Sr. Staff Software Engineer – Distributed Systems

Alluxio; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Alluxio is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer – Distributed Systems to lead end-to-end architecture for a next-generation data platform. You will drive system-level design to scale to thousands of nodes and exabytes of data while maintaining performance and reliability.

You will mentor engineers, lead reviews, and collaborate with product and leadership to translate goals into robust solutions. Strong communication and deep distributed systems expertise are essential.

Qualifications

• Master or BS in Computer Science or related field or equivalent experience.
• 2+ years in a technical leadership or architect role guiding teams.
• Hands-on development in Java, C/C++, or Go.
• Deep expertise in distributed/parallel systems or large-scale software architectures.
• Track record of high-quality, scalable end-to-end system designs.
• Strong analytical thinking and communication for cross-team direction.
• Excellent ability to influence technical direction.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end architecture and design for large-scale distributed systems.
• Drive technical strategy across multiple teams and components.
• Design for scalability, fault tolerance, performance, and data durability.
• Provide hands-on development and technical guidance in critical areas.
• Lead system design reviews and mentor senior engineers.
• Identify and resolve performance and reliability bottlenecks.
• Collaborate with product management to translate goals into solutions.
• Influence the ecosystem through open-source contributions and thought leadership.

Skills

Distributed systems

System architecture

Technical leadership

Java

Go

C/C++

Education

Master's or Bachelor's in Computer Science

Job description

As a Sr. Staff Software Engineer – Distributed Systems at Alluxio, you will lead the end-to-end architecture and technical evolution of our next-generation distributed data platform. You will drive system-level design decisions that enable Alluxio to scale to thousands of nodes and exabytes of data, while maintaining performance, reliability, and simplicity for users.

What You Will Be Able To Build and Owner：

• Lead the end-to-end architecture and design of large-scale distributed systems powering the Alluxio platform.
• Drive technical strategy and architectural direction across multiple teams and components.
• Design systems that support high scalability, fault tolerance, performance optimization, and data durability.
• Provide hands-on development and deep technical guidance in critical areas of the system.
• Lead complex system design reviews and mentor senior engineers on distributed systems design.
• Identify and resolve system-level performance bottlenecks and reliability challenges.
• Collaborate with product management and engineering leadership to translate product goals into technical solutions.
• Influence the broader technical ecosystem through open-source contributions and architectural thought leadership.

Who We Are Looking For:

• Master or BS degree in Computer Science or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven experience of 2+ years in a technical leadership or architect role, driving system-level design and guiding engineering teams.
• Strong hands-on software development experience in one or more general-purpose programming languages, including but not limited to Java, C/C++, or Go.
• Deep architecting expertise in at least two of the following areas: 1)Distributed and parallel systems 2)Distributed storage systems 3)Architecting large-scale software systems
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement high-quality, stable, and scalable end-to-end system architectures in production environments.
• Strong analytical thinking and complex problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to influence technical direction across teams.

We Would Especially Appreciate If You Have:

• PhD in Computer Science, Distributed Systems, or related fields.
• Deep understanding of consensus algorithms, storage engines, or large-scale data systems.
• Experience building or operating cloud-native infrastructure platforms.
• Experience contributing to or maintaining open-source distributed systems projects.
• Track record of designing systems that operate at massive scale (thousands of nodes or higher).
• Passion for building high-performance infrastructure software.
• Contributions to Alluxio open-source community.