Principal Engineer

ABOUT THE ROLE The AI Whistleblower Initiative is a pioneering independent non‑profit dedicated to protecting insiders at frontier AI companies who wish to raise concerns safely and effectively. As a Principal Engineer, you will be at the forefront of building and scaling a secure, privacy‑first platform that connects whistleblowers with a network of lawyers, AI researchers, and advocacy partners. Your work will directly influence how the industry addresses ethical and safety issues, ensuring that critical insights reach the right stakeholders without compromising the whistleblower’s safety or the integrity of the data. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Design and lead the architecture of a highly secure, scalable whistleblowing platform that supports encrypted communications, anonymous submissions, and robust audit trails. - Collaborate with cross‑functional teams—including product, legal, data science, and community outreach—to translate complex ethical requirements into technical solutions. - Drive the implementation of advanced privacy‑preserving technologies such as differential privacy, secure multi‑party computation, and zero‑knowledge proofs to protect sensitive information. - Mentor a small engineering squad, fostering a culture of code quality, continuous integration, and rapid iteration. - Conduct threat modeling and vulnerability assessments, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations (GDPR, CCPA, and emerging AI governance standards). - Champion the integration of AI‑driven analytics to surface patterns in whistleblower reports while safeguarding individual anonymity. WHAT YOU'LL NEED - 10+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in a senior or principal role leading complex, mission‑critical systems. - Deep expertise in backend languages (Go, Rust, or Java) and distributed systems, with a proven track record of building secure, high‑availability services at scale. - Hands‑on experience with cryptographic protocols, secure data storage, and privacy‑enhancing technologies. - Strong understanding of regulatory frameworks around data protection and whistleblower protection, and the ability to translate them into engineering controls. - Excellent problem‑solving skills, a collaborative mindset, and the ability to communicate technical concepts to non‑technical stakeholders. - A passion for social impact and a commitment to advancing ethical AI practices. WHY REMOTE The AI Whistleblower Initiative operates on a fully distributed, asynchronous model that empowers team members to work from anywhere while maintaining high productivity and collaboration. Our culture prioritises trust, flexibility, and work‑life balance, allowing you to set your own schedule around core synchronous windows for cross‑team alignment. Remote work also expands our talent pool, enabling us to attract world‑class engineers who share our mission, regardless of geography. BENEFITS Competitive health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents. Generous paid time off, including mental‑health days, and a flexible paid parental leave policy. A remote stipend to support home‑office setup and a yearly learning budget for conferences, courses, or certifications. Access to a comprehensive wellness program, including virtual fitness classes and mental‑health resources. A supportive, inclusive environment that values innovation, integrity, and the pursuit of a safer AI future.