Principal Python Engineer
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Before you apply
LocationBerlin, Berlin, Germany
SeniorityLead
Experience8+ yrs
EquityIncluded
Company size4+ people
PostedJan 27, 2026 · 9mo ago
Verified live1d ago
May no longer be actively hiring
Posted by the company on Jan 27, 2026
At a glanceSummarised by Seekless from the posting.
8+ years of software engineering experience, with clear ownership of critical systems or developer-facing platforms
Mastery of Python, including async patterns, packaging, typing, performance optimization, and SDK design best practices
Proven experience building and maintaining widely-used SDKs, libraries, or developer platforms
Strong intuition for how SDKs interact with distributed backends, databases, and cloud infrastructure
Experience with LLMs, vector databases, graph systems, or data-intensive applications
Comfortable making high-impact architectural decisions and mentoring senior engineers without heavy management overhead
Prior experience maintaining or leading open-source projects used by external developers
Experience with agent frameworks, vector search, or graph databases
Background in developer tools, infra, or platform engineering
Strong opinions about API ergonomics and DX (and the ability to defend them)
Experience scaling open-source projects with large external contributor bases
Skills
Python
LLMs
vector databases
graph systems
agent frameworks
vector search
graph databases
developer tools
infra
platform engineering
SDKs
async patterns
packaging
typing
performance optimization
SDK design best practices
API ergonomics
DX
open source
testing
versioning
backwards compatibility
documentation
release processes
vector stores
graphs
memory lifecycle
Benefits
Top of market compensation
Equity
Ownership over core product surface
Direct access to founders
High autonomy
Low bureaucracy
High trust
About the company
Cognee is building the memory engine + data plane for AI agents to plan, reason, and act. Our open-source Python SDK is in production at 70+ companies, hit GitHub Trending, and runs 550,000+ times per month. We’ve won early customers (including top-10 Pharma) and recently raised a large Seed.
About the role
We are looking for a Principal Engineer / Lead for the Python SDK to own the technical vision, architecture, and execution of Cognee’s primary developer interface. This role is critical: the Python SDK is the product for most users. You will set the standard for SDK quality, ergonomics, performance, and long-term maintainability, while working closely with platform, infra, and product teams to ensure Cognee feels world-class for developers.
What You Will Build
SDK Architecture & Technical Vision Define and own the long-term architecture of the Cognee Python SDK, ensuring clarity, extensibility, and stability as usage scales.
Developer Experience at Scale Design APIs that feel intuitive, composable, and hard to misuse—serving both early-stage startups and large enterprises.
Performance & Reliability Optimize SDK performance for high-throughput workloads, large memory graphs, and production AI agent systems.
API & Abstraction Design Decide what belongs in the SDK vs the platform. Build clean abstractions over complex systems (vector stores, graphs, memory lifecycle).
Open-Source Leadership Act as the technical steward of the open-source SDK: reviews, RFCs, contribution guidelines, and community standards.
Cross-Team Technical Leadership Work closely with platform, infra, and DevRel to ensure the SDK cleanly integrates with control plane, databases, and deployment models.
Quality & Engineering Excellence Establish best practices around testing, versioning, backwards compatibility, documentation, and release processes.
Requirements
Principal-Level Engineering Experience 8+ years of software engineering experience, with clear ownership of critical systems or developer-facing platforms.
Deep Python Expertise Mastery of Python, including async patterns, packaging, typing, performance optimization, and SDK design best practices.
SDK / API Design Track Record Proven experience building and maintaining widely-used SDKs, libraries, or developer platforms.
Distributed Systems Understanding Strong intuition for how SDKs interact with distributed backends, databases, and cloud infrastructure.
AI / Data Systems Familiarity Experience with LLMs, vector databases, graph systems, or data-intensive applications. Technical Leadership Comfortable making high-impact architectural decisions and mentoring senior engineers without heavy management overhead.
Open-Source Experience Prior experience maintaining or leading open-source projects used by external developers. Nice to Have Experience with agent frameworks, vector search, or graph databases Background in developer tools, infra, or platform engineering
Strong opinions about API ergonomics and DX (and the ability to defend them) Experience scaling open-source projects with large external contributor bases
Benefits
Top-of-market compensation + meaningful equity
Ownership over a core, business-critical product surface
Direct access to founders and real influence on product direction High autonomy, low bureaucracy, high trust
Opportunity to define the de facto memory SDK for AI agents
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