Principal Engineer, API & MCP Platform

Principal Engineer, API & MCP Platform

This is a hands‑on, senior technical leadership role responsible for defining and delivering API‑first platform capabilities that enable both developers and AI agents to interact with Babel Street’s services. You will lead the design and implementation of semantic APIs, Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations, and context‑aware service patterns that power next‑generation intelligence workflows.

You will partner closely with AI, Data, and Platform teams to ensure Babel Street’s APIs and services are consistent, discoverable, scalable, and optimized for agentic workflows, while working in partnership with the Architecture function to align on long‑term technical direction.

This is a hybrid role based in Reston, VA or Somerville, MA, with full remote considerations.

It will be instrumental to Babel Street’s AI‑native technology strategy. The API and MCP platform will serve as the interface layer between data, AI, and product capabilities, enabling agents, developers, and systems to interact seamlessly. This is a high‑impact senior technical leadership role with broad influence and the opportunity to shape the future of the platform.

• Partner closely with Architecture to define and lead the API and MCP platform strategy
• Design and deliver semantic, agent‑ready APIs
• Establish MCP standards and implementation patterns
• Define context management patterns for agent workflows
• Partner with AI and Data teams to enable agent‑native architectures
• Establish API governance and platform standards
• Build foundational frameworks and reusable components
• Provide hands‑on technical leadership and mentorship
• Partner with Google and other vendors on platform capabilities
• Drive adoption of API and MCP standards across engineering teams

• 10+ years of software engineering experience
• Experience operating at Principal Engineer or Staff+ level
• Strong hands‑on experience building distributed systems
• Experience designing and building API‑first platforms
• Experience with cloud‑native architectures (GCP preferred)
• Experience building developer platforms or service‑oriented architectures
• Strong system design and architectural thinking skills
• Proven ability to lead cross‑team technical initiatives

• Hands‑on work with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Familiarity with Vertex AI Agent Engine
• Background in ADK and reasoning frameworks such as Lang Chain
• Understanding of the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• Exposure to data warehouse technologies like Big Query and Snowflake
• Knowledge of Apigee or similar API gateway solutions
• Proven ability to design semantic APIs for AI or agent‑driven use cases
• Experience managing context or building memory systems
• Development of agent‑based architectures or orchestration frameworks
• Exposure to Anti‑Gravity

30 Days

• Assess current API and platform architecture
• Define API and MCP platform strategy
• Identify early opportunities for standardization

60 Days

• Deliver initial platform frameworks and standards
• Begin rollout of semantic API patterns
• Establish MCP integration approach

90 Days

• Agent‑ready APIs in production
• MCP‑enabled services deployed
• Clear platform standards adopted across teams
• Measurable improvement in API consistency and developer velocity

$220,000 - $250,000 a year