Senior Software Engineer – Compute Engineering

ServiceNow; California; Hybrid; USD 143,000 - 243,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health plans

401(k) Plan with company match

ESPP (employee stock purchase plan)

Flexible time away plan and family-lea

Job summary

ServiceNow is hiring across multiple engineering levels in the Compute Engineering org. You will build and maintain software-defined infrastructure for compute at scale, focusing on scheduling, capacity, and performance across private and public clouds.

Collaboration with networking, orchestration, and SRE teams is essential to improve reliability. We value AI-driven decisions, strong Python/Go/Java programming skills, and IaC with Terraform/Ansible.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering, cloud, or infra automation experience with a degree; or 3+ years with a Master/PhD.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Go, or Java.
• Experience building Linux-based systems with IaC tools like Terraform and Ansible.
• Comfort with virtualization and multi-cloud environments (Azure, AWS, GCP).
• Solid networking fundamentals and understanding of DNS/NTP/HTTP.

Responsibilities

• Write and maintain software-defined, declarative infrastructure for compute at scale.
• Improve compute scheduler and resource-management components including placement and preemption.
• Develop tools for capacity data collection, forecasting, and reporting across cloud environments.
• Write performance/load tests and detect scheduling regressions.
• Research and adopt open-source and commercial tools to improve efficiency and reliability.
• Collaborate with networking, orchestration, and SRE teams on integration and design.
• Participate in design reviews and on-call rotations; contribute to post-incident improvements.
• Leverage AI tools to speed up development and ML-driven capacity decisions.

Skills

Python

Go

Java

AI integration experience

Independent work

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Eng or related field

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

Kubernetes

Slurm

Job description

It all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried tears of joy. That moment inspired Fred to build a company that could do that for everyone—freeing people from busywork so they could focus on meaningful work. Today, ServiceNow is the AI control tower for business reinvention. Our ServiceNow AI platform brings together any AI, any data, and any workflow— helping 85% of the Fortune 500® work smarter, faster, and better. We're building an AI-native culture where technology and talent are unstoppable together. And we're just getting started.

Join us to put AI to work for people.

We are hiring across multiple engineering levels. Final level alignment is determined by experience, technical expertise, demonstrated impact, and interview performance.

Join the Compute Engineering organization, which builds the scheduling, capacity, and performance systems that run our platform across private and public cloud.

What you get to do in this role:

• Write and maintain software-defined, declarative infrastructure for compute at scale, with build systems, services, and automation that are specified, documented, and testable.
• Build and improve components of the compute scheduler and resource-management systems, including placement, prioritization, and preemption.
• Build tools for capacity data collection, forecasting, and reporting across private and public cloud.
• Write performance and load tests, and help detect regressions in scheduling latency and throughput.
• Research and adopt open-source and commercial tools and methods that improve compute efficiency and reliability.
• Collaborate with networking, orchestration, and SRE teams on integration and design.
• Take part in design reviews and on-call rotations, and contribute to post-incident improvements.
• Use AI tools to speed up development and analysis, and help identify where ML can improve capacity or placement decisions.

Level expectations

• Senior Level : Delivers well-defined features and components with guidance. Writes, tests, and debugs code independently within a system, and takes their work through to production.
• Staff Level : Owns a component or feature area end to end, including scoping and design. Leads design discussions for a team, mentors IC3 engineers, and identifies risks before they become incidents.

To be successful in this role you have:

• Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI's potential impact on the function or industry.
• 5+ years of related experience in software engineering, cloud, or infrastructure automation with a Bachelor's degree; or 3+ years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with relevant research or industry experience; or equivalent experience.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Go, or Java, with experience in related languages.
• Experience building and maintaining Linux-based systems through infrastructure-as-code and configuration management tools, such as Terraform and Ansible.
• Comfortable with virtualization and cloud infrastructure across private and public clouds, such as Azure, AWS, GCP.
• Working understanding of IP networking, block and file storage, and load balancers.
• Working understanding of internet protocols such as DNS, NTP, and HTTP.
• Works independently across interconnected systems and investigates root causes without waiting for direction.
• Experience integrating AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem solving.
• Has a learning mindset and is motivated to build new skills and bring real improvement to internal and external customers.
• Is an excellent oral and written communicator.
• Has integrity and honesty, and upholds ServiceNow's values.

Staff Level additionally

• Drives architectural discussions and influences technical decisions to simplify and streamline infrastructure.
• Has led the design and delivery of a component or feature area end to end.
• Has mentored engineers and helped them grow technically.

Preferred

• Experience with capacity planning, performance testing, or load testing.
• Experience with Kubernetes, Slurm, or other large-scale schedulers or resource managers.
• Experience with ML-driven scheduling, forecasting, or capacity optimization.
• Experience with release management and large-scale server infrastructure.

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $143,200 - $243,400, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact [e-mail] for assistance.

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities.

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