Roles · ML Engineer · Principal

What a Principal } should know

24 core skills, 55 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.

This page lists what a Principal } is expected to know and do, skill by skill. Core skills are the ones a manager and peers assess in a review cycle; the rest count only in self-assessment. Main areas: Programming Fundamentals, Backend Development, API & Integration.

24core skills
31additional skills
8skill areas
100%at Advanced or Expert
Assess myself as Principal Full role matrix

Core skills for a Principal

Grouped by area. The label on the right is the expected depth: Awareness, Working, Advanced or Expert.

Programming Fundamentals · 4

Defines algorithmic strategy for ML platform. Researches novel algorithms for specific ML tasks. Publishes optimization results at conferences.

Defines code quality strategy for ML organization. Creates ML-specific coding standards. Introduces industry best practices.

Designs data abstractions at ML platform level. Researches novel data structures for ML tasks (LSH, HNSW indexes). Establishes standards for the entire organization.

Defines ML platform architectural strategy. Designs ML platform API with extensibility in mind. Influences open-source ML frameworks.

Backend Development · 1

Defines ML API strategy at platform level. Designs API architecture for ML platform. Evaluates REST vs gRPC vs streaming for ML serving.

API & Integration · 1

Defines ML API strategy for the platform. Evaluates REST vs gRPC vs streaming for ML. Designs API architecture for enterprise ML serving.

Cloud & Infrastructure · 2

Docker Expert

Defines containerization strategy for enterprise ML. Evaluates container runtimes for ML workloads. Designs container orchestration for ML platform.

Defines infrastructure strategy for enterprise ML. Evaluates managed Kubernetes vs self-managed for ML. Designs multi-cluster ML architecture.

Testing & QA · 1

Unit Testing Expert

Defines ML testing strategy for enterprise. Designs ML quality assurance framework. Evaluates ML testing tools.

Data Engineering · 4

Apache Spark Expert

Defines distributed processing strategy for enterprise ML. Designs data processing layer for ML platform. Evaluates novel distributed frameworks.

Data Quality Expert

Defines enterprise data quality strategy for ML. Designs data governance for ML platform. Evaluates data quality tools and frameworks.

Defines data processing strategy for ML platform. Evaluates novel data processing frameworks. Designs unified data API for ML.

SQL-based ETL Expert

Defines data pipeline strategy for ML platform. Evaluates ETL vs ELT vs streaming for ML. Designs data architecture for enterprise ML.

Machine Learning & AI · 9

Defines ML modeling strategy for the organization. Evaluates novel classical ML approaches. Establishes best practices for production ML systems.

Defines experimentation strategy for enterprise. Designs experiment platform. Evaluates novel experimentation approaches.

Defines feature engineering strategy for enterprise. Designs feature platform. Evaluates novel approaches to feature management.

Defines tabular ML strategy for the organization. Researches novel gradient boosting approaches. Publishes results at conferences.

ML Pipelines Expert

Defines ML pipeline platform strategy. Evaluates pipeline orchestrators. Designs enterprise ML pipeline architecture.

MLflow Expert

Defines ML platform strategy. Designs enterprise experiment tracking. Evaluates and integrates ML lifecycle tools.

Defines model observability strategy for enterprise. Designs ML observability platform. Evaluates monitoring technologies.

Model Serving Expert

Defines enterprise model serving strategy. Evaluates serving technologies. Designs multi-model serving platform.

PyTorch Expert

Defines deep learning strategy for enterprise. Researches novel architectures. Optimizes GPU infrastructure costs. Publishes results.

Version Control & Collaboration · 2

Code Review Expert

Defines code review culture for ML organization. Conducts cross-team architecture reviews. Establishes review standards.

Git Advanced Expert

Defines version control strategy for enterprise ML. Designs repository architecture for ML platform. Evaluates tools for ML version control.

Additional skills

Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.

API DocumentationAsync ProgrammingAWSData Modeling & Schema DesignDesign PatternsE2E TestingGitHub Actions / GitLab CIGraphQL DesignIntegration TestingJWT / OAuth2 / OIDCMemory ManagementMultithreadingNetwork FundamentalsOpenTelemetryOWASP & Application SecurityPostgreSQLSecure Coding PracticesSLI / SLO / SLASystem Design FundamentalsTerraformType Safety & Type SystemsWebSocket API DesignApache KafkaChatGPT / ClaudeDatabase IndexingGitHub CopilotgRPC & Protocol BuffersPrompt Engineering for CodeQuery OptimizationRedisTask Queues
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} in the open competency matrix: 55 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.