Staff Data and AI Platform Engineer

The Staff Data and AI Platform Engineer at Workiva serves as the technical authority for the Enterprise data platform. You'll own design, reliability, security, and cost efficiency of account-level infrastructure (warehouses, RBAC, replication, governance, platform standards) while enabling domain teams to build and operate dbt Mesh projects safely at scale. You'll set technical direction, translate ambiguous challenges into clear standards and architectural decisions, and raise the engineering bar across data and analytics.

You'll proactively evaluate emerging technologies (including AI/ML data substrate integration), shape the multi-year data platform roadmap, and drive buy/build/adopt decisions with leadership. Key partnerships include GRC on FedRAMP and data-boundary controls, Atlan for enterprise cataloging, and AI/ML platform teams on AI application foundations. You'll align stakeholders across Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, Data Science, ML Platform, AI Product, BI, Security, Data Ops, and business partners—influencing technical direction without direct authority.

Reports to: Sr Director of Enterprise Data Platform (Data & Analytics function under CIO)

What You'll Do

Platform Strategy & Technical Leadership

• Define multi-year data platform architecture vision and roadmap; present tradeoffs and sequencing to DnA and engineering leadership
• Serve as technical decision-maker for platform-wide architectural choices: buy/build/adopt, technology evaluation, and cross-domain standard-setting
• Evaluate and pilot emerging data platform technologies; run POCs and develop architectural recommendations
• Drive alignment across Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, AI/ML Platform, Security, and Data Ops
• Mentor data and analytics engineers; define engineering standards, review designs/PRs, and grow platform competency

Platform Engineering & Operations

* Define and maintain Snowflake platform standards: namin