Senior Software Engineer - Snowflake Streaming

Snowflake3 days ago

Location

US-WA-Bellevue

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 200,000 – 287,500

Level

Senior

Role

Senior Software Engineer

Posted

Jun 30, 2026

Full TimeSenior

The role

Summary

Join Snowflake's Streaming Platform team as a Senior Software Engineer to design and maintain mission-critical data ingestion infrastructure serving enterprise customers globally. This role focuses on building highly scalable, low-latency streaming services like Snowpipe Streaming and Datastream that enable real-time data movement at massive scale. You'll require 3-5 years of distributed systems experience, strong Java or C++ proficiency, and deep expertise in cloud-native architecture to tackle complex production challenges in a multi-tenant SaaS environment.

What you'll do

Core Infrastructure Development: Design, build, and maintain critical components of Snowflake's streaming ingestion platform, including Snowpipe Streaming and Datastream services that process mission-critical data for enterprise customers at scale

Performance and Reliability Optimization: Improve service reliability, scalability, and latency characteristics of high-throughput production workloads, ensuring consistent performance under demanding enterprise usage patterns

Production Incident Management: Debug and resolve complex incidents in distributed, multi-tenant cloud services using advanced troubleshooting techniques across application, network, and infrastructure layers

API and Protocol Evolution: Contribute to the design and evolution of streaming APIs, SDKs, and server-side protocols that shape how customers interact with the streaming platform

Comprehensive Testing Strategy: Write and execute comprehensive testing suites including unit tests, integration tests, and advanced chaos/fault-injection scenarios to ensure system resilience and correctness

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with partner teams including storage, query, and compute to address cross-cutting platform concerns and ensure seamless integration across Snowflake's data cloud architecture

Engineering Excellence and On-Call Operations: Participate in code reviews, on-call rotations, and architecture discussions to maintain engineering quality standards and ensure 24/7 platform reliability

What we look for

Technical

Java or C++ ProficiencyDeep proficiency in Java or C++, with the ability to write performant, maintainable code suitable for production systems at scale

Distributed Systems FundamentalsDeep understanding of distributed systems concepts including consistency models, fault tolerance mechanisms, data replication strategies, and backpressure handling in streaming contexts

Cloud Platform ExpertiseStrong working knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or GCP), containerization, and cloud-native service design principles

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related FieldBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent practical software engineering experience demonstrating strong foundational knowledge in computing concepts

Experience

Distributed Systems Engineering3-5 years of hands-on software engineering experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems or cloud services, with demonstrated impact on system performance and reliability

High-Throughput Service Production ExperienceProven track record building or operating high-throughput, low-latency services in production environments, with experience optimizing for sub-second latencies and handling massive data volumes

Multi-Tenant SaaS ArchitectureFamiliarity with cloud infrastructure and multi-tenant service design patterns, including isolation, resource management, and security considerations specific to enterprise cloud platforms

Full-Stack Debugging ExpertiseStrong debugging and troubleshooting skills across the entire technology stack, from application logic through networking protocols to storage layer internals

Skills

Required skills

Java ProgrammingProduction-grade Java development with expertise in concurrency, performance optimization, and building scalable backend systems

C++ ProgrammingLow-level C++ programming for performance-critical components, with understanding of memory management and system optimization

Distributed Systems DesignAbility to architect and reason about distributed systems including replication, consensus, eventual consistency, and failure scenarios

Stream Processing ConceptsUnderstanding of event-driven architectures, stream processing pipelines, exactly-once semantics, and backpressure mechanisms

Production Debugging and ObservabilityProficiency in debugging complex production issues using logs, metrics, and distributed tracing in large-scale systems

Cloud Service OperationsExperience operating cloud-native services including incident response, on-call procedures, and performance monitoring at scale

Nice to have

Streaming Platform ExperienceHands-on experience building or operating streaming or ingestion systems such as Apache Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Apache Flink, or comparable technologies

Database Internals KnowledgeFamiliarity with database architecture including Write-Ahead Logs (WAL), columnar storage formats, transaction processing, and query optimization

Observability at ScaleExperience implementing or working with advanced observability tooling including distributed tracing systems, metrics collection pipelines, and log aggregation platforms

Cloud-Native SaaS ExperiencePrior experience working on cloud-native SaaS platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, or similar enterprise data platforms

Data Platform ArchitectureUnderstanding of modern data platform architecture, including ETL/ELT pipelines, data warehousing concepts, and real-time analytics infrastructure

API and Protocol DesignExperience designing or evolving APIs, SDKs, and communication protocols with consideration for backward compatibility and developer experience

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 200,000 – 287,500 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Competitive Equity Package

Stock options or RSUs as part of comprehensive compensation reflecting your contribution to Snowflake's growth trajectory

Health and Wellness Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, plus mental health resources and wellness programs

Retirement Planning

401(k) plan with company matching contributions to support long-term financial security

Unlimited Time Off

Flexible paid time off policy enabling work-life balance and personal well-being

Professional Development

Learning and development opportunities, conference attendance budgets, and internal training programs to advance technical skills

Flexible Work Environment

Hybrid or remote work arrangements that accommodate individual preferences and team collaboration needs

Interview process

1
Initial Screening Call — Recruiter discussion (30 minutes) to understand your background, career goals, and alignment with the streaming platform team. Be prepared to discuss your experience with distributed systems and production services.
2
Technical Phone Screen — Engineering-focused conversation (45 minutes) covering distributed systems concepts, your approach to debugging production issues, and discussion of past projects. Expect questions about consistency models, fault tolerance, and system design trade-offs.
3
System Design Interview — Technical interview (60 minutes) where you'll design a streaming ingestion system or similar data pipeline, discussing scalability, reliability, and operational concerns. You'll evaluate your ability to architect high-throughput, low-latency systems.
4
Coding Interview — Hands-on coding assessment (60 minutes) in Java or C++, focusing on concurrent programming, performance optimization, and writing production-quality code. Problem difficulty aligns with senior-level complexity.
5
Behavioral and Team Fit Discussion — Interview (45 minutes) with a team member to assess collaboration style, learning mindset, and ability to thrive in fast-paced, experimental environments with a focus on AI-native thinking and rapid iteration.
6
Final Round with Leadership — Discussion (45 minutes) with engineering manager or tech lead about the team's strategic direction, your growth potential, and how you'll contribute to the streaming platform's evolution.