Principal Software Engineer — AI Strategy & Systems

Dropbox; United States; Remote; USD 285,000 - 385,000; Full time

Job summary

Dropbox seeks a Principal Engineer to own multi-year, high-impact technical problems at scale, bridging technology, product, business strategy and applied AI. You’ll set long-term direction for customer-facing experiences used by millions and stay hands-on where leverage is greatest.

You’ll lead architectural decisions across organizations, drive AI adoption in product capabilities, and partner with senior leaders to shape Dropbox’s future while upholding engineering excellence.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent industry experience.
• 15+ years designing, building, and evolving large-scale software systems.
• Principal level experience owning company-critical technical problems and direction.
• Experience building consumer-facing products at scale with focus on UX, performance, reliability.
• Clear communication of complex concepts to senior engineers, product leaders and executives.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive technical outcomes across multiple teams and orgs, delivering impact at scale.
• Define long term technical strategy with senior leaders as technical owner for key objectives.
• Tackle the most ambiguous technical problems and shape what and how the company builds.
• Remain hands-on in software development, owning critical, foundational parts of the system.
• Influence roadmaps across orgs, remove bottlenecks and evolve how Dropbox builds and operates.
• Architect and evolve foundational frontend/backend systems and platforms for new product capabilities.
• Model technical judgment and execution rigor, upholding high engineering standards.
• Drive AI adoption to boost productivity and enable AI-based features.

Education

Advanced degree in Computer Science

Job description

Dropbox seeks a Principal Engineer to own multi-year, high-impact technical problems at scale, bridging technology, product, business strategy and applied AI. You’ll set long-term direction for customer-facing experiences used by millions and stay hands-on where leverage is greatest.

You’ll lead architectural decisions across organizations, drive AI adoption in product capabilities, and partner with senior leaders to shape Dropbox’s future while upholding engineering excellence.