Principal Software Engineer II - Interoperable Foundations

Snowflake; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 304,000 - 437,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Flexible spending and health savings account

Paid holidays and time off

Parental leave

Job summary

A leading cloud data platform provider is seeking a Principal Software Engineer II to join their Metadata team. This role involves designing and supporting scalable, distributed systems while influencing the product roadmap. Candidates should have over 15 years of experience in building large-scale services, along with a deep understanding of database management. The position offers a robust salary range and a competitive benefits package that includes health insurance and retirement options.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience designing large-scale distributed services.
• Deep expertise in database internals and metadata management.
• Excellent understanding of systems infrastructure and product development.

Responsibilities

• Design and support scalable, distributed systems for Metadata.
• Own architecture and influence product roadmap.
• Mentor junior engineers and ensure operational readiness.

Skills

Software engineering

Analytical problem-solving

Fault-tolerant systems

Mentoring

Java

Education

BS in Computer Science

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Principal Software Engineer II – Metadata

Snowflake is about empowering enterprises to achieve their full potential—and people too. With a culture that’s all in on impact, innovation, and collaboration, Snowflake is the sweet spot for building big, moving fast, and taking technology—and careers—to the next level.

We are the Snowflake Metadata team. We own Snowflake’s metadata systems that make it easy for customers to query, modify, and manage their petabyte‑scale data. We develop distributed systems that store and maintain metadata, transaction frameworks that power Snowflake’s query and DML capabilities, asynchronous systems that provide time travel and lifecycle management, and entity metadata supporting DDL capabilities. We also build foundational capabilities that deliver global features like cross‑region replication (Snowgrid), data sharing, and a data marketplace.

Our mission is to build the next generation Metadata Platform that will unlock new capabilities for Snowflake across Iceberg, unstructured data, and our enterprise offerings. Your work will drive industry‑leading innovation on Iceberg, Analytics, Data Engineering, and AI.

Responsibilities

• Apply software engineering and analytical problem‑solving skills to solve real business needs at large scale.
• Design, develop, and support fault‑tolerant, scalable, distributed systems for Metadata.
• Own the architecture and design, influence the product roadmap, and identify new projects that ensure Snowflake provides the best technology for our customers.
• Analyze fault‑tolerance and high‑availability issues, performance and scale challenges, and devise solutions.
• Mentor and grow junior engineers.
• Balance consistency, performance, and cost trade‑offs to build solutions that meet the demands of rapidly growing services.
• Ensure operational readiness of services and meet commitments to customers regarding durability, availability, and performance.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of industry experience designing, building, and supporting large‑scale distributed services.
• Deep and broad expertise in database internals, including metadata management, clustering, compaction, catalogs, storage, and replication.
• Strong computer science fundamentals—data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
• Excellent understanding of systems infrastructure product development and concepts such as multithreading, memory management, networking, storage, performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Fluency in Java or another procedural, object‑oriented language.
• Track record of identifying and implementing creative solutions to complex problems at cloud scale.
• Able to work effectively across engineering teams in multiple locations.
• BS in Computer Science; advanced degree preferred.

Benefits & Compensation

The estimated base salary range for this role is $304,000 - $437,000. The role is also eligible to participate in Snowflake’s bonus and equity plan. The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non‑discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location. The role also offers a competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance; a 401(k) retirement plan; a flexible spending and health savings account; at least 12 paid holidays; paid time off; parental leave; an employee assistance program; and other company benefits.

Every Snowflake employee is expected to follow the company’s confidentiality and security standards for handling sensitive data. Snowflake employees must abide by the company’s data security plan as an essential part of their duties. It is every employee’s duty to keep customer information secure and confidential.