Staff Backend Architect - Storage & Caching Platform

Snapchat; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 218,000 - 343,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

RSUs

Medical coverage

Parental leave

Job summary

Snap Inc. seeks a senior Staff Technical Lead to define the strategy and direction for Storage, Caching, and Identity infrastructure.

This hands-on leadership role drives multi-quarter initiatives, operates distributed systems across AWS/GCP, and partners with Infrastructure and Product Engineering to boost reliability, performance, and developer experience at scale. You will mentor engineers, shape platform investments, and guide cross-team initiatives while exploring responsible AI

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 9+ years of software development experience (or 8+ with MS, 5+ with PhD).
• Experience as a technical lead or owner of complex technical initiatives.
• Experience building and operating backend or distributed systems in production.
• Experience leading architecture or platform direction beyond an individual team.

Responsibilities

• Define multi-quarter and multi-year roadmaps for Snap’s Service Infrastructure platform.
• Design, build, and operate foundational backend infrastructure for reliability and performance.
• Act as hands-on Staff-level lead, guiding architecture from concept to rollout.
• Partner with engineers and leaders to align on direction, priorities, and investments.
• Improve developer/operator experience and elevate engineering velocity across teams.
• Drive service reliability, observability, incident response, and cost efficiency.
• Mentor engineers and resolve complex technical conflicts across teams.
• Explore AI opportunities to improve platform quality and productivity at scale.

Skills

Backend systems

Technical leadership

Cross-functional work

Go/Java/Python/C++

Kubernetes

AWS/GCP

System design

Observability

Incident response

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Engineering

MS/PhD plus experience

Tools

Kubernetes

Go

Java

Python

C++

Docker

AWS

GCP

Job description

Snap Inc. seeks a senior Staff Technical Lead to define the strategy and direction for Storage, Caching, and Identity infrastructure.

This hands-on leadership role drives multi-quarter initiatives, operates distributed systems across AWS/GCP, and partners with Infrastructure and Product Engineering to boost reliability, performance, and developer experience at scale. You will mentor engineers, shape platform investments, and guide cross-team initiatives while exploring responsible AI