Build the System Behind the Grab SuperApp
We are a SuperApp operating at massive scale across transport, food, commerce, ads, merchant platforms, and enterprise services. Within this ecosystem, BECO (Business Ecosystem) powers the foundational platforms that connect merchants, consumers, ads, transactions, search, and intelligence.
We are now entering our next phase:
Embedding G/AI into the engineering nervous system
Raising reliability to utility-grade standards
Unifying siloed platforms into a cohesive ecosystem
Accelerating new businesses with AI-native architecture
To do this, we are hiring a Senior Principal Engineer — a rare, high-leverage individual contributor who will shape the technical trajectory of a 300+ engineer organisation. This role reports directly to the Head of BECO.
Why This Role Is Special
Most Principal roles influence a team. Some influence a domain. This role influences an entire engineering organisation. You will operate across five major departments spanning: 1). Merchant platforms, 2). Search & personalisation, 3). Ads & monetisation, 4). Transaction systems, 5). Enterprise capabilities
You are not here to own a microservice. You are here to evolve the system.
The Mission
1. Turn AI Into Engineering Leverage
We are moving beyond “AI demos.” You will help architect and scale:
AI-assisted development workflows
Agentic operational automation
Reliability guardrails powered by AI
Safe, test-backed automation systems
The goal is measurable improvement in:
Engineering velocity
Code quality
Operational efficiency
You will shape how AI becomes embedded into how engineers work — not as a tool, but as infrastructure.
2. Build Reliability That Feels Invisible
We believe reliability should feel like running water — always there, never noticed. You will:
Raise prevention standards across critical systems
Institutionalise chaos engineering as discipline
Strengthen detection and recovery mechanisms
Reduce incident impact structurally, not reactively
This is about engineering maturity at scale.
3. Break Platform Silos
Search, Ads, Promo, Transactions, Data — today these evolve in parallel. We are building a unified ecosystem where:
Ranking frameworks converge
User understanding powers multiple surfaces
Data infrastructure reduces cost and instability
Shared capabilities unlock new business models
You will design the connective tissue that makes platformisation real.
4. Architect for Pattern-Breaking Growth
We are launching new businesses in e-commerce, AI agents, conversational transactions, and gamified engagement experiences. The challenge: Move fast without creating tomorrow’s technical debt. You will:
Design clean 0→1 foundations
Define execution models optimised for velocity
Enable AI-native product experiences
Balance exploration with ecosystem coherence