Scale Engineer

Senior Software Engineer - Database Engineering

Senior Software Engineer · Senior · Full Time

US-CA-Menlo ParkUSD 200k – 288k1mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

Senior Software Engineer on Snowflake's Database Engineering team responsible for designing, developing, and supporting a distributed cloud control plane system that powers the next generation of the Snowflake Data Cloud. This role combines deep expertise in distributed systems, database technologies, and cloud architecture with leadership responsibilities mentoring junior engineers on building large-scale, high-performance data processing systems serving the world's largest enterprises.

Responsibilities

  • Distributed Cloud Control Plane Design & Development: Design, develop, and maintain a highly scalable and reliable distributed cloud control plane system that orchestrates Snowflake's infrastructure across multiple cloud regions. This includes architecting the control flow, resource allocation mechanisms, and coordination protocols that handle billions of queries and massive data volumes while ensuring fault tolerance and seamless failover capabilities.
  • Next-Generation Service Architecture Implementation: Lead the development and implementation of the new service architecture required to enable the next generation of the Snowflake Data Cloud. This involves evaluating architectural patterns, making technology decisions, and building microservices that improve scalability, maintainability, and enable new product capabilities for enterprise customers.
  • Performance & Scalability Optimization: Analyze, identify, and resolve complex performance and scalability bottlenecks within the distributed system. Use profiling tools, metrics analysis, and load testing to discover optimization opportunities, then implement and validate fixes that improve system throughput, latency, and resource efficiency at scale.
  • End-to-End Project Delivery: Own the complete lifecycle of assigned projects from initial requirements analysis through production deployment. This encompasses problem scoping, architectural design, implementation, comprehensive testing strategies, code review, rollout planning, and post-deployment monitoring to ensure customer commitments are met.
  • Production Operations & Reliability: Ensure operational readiness of database services and execute production operations while maintaining Snowflake's commitments for durability, availability, and performance. This includes on-call rotations, incident response, root cause analysis, and implementing preventative measures to reduce production issues.
  • High-Reliability Software Development: Build high-quality, production-grade software that meets stringent reliability requirements demanded by the world's largest enterprises. This includes implementing rigorous testing practices, writing maintainable code, following security best practices, and ensuring system resilience under extreme conditions and edge cases.
  • Observability & Monitoring Tool Development: Develop and implement observability tools, dashboards, and monitoring systems that provide deep insights into system behavior, performance characteristics, and anomalies. These tools enable faster troubleshooting, proactive issue detection, and data-driven optimization decisions for the platform.
  • Technical Mentorship & Team Development: Mentor and support the professional growth of junior and mid-level engineers on the Database Engineering team. Provide technical guidance through code reviews, design discussions, and pair programming sessions. Help develop team members' skills in distributed systems, database technologies, and software engineering best practices.
  • AI-Assisted Development Collaboration: Leverage AI agents and tools as high-trust collaborators in the development process. Review both human and AI-generated code, participate in cross-team collaborations, and balance rapid experimentation with quality assurance to accelerate delivery of new features and improvements.

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Distributed Systems Expertise

    Deep understanding of distributed systems concepts including consensus algorithms, consistency models (strong, eventual), failure recovery mechanisms, replication strategies, and distributed tracing. Hands-on experience designing systems that maintain correctness and availability across multiple nodes and regions.

  • Java Programming Proficiency

    Strong command of Java programming language with expertise in building scalable, concurrent systems. Deep knowledge of Java concurrency primitives, memory management, garbage collection tuning, and performance optimization techniques essential for high-throughput database systems.

  • Cloud Architecture & Infrastructure

    Solid understanding of cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) including networking, storage, compute services, and multi-cloud deployment strategies. Experience designing systems that leverage cloud-native services while managing costs and performance across regions.

  • Database Systems Knowledge

    Fundamental understanding of database system internals including query optimization, transaction management, index structures, query execution engines, and storage layer architecture. Knowledge of SQL and relational database concepts is essential.

  • Software Architecture & Design Patterns

    Expertise in designing scalable microservices architectures, implementing design patterns appropriate for distributed systems, and making technology trade-offs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. Experience with event-driven architectures and asynchronous processing.

  • System Debugging & Performance Analysis

    Advanced skills in debugging complex systems in production environments using profilers, log analysis tools, and distributed tracing systems. Ability to identify performance bottlenecks, analyze system metrics, and implement targeted optimizations.

Education

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related Field

    Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or closely related discipline. Strong foundation in computer science fundamentals including data structures, algorithms, operating systems, and networking.

Experience

  • Commercial Software Development (6+ years)

    Minimum 6 years of professional experience developing commercial software in production environments. This should include substantial work on system design, implementation, deployment, and operational support for large-scale systems serving significant user bases.

  • Distributed Systems Implementation

    Proven experience designing and implementing distributed systems at scale. This should include work on systems that handle high throughput, low latency requirements, and complex consistency challenges. Experience with distributed consensus algorithms and multi-node coordination is valuable.

  • Database or Infrastructure Systems Experience

    Background working on database systems, control plane systems, or infrastructure management platforms. Understanding of how databases operate at scale, query processing pipelines, and the operational requirements of managing data systems in production.

  • AI-Assisted Development & Collaboration

    Experience working with AI tools and agents in software development workflows. Comfort reviewing and collaborating on both human and AI-generated code. Understanding of how to leverage AI for productivity while maintaining code quality and safety standards.

Skills

Required

  • Java

    Production-grade Java development with deep expertise in concurrency, memory management, and performance optimization for distributed systems.

  • Distributed Systems

    Strong grasp of distributed systems concepts including consistency models, failure recovery, replication, and coordination mechanisms.

  • System Design

    Ability to design large-scale, distributed systems that are scalable, reliable, and maintainable.

  • Problem-Solving

    Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to break down complex technical challenges and implement robust solutions.

  • Cloud Platforms

    Experience with one or more major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) for designing and deploying distributed applications.

  • Database Concepts

    Fundamental understanding of database systems including SQL, query optimization, transaction management, and storage architecture.

Preferred

  • SQL & Database Control Plane Technologies

    Nice to have

    Experience with SQL optimization, query planning, and internal design/implementation of database control plane systems that manage metadata, resource allocation, and query coordination.

  • Distributed Key-Value Stores

    Nice to have

    Hands-on experience deploying, managing, and scaling distributed key-value stores such as FoundationDB across multiple cloud regions with focus on reliability and performance.

  • Multi-Cloud Architecture

    Nice to have

    Experience designing and operating systems across multiple cloud providers with consideration for cost optimization, latency, and redundancy.

  • AI/ML Integration

    Nice to have

    Experience integrating AI agents and machine learning models into development workflows and using AI tools for accelerated development cycles.

  • Kubernetes & Container Orchestration

    Nice to have

    Proficiency with Kubernetes, container orchestration, and infrastructure-as-code tools for managing distributed deployments.

  • Performance Profiling & Optimization

    Nice to have

    Advanced skills in profiling tools, flame graphs, distributed tracing (OpenTelemetry, Jaeger), and performance tuning for high-throughput systems.

  • Mentoring & Technical Leadership

    Nice to have

    Track record of mentoring engineers, leading technical initiatives, and influencing architectural decisions across teams.

Tech stack

Languages

JavaSQLPython

Frameworks

Spring Boot / Spring CloudProject Reactor / RxJavagRPC

Databases

FoundationDBSnowflakeApache Iceberg / Delta Lake

Tools

KubernetesPrometheus / GrafanaJaeger / OpenTelemetryGit / GitHubTerraform / Infrastructure as CodeApache Kafka

Other

Distributed Tracing & ObservabilityCI/CD PipelinesAI-Assisted Development ToolsProduction Incident Management

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·USD 200,000 – 287,500

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Health Insurance

    Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents with multiple plan options and competitive employer cost-sharing.

  • Retirement Planning

    401(k) retirement plan with employer matching contributions to help employees build long-term financial security.

  • Equity & Stock Options

    Competitive equity packages providing ownership stake in Snowflake's success as a high-growth publicly traded company, allowing participation in company value creation.

  • Professional Development

    Learning and development programs, including conference attendance, technical training, certifications, and educational reimbursement to support career growth.

  • Flexible Work Arrangements

    Flexible working hours and remote work options supporting work-life balance and enabling productivity from preferred work environments.

  • Paid Time Off

    Generous vacation days, sick leave, and company holidays allowing adequate time for rest, personal matters, and family commitments.

  • Mental Health & Wellness

    Employee Assistance Program (EAP), mental health resources, wellness programs, gym subsidies, and preventative health initiatives supporting overall wellbeing.

  • Parental Leave

    Paid parental leave policies for birth, adoption, and bonding supporting employees during major life transitions.

  • Commuter Benefits

    Pre-tax commuter benefits and transit subsidies for employees commuting to Snowflake's offices in Bozeman, Denver, San Francisco, and other locations.

  • Performance Bonuses

    Variable compensation based on individual and company performance, providing additional earning potential tied to business results and personal contributions.

Full posting

Original listing.

At Snowflake, we are powering the era of the agentic enterprise. To usher in this new era, we seek AI-native thinkers across every function who are energized by the opportunity to reinvent how they work. You don’t just use tools; you possess an innate curiosity, treating AI as a high-trust collaborator that is core to how you solve problems and accelerate your impact. We look for low-ego individuals who thrive in dynamic and fast-moving environments and move with an experimental mindset — who rapidly test emerging capabilities to discover simpler, more powerful ways to deliver results. At Snowflake, your role isn't just to execute a function, but to help redefine the future of how work gets done.

Snowflake is a high-growth, cloud-native data platform company committed to empowering enterprises to achieve their full potential. With a culture built on impact, innovation, and collaboration, we offer an environment where you can build large-scale systems, move fast, and take your technology career to the next level.

We are seeking a highly talented and experienced Software Engineer to join our Database Engineering team. In this role, you will be a key contributor to the evolution of our core product: an elastic, large-scale, high-performance data processing system. We are looking for smart, enthusiastic engineers who can quickly master complex technical areas and are passionate about building new, industry-leading technologies.

AS A SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER AT SNOWFLAKE, YOU WILL:

  • Design, develop, and support a distributed cloud control plane system, ensuring it is highly scalable and reliable.

  • Develop and implement the new service architecture required to enable the next generation of the Snowflake Data Cloud.

  • Analyze, understand, and resolve complex performance and scalability bottlenecks within the system.

  • Own the end-to-end delivery of your projects, including identifying solutions, design, implementation, rigorous testing, and safe production rollout.

  • Ensure operational readiness and execute production operations of services, meeting our customer commitments for durability, availability, and performance.

  • Build high-quality, highly reliable software that meets the demands of the world's largest companies.

  • Develop tools to provide better observability and insights for the system.

  • Mentor and support the professional growth of junior engineers on the team.

OUR IDEAL SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER WILL HAVE:

  • 6+ years of industry experience working on commercial software.

  • Excellent problem-solving skills and a deep understanding of Computer Science fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.

  • A solid foundation in distributed systems concepts (e.g., consistency, scaling, failure recovery) and string fluency in Java.

  • Experience with implementation using AI agents and cross team collaborations, understanding and reviewing human and AI generated code, manual and automated testing, debugging, and deploying to production at fast pace balancing speed and quality.

  • Bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.

BONUS POINTS FOR EXPERIENCE WITH THE FOLLOWING:

  • SQL or other database control plane technologies including internal design and implementation.

  • Experience with working on deploying and managing distributed key value stores like FoundationDB across multiple clouds.

Snowflake is growing fast, and we’re scaling our team to help enable and accelerate our growth. We are looking for people who share our values, challenge ordinary thinking, and push the pace of innovation while building a future for themselves and Snowflake.

How do you want to make your impact?

For jobs located in the United States, please visit the job posting on the Snowflake Careers Site for salary and benefits information: careers.snowflake.com

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