Software Engineer (Observability)

SendGrid, Inc.; Ireland; Remote; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

Generous time off

Parental leave

Wellness leave

Retirement savings program

Job summary

Twilio seeks a Software Engineer for its Platform Observability team, remote from Ireland, to help re-architect telemetry flows across the observability stack. You will drive core initiatives, shaping cost-aware, scalable infrastructure that delivers faster incident response and deeper customer insights.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate across Platform Engineering and R&D, and champion OpenTelemetry standards while delivering reliable, scalable platform components.

Qualifications

• Proven expertise in building and scaling observability systems, including logs, metrics, traces, and profiling.
• Lead technical execution for major components during the observability overhaul (centralized data lakes, OpenTelemetry instrumentation, query engines).
• Proficiency in at least one modern language (Go, Python, Java).
• Familiarity with high-cardinality data challenges and telemetry correlation techniques.
• Experience with Prometheus, ClickHouse, OpenTelemetry, Kafka or equivalent, in large-scale environments.
• Solid understanding of distributed systems in microservice architectures.
• Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, and infrastructure-as-code tools.
• Provide architectural guidance across teams to establish telemetry standards and scalable abstractions.
• Ability to lead through ambiguity and make forward-looking technical decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end architecture and delivery of observability platform components focusing on reliability, scalability, and usability.
• Drive consistency across logs, metrics, traces, and profiling with intuitive workflows for engineers.
• Mentor engineers and align cross-team efforts with long-term architectural goals.
• Specialize in areas like high-cardinality telemetry and distributed tracing while ensuring horizontal scalability.
• Collaborate with product teams, SREs, and developer experience groups to integrate telemetry into core workflows.
• Design and build developer-friendly tooling and APIs to support incident response and performance analysis.
• Leverage OpenTelemetry to ensure interoperability and extensibility.
• Balance performance, cost, and user value across diverse engineering teams.

Skills

Observability systems

OpenTelemetry

Cloud data lakes

Go/Python/Java

Distributed systems

AWS

Kubernetes

IaC tools

Telemetry correlation

Tools

Prometheus

ClickHouse

OpenTelemetry

Kafka

S3 data lakes

Job description

Who we are

At Twilio, we’re shaping the future of communications, all from the comfort of our homes. We deliver innovative solutions to hundreds of thousands of businesses and empower millions of developers worldwide to craft personalized customer experiences.

Hiring and how we work

We use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help make our hiring process efficient. That said, every hiring decision is made by real Twilions!

Also, while we are a remote-first company, you may be asked to report in person on an ad-hoc basis for team gatherings, functional off-sites or customer meetings.

See yourself at Twilio

Join the team as our next Software Engineer on Twilio’s platform engineering observability team.

About the job

This position is needed to help our platform engineering observability team. Twilio is undergoing a large-scale observability transformation—and you can help shape the foundation. Observability is a strategic pillar and a key enabler for faster incident response, deeper customer-centric insights, and more cost-effective platform operations.

As a Software Engineer on the Platform Observability team, you’ll play a critical role in re-architecting how telemetry flows and is utilized through Twilio—making it structured, accessible, affordable, and actionable. Over the next 3 years, Twilio is rebuilding nearly every component of our observability platform, from data collection to real-time analytics. You will drive core initiatives that shift Twilio from fragmented tooling and wasteful data sprawl to a unified, OpenTelemetry-first observability stack built for scale.

You’ll lead technically and strategically—designing platform components, influencing org-wide architectural decisions, mentoring engineers, and engaging directly with teams across Platform Engineering and R&D

Responsibilities

In this role, you’ll:

• Lead the end-to-end architecture and delivery of key observability platform components, with a focus on reliability, scalability, and usability.
• Drive consistency and quality across all observability signals—logs, metrics, traces, and continuous profiling—building intuitive workflows for engineers.
• Serve as a technical advisor and mentor across the platform org, guiding design decisions and aligning cross-team efforts with long-term architectural goals.
• Go deep in one or more problem areas (e.g., high-cardinality telemetry, distributed tracing correlation, compute cost insights), while ensuring the platform scales horizontally.
• Collaborate with product teams, SREs, and developer experience groups to deeply understand telemetry needs and integrate observability into core engineering workflows.
• Design and build developer-friendly tooling and APIs to support incident response, performance analysis, and platform debugging at scale.
• Leverage (and optionally contribute to) open-source standards like OpenTelemetry to ensure interoperability and extensibility.
• Champion a pragmatic approach to observability—balancing performance, cost, and user value across diverse engineering teams.

Qualifications

Twilio values diverse experiences from all kinds of industries, and we encourage everyone who meets the required qualifications to apply. If your career is just starting or hasn't followed a traditional path, don't let that stop you from considering Twilio. We are always looking for people who will bring something new to the table!

*Required:

• Proven expertise in building and scaling observability systems (e.g., logging platforms, metrics pipelines, tracing infrastructure, or profiling tools).
• Lead technical execution for major components of Twilio’s observability overhaul, including our shift to centralized S3-based data lakes, OpenTelemetry instrumentation, and ClickHouse-backed query engines.
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Go, Python, Java).
• Familiarity with high-cardinality data challenges and telemetry correlation techniques.
• Experience designing high-scale telemetry systems (e.g., Prometheus, ClickHouse, OpenTelemetry, Kafka, or equivalent).
• Solid understanding of distributed systems and the challenges of observability in complex, microservice-based environments.
• Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, and infrastructure-as-code tools.
• Provide architectural guidance and thought leadership across teams, helping to establish clear telemetry standards, efficient usage patterns, and scalable platform abstractions.
• Ability to make forward-looking technical decisions and lead others through ambiguity and chan

Desired:

• Familiarity with ClickHouse, Grafana Mimir, Athena, or equivalent systems for log and metrics querying.
• Contributions to open-source observability tools or communities.
• Experience building cost visibility or FinOps tooling for cloud compute and telemetry pipelines.

Location

This role will be remote from Ireland.

Travel

We prioritize connection and opportunities to build relationships with our customers and each other. For this role, you may be required to travel occasionally to participate in project or team in-person meetings.

What We Offer

Working at Twilio offers many benefits, including competitive pay, generous time off, ample parental and wellness leave, healthcare, a retirement savings program, and much more. Offerings vary by location.

Twilio thinks big. Do you?

We like to solve problems, take initiative, pitch in when needed, and are always up for trying new things. That's why we seek out colleagues who embody our values — something we call Twilio Magic. Additionally, we empower employees to build positive change in their communities by supporting their volunteering and donation efforts.

So, if you’re ready to unleash your full potential, do your best work, and be the best version of yourself, please consider other open positions.

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Twilio is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Additionally, Twilio participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.