Principal Systems Engineer - Deployments

Nscale; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 240,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Flexible paid time off

Parental leave

Retirement plan

Job summary

Nscale is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to steer the architecture and operation of large-scale distributed infrastructure. You will work across platform, networking, hardware, and product teams to deliver reliable, scalable systems and shape the long-term technology roadmap.

You will mentor senior engineers, set engineering standards, and drive cross-team architectural decisions to ensure high performance and reliability at scale.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related field.
• 10+ years building and operating large-scale production systems.
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, operating systems, and computer networking.
• Proficiency in Python, Go, Java, or C/C++.
• Proven experience architecting and operating mission-critical infrastructure services at scale.
• Demonstrated technical leadership across complex, cross-functional engineering initiatives.
• Strong system design, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Experience leading architectural discussions and influencing technical direction across organizations.
• Participation in on-call rotations supporting production infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, design, and development of large-scale distributed systems (1000+ nodes).
• Define and drive technical strategy for critical infrastructure services across compute and network systems.
• Own complex architectural decisions involving scalability, fault tolerance, state management, data consistency, and performance optimization.
• Influence cross-functional engineering initiatives and align technical direction across teams.
• Partner with platform, networking, hardware, and operations teams to deliver end-to-end production systems.
• Drive operational excellence through automation, observability, reliability engineering, and performance tuning.
• Diagnose and resolve complex system-level issues spanning software, networking, kernel, and infrastructure layers.
• Establish engineering best practices, design standards, and operational processes for distributed systems development.
• Mentor senior and staff-level engineers, acting as a force multiplier across the organization.
• Lead technical reviews and guide long-term infrastructure roadmap planning.

Skills

Distributed systems

Python

Go

Java

C/C++

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS

Tools

MySQL

Redis

Memcached

Job description

About the Role

We are looking for a Principal Systems Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and operation of large-scale distributed systems powering high-performance infrastructure. This is a highly strategic technical leadership role focused on defining system architecture, driving cross-organizational technical direction, and delivering reliable, scalable, and efficient infrastructure platforms at significant scale.

You will operate at the intersection of software and infrastructure, partnering closely with platform, networking, hardware, and product engineering teams to solve complex systems challenges and influence the long-term evolution of our infrastructure stack.

As a Principal Engineer, you will serve as a technical authority across multiple domains, setting engineering standards, mentoring senior engineers, and guiding critical architectural decisions across the organization.

What You'll Do

• Lead the architecture, design, and development of large-scale distributed systems (1000+ nodes)


• Define and drive technical strategy for critical infrastructure services across compute and network systems


• Own complex architectural decisions involving scalability, fault tolerance, state management, data consistency, and performance optimization


• Influence cross-functional engineering initiatives and align technical direction across teams


• Partner with platform, networking, hardware, and operations teams to deliver end-to-end production systems


• Drive operational excellence through automation, observability, reliability engineering, and performance tuning


• Diagnose and resolve complex system-level issues spanning software, networking, kernel, and infrastructure layers


• Establish engineering best practices, design standards, and operational processes for distributed systems development


• Mentor senior and staff-level engineers, acting as a force multiplier across the organization


• Lead technical reviews and guide long-term infrastructure roadmap planning

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience)


• 10+ years of experience building and operating large-scale production systems


• Deep expertise in distributed systems, operating systems, and computer networking


• Strong proficiency in multiple programming languages such as Python, Go, Java, or C/C++


• Proven experience architecting and operating mission-critical infrastructure services at scale


• Demonstrated technical leadership across complex, cross-functional engineering initiatives


• Strong system design, problem-solving, and communication skills


• Experience leading architectural discussions and influencing technical direction across organizations


• Participation in on-call rotations supporting production infrastructure

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep expertise in Linux systems internals and performance optimization


• Strong background in distributed systems architecture, including consensus, fault tolerance, synchronization, and state management


• Experience with large-scale compute, storage, and networking environments


• Familiarity with server and GPU hardware architecture and system-level optimization


• Experience with high-performance networking technologies such as InfiniBand and RoCE


• Hands-on experience building and operating cloud infrastructure or data plane services


• Experience with databases and distributed caching systems such as MySQL, Redis, or Memcached


• Experience designing highly available, low-latency infrastructure systems at hyperscale

What We're Looking For

• A highly technical systems leader who can define architecture and strategy in complex distributed environments


• Someone who takes ownership of critical infrastructure systems and drives execution end-to-end


• A pragmatic engineer who balances long-term architectural vision with operational excellence and execution speed


• A mentor and technical multiplier who elevates engineering standards across teams


• A collaborative leader capable of influencing across organizational boundaries and driving alignment on critical technical decisions

The range below reflects the base salary for the position. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors such as skill set, experience, education, and location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs. Nscale may offer a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.

Salary Range

$240,000—$300,000 USD

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