Sr. Principal Backend Engineer - Data Team - Roon

A Career at HARMAN

As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move, HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation, inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together, you’ll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do every day.

About the Role

At Harman International, we are leading the charge in revolutionizing music metadata management and discovery. As a Backend Engineer in our Data Team, you will be at the forefront of building scalable, cutting-edge solutions that power our world-class music metadata services. We are seeking experienced developers with a passion for working with data and backend technologies to drive our continued growth and solidify our position as a global leader in music data.

In this role, you will work with the team to design and maintain core catalog ingestion and processing services, develop machine learning models for personalized recommendation systems, and create search functionality that spans the entirety of released music globally. Your work will ensure users can seamlessly discover the music they love by driving backend services that deliver high-quality, accurate data to our product teams reliably. You will collaborate closely with your colleagues in the Data Team and the broader Harman Software Experiences organization, contributing to the development and deployment of data-driven features that enhance the user experience.

What You Will Do

• Technical Leadership and Mentorship: As a senior member of the team, you’ll provide mentorship and guidance to team members, fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and excellence. You’ll set best practices and raise the bar for the quality of code, design, and overall development processes across the team.
• Strategic Decision-Making: Drive critical technology decisions, assessing and implementing data storage, processing, and delivery solutions, ensuring they align with the company’s goals for scalability, performance, and reliability.
• Architecting Data Solutions: Design and lead the implementation of complex data architectures to support scalable ingestion, processing, and delivery of music metadata.
• Technical Versatility - Tackle a wide range of data engineering challenges, including:
  • Data Ingestion and Processing: Architect, build, and optimize core catalog data ingestion pipelines, utilizing cloud infrastructure to handle large-scale datasets with reliability and efficiency.
  • Machine Learning Integration: Collaborate on machine learning processes to power personalized recommendation systems. Optimize ML workflows and ensure they integrate seamlessly with broader data systems.
  • Global Music Search: Develop and enhance a search infrastructure capable of indexing all released music globally. Ensuring low-latency, high-accuracy search capabilities that give users access to comprehensive music content across multiple sources.
• Full Lifecycle Development: Lead the design, development, deployment, and operation of data-driven services, delivering high-impact music experiences. Take ownership of the entire lifecycle, from conception to monitoring and maintenance, ensuring that features are resilient, performant, and scalable.
• Domain Knowledge Application: Acquire and leverage a deep understanding of musical content, genres, and metadata to enrich user-facing features and improve the overall data experience within our product ecosystem.
• Ensure Data Quality and Reliability: Champion the quality and reliability of user-facing data. Establish processes and metrics to continuously monitor and improve data accuracy, consistency, and performance across our services.
• Drive Innovation: Bring fresh ideas and drive continuous improvement within the team. Encourage experimentation and champion new approaches that can push the boundaries of our music metadata services.

What You Need

• Extensive Experience: 15+ years of experience in backend engineering, with a focus on data engineering, machine learning, or related fields. You should have a proven record of building and scaling data-driven applications.
• Expertise in Data Architecture: Extensive experience in data architecture, including data storage, processing, and delivery. Ability to see the big picture and make informed technology decisions that support long-term growth and scalability.
• Modern Infrastructure Mastery: Hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and major cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP). You should be comfortable with containerized deployments and orchestrating large-scale, distributed applications.
• Advanced Programming Skills: Proficiency in C# and Python, with the ability to write efficient, clean, and maintainable code. Deep understanding of system design and architecture for building large-scale applications.
• Unix and Database Proficiency: Strong command of Unix-based environments and databases. Familiarity with optimizing database interactions and managing data in both batch and real-time environments.
• Networking Knowledge: Practical understanding of networking fundamentals and protocols, with the ability to design efficient communication pathways within distributed systems.
• Engineering Best Practices: Commitment to sound engineering practices, including rigorous testing, performance optimization, resource management, and concurrency handling.
• Reliability and Performance Excellence: Demonstrated experience in maintaining high-performance, reliable services in production environments. You should be skilled at monitoring, debugging, and optimizing large systems to meet high availability standards.
• Mentorship and Team Development: Proven track record of mentoring less-experienced team members, guiding them in technical and professional growth, and helping to foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment.
• Innovative Mindset and Passion for Music: You are a creative problem-solver, eager to bring new ideas and a passion for music to the team. You understand the music industry landscape and are motivated to shape innovative solutions that elevate the user experience.

What is Nice to Have

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related STEM field.
• Experience working with collaborative filtering, vector similarity, and personalized content delivery.
• Experience in a Virtual or Remote work environment in any US time zone.
• A passion for delivering top-notch audio experiences to users and an interest in the audio technology domain.

What Makes You Eligible

• Be willing to travel up to 5%, domestically and internationally.  
• Be willing to work Virtual or Remote in any US time zone.
• Successfully complete a background investigation and drug screen as a condition of employment.

What We Offer

• Competitive wellness benefits and 401K Retirement Savings plan.
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages career development opportunities.
• Flexible work schedule with a culture encouraging work-life integration and collaboration in a global environment.
• Professional development opportunities through HARMAN University’s business and leadership academies and extensive course catalog.
• Tuition Reimbursement.
• Access to employee discounts on world-class HARMAN products (JBL, Harman/Kardon, etc.).
• “Be Brilliant” employee recognition and rewards program.

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HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.