Principal Software Engineer Lead

Akamai Technologies, Inc.; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 169,000 - 305,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

FlexBase program

Healthcare

401K savings plan

Job summary

Akamai Technologies, Inc. is seeking a Principal Software Engineer Lead to design and own the control plane that places, reconciles, and operates VMs across the Compute fleet.

You will tackle partitioning strategy, reconciliation loops, and bulk operation models to ensure scalable, reliable cloud compute. You will bring 12+ years building distributed systems, deep SQL knowledge, and hands-on Kubernetes experience, with strong Python/Go skills.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in building distributed systems and owning control planes or large-scale orchestration.
• Deep SQL experience including partitioning, sharding, replication, and online schema changes.
• Built asynchronous systems with durable task queues, event-driven workflows, and retries/backpressure.
• Hands-on experience with containerized applications and Kubernetes.
• Strong Python or Go skills; other languages optional.
• Solid understanding of consistency, fencing, idempotency, and reconciliation patterns.

Responsibilities

• Own the design of the control plane that places, reconciles, and operates VMs across the Compute fleet.
• Define database partitioning/sharding strategy to scale control plane state 5x with capacity models.
• Own placement reconciliation loop: desired-state model, idempotent reconcilers, drift detection, and reconciliation-lag SLOs.
• Generalize bulk operations into a single model with standard resources, batching, concurrency caps, and automatic halt on failure thresholds.
• Set data path consistency, enforce idempotency, fencing, and saga-style workflows.

Skills

Distributed systems

Control planes

Kubernetes

Python

Go

SQL databases

Partitioning

Sharding

Asynchronous

Event-driven

Tools

Kubernetes

Job description

Job Description

Do you want to help design and implement the next generation of cloud computing? Do you want to help build the future of AI accelerating compute architectures across the Akamai Connected Cloud? Join our Compute team! Our team's mission is to accelerate innovation by making computing simple, scalable, accessible, and affordable for all. We provide the infrastructure and services that enable developers to build next-generation applications. We take ownership of the design and development of core compute interfaces, virtualization management, APIs, and low-level platform services.

Partner with the best

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will own the design of the control plane that places, reconciles, and operates VMs across the Compute fleet.

As a Principal Software Engineer Lead, you will be responsible for:

• Defining the database partitioning and sharding strategy to scale control plane state management 5x, with capacity models for placement and inventory state.
• Owning the placement reconciliation loop: desired-state model, idempotent reconcilers, drift detection, and reconciliation-lag SLOs.
• Generalizing bulk and asynchronous operations into one model with standard operation resources, batching, concurrency caps, and automatic halt on failure thresholds.
• Setting consistency guarantees per data path, enforcing idempotency and fencing on controller actions, and specifying saga-style workflows.

Do What You Love

To be successful in this role you will:

• Have 12 years of experience in building distributed systems along with experience in owning control planes or large-scale orchestration or its equivalent
• Have deep database experience with SQL, including partitioning, sharding, replication, and online schema change.
• Have built asynchronous systems: durable task queues, event-driven workflows, and retry and backpressure design.
• Have hands-on experience building and operating containerized applications, including Kubernetes.
• Have good competence in Python or Go; experience with the other or with ColdFusion is good, but not required.
• Have deep understanding of consistency (leases, fencing, idempotency, optimistic concurrency) and hands-on experience with reconciliation or controller patterns (Kubernetes-style controllers or equivalent).

About Us

At Akamai, we make life better for billions of people, trillions of times a day. Whether you're streaming live events, scrolling social media, watching your favorite series, or managing your savings, we're the engine behind the scenes. We provide the world's most distributed platform from Cloud to Edge to help the giants of the digital world work faster and stay more secure, making the internet a better experience for everyone.

Our Focus Is Simple

Cloud and Edge: Running apps closer to users for instant performance. Security: Neutralizing threats before they ever reach your data. Content Delivery: Scaling the world's biggest moments without a glitch. AI: Enabling our customers to build, secure, and scale AI apps on the world's most distributed cloud platform.

Benefits at Akamai:

We support your health, well-being, finances, and life beyond work. See our benefits.

FlexBase adapts to your job’s needs

Akamai's FlexBase program is yet another way we show our commitment to providing employees with an exceptional workplace experience. It's not about telling employees where to work; it's about supporting employees to do their best work. We trust our incredible employees to work in ways that suit them best: at home, in an office, or a combination of both. Connect with us on social and see what life at Akamai is like!

Compensation

Akamai is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. For US based candidates only - the base salary for this position ranges from $169,300 - $304,700/year; a candidate’s salary is determined by various factors including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location. Compensation for candidates outside the US will vary. The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of annual bonus or incentives, equity awards and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). Akamai provides industry-leading benefits including healthcare, 401K savings plan, company holidays, vacation (in the form of PTO), sick time, family friendly benefits including parental leave and an employee assistance program including a focus on mental and financial wellness; Eligibility requirements apply.