the city boasts plenty of non-entertainment innovation as well, with tech companies spanning verticals like AI, fintech, e-commerce and biotech. With major universities like Caltech, UCLA, USC and the nearby UC Irvine, the city has a steady supply of top-flight tech and engineering talent — not counting the graduates flocking to Los Angeles from across the world to enjoy its beaches, culture and year-round temperate climate.
Key Facts About Los Angeles Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 375,800; 5.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Snap, Netflix, SpaceX, Disney, Google
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, adtech, media, software, game development
- Funding Landscape: $11.6 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Strong Ventures, Fifth Wall, Upfront Ventures, Mucker Capital, Kittyhawk Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: California Institute of Technology, UCLA, University of Southern California, UC Irvine, Pepperdine, California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, Center for Quantum Science and Engineering
