Principal Ads Format Engineer — Scale & Innovate

Snap Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 276,000 - 414,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity RSUs

Paid parental leave

Comprehensive medical coverage

Job summary

Snap Inc. in the United States is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join the Ads Format team. You will design and scale automated ad-format serving systems, influence next‑gen infrastructure, and mentor engineers across cross‑functional groups.

You’ll work on high‑availability distributed systems, apply best practices for performance, cost, and reliability, and collaborate with product, design, data science, and other engineering teams to deliver impactful solutions.

Qualifications

• Ten or more years of post‑Bachelors software development experience (or equivalent).
• Experience in technical leadership or domain expert role.
• Experience architecting, designing, and developing distributed systems.
• Proven track record operating highly available systems at scale.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement highly automated systems for ad format serving, optimization, and A/B testing.
• Lead vision and strategy for next‑gen ad formats infrastructure focusing on scalability and performance.
• Innovate new ad format ideas based on market trends and advertiser needs.
• Collaborate with product, design, data science, and other engineering teams to deliver cohesive solutions.
• Advocate for availability, scalability, operational excellence, and cost management.
• Mentor engineers and foster a culture of technical excellence.

Skills

Ad formats expertise

Programming & design

Distributed systems

Learning aptitude

Ambiguity solving

Collaboration & mentorship

Ads domain experience

Client-side & full-stack

Education

10+ years post‑Bachelor’s software development

Master’s degree in technical field + 9+ years

PhD in related field + 6+ years

Technical leadership experience

Job description

Snap Inc. in the United States is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join the Ads Format team. You will design and scale automated ad-format serving systems, influence next‑gen infrastructure, and mentor engineers across cross‑functional groups.

You’ll work on high‑availability distributed systems, apply best practices for performance, cost, and reliability, and collaborate with product, design, data science, and other engineering teams to deliver impactful solutions.