Principal Systems Engineer (C++) - AI Infrastructure

Principal Systems Engineer (C++) — AI Infrastructure About The Role What if your C++ skills could directly influence the infrastructure powering the world's most advanced AI systems? We're looking for a Principal Systems Engineer to design and build the high-performance pipelines, tooling, and evaluation systems that leading AI labs depend on to train and ship next-generation models. This is a fully remote contract role working on real production systems at the frontier of AI development. If you thrive on complex technical problems, care deeply about performance and reliability, and want your work to matter — this is the role for you. Organization: AlignerrType: Hourly ContractLocation: RemoteCommitment: 20–40 hours/week What You'll Do Design, build, and optimize high-performance C++ systems supporting large-scale AI data pipelines and evaluation workflowsDevelop full-stack tooling and backend services for data annotation, validation, and quality control at scaleImprove reliability, performance, and memory safety across production C++ codebasesCollaborate closely with data, research, and engineering teams to support model training and evaluation infrastructureIdentify bottlenecks and edge cases in system and data behavior — then implement scalable, lasting fixesParticipate in synchronous design reviews to iterate on architecture and implementation decisions with sharp, experienced teammates Who You Are Native or fluent English speaker with clear written and verbal communication skillsFull-stack developer with a strong systems programming background5+ years of professional experience writing production C++ for large-scale systemsDeep knowledge of build system architecture and package management strategiesExperienced designing reliable systems with rigorous error handling and memory sanitizersComfortable committing 20–40 hours per week to a focused, high-output contract engagement Nice to Have Prior experience with data annotation, data quality pipelines, or AI evaluation systemsFamiliarity with AI/ML workflows, model training, or benchmarking infrastructureExperience with distributed systems or developer tooling Why Join Us Work directly with leading AI labs on production systems that power frontier model developmentFully remote and flexible — work from wherever you do your best thinkingFreelance autonomy with the structure and direction of high-impact, task-based engineering workCollaborate with top-tier engineers and researchers on problems that genuinely matterPotential for ongoing work and contract extension as new projects launch