Staff Software Engineer, Service Communications

Pinterest; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 177,185 - 364,795; Full time

Job summary

Pinterest is seeking a Staff Engineer to lead technical strategy in high-layer networking systems. The role involves architecting and deploying advanced service mesh features, ensuring service-to-service security, and collaborating on multi-cloud strategies.

Ideal candidates will have significant experience in infrastructure engineering, expertise in service mesh technologies like Envoy or Istio, and proficiency in Java, Python, and C++. A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science is preferred. The position offers a competitive salary.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in infrastructure or platform engineering, especially distributed systems.
• Expertise in service mesh technologies like Envoy and L7 proxying.
• Proficient in Java, Python, and C++ with library/tool building experience.

Responsibilities

• Architect and deploy advanced service mesh features.
• Lead adoption of service identity and mTLS for security.
• Design traffic optimization primitives for cost reduction.
• Maintain and modernize service framework libraries.
• Collaborate on multi-region and multi-cloud strategies.

Skills

Infra or platform engineering experience

Service mesh technologies (Envoy or Istio)

Multiple programming languages (Java, Python, C++)

Service security and identity management

Designing distributed systems

Driving platform capability adoption

Using AI in engineering workflows

Education

Bachelor's/Master's degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Intro

The Service Communications team manages the foundational high-layer networking systems ensuring reliable, secure, and performant service-to-service interactions at Pinterest. Our Envoy-based mesh and multi-language frameworks provide critical primitives for hundreds of internal services, and we are looking for a Staff Engineer to lead technical strategy across identity, traffic optimization, and platform scaling.

What you'll do

• Architect and deploy advanced service mesh features, focusing on service discovery, traffic shaping, and deep observability using Envoy proxy.
• Lead the organization-wide adoption of service identity and mTLS to satisfy critical AAA security requirements for service-to-service paths.
• Design traffic optimization primitives like locality-aware routing to materially reduce data transfer costs for high-volume service traffic.
• Maintain and modernize service framework libraries in Java, Python, and C++, enhancing the developer experience and operational reliability.
• Collaborate with service owners across the company to drive adoption and refine infrastructure requirements for emerging feature needs.
• Partner with infrastructure peers on multi-region and multi-cloud strategies that rely on robust service communication primitives.
• Use AI to accelerate analysis and iteration, while applying judgment and verification to ensure correctness and quality.
• Join the team on-call rotation to manage incident response, perform post-mortems, and drive long-term reliability improvements.

What we're looking for

• 6+ years of infrastructure or platform engineering experience, specifically within distributed systems or RPC framework development.
• Deep technical expertise in service mesh technologies such as Envoy or Istio, including hands-on experience with L7 proxying.
• Proficiency across multiple languages (Java, Python, C++) and a track record of building internal libraries or developer tools.
• Strong understanding of service security, including mTLS adoption and identity management via SPIFFE/SPIRE.
• Proven ability to design highly available and efficient distributed systems at massive scale.
• Demonstrated experience driving the adoption of complex platform capabilities across diverse cross-functional engineering teams.
• Demonstrated experience using AI to accelerate engineering workflows, with a clear approach to validating accuracy and quality.
• Bachelor's/Master's degree in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent experience.

Relocation Statement

• is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

In-Office Requirement Statement

• We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
• This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times every 6 months and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country.

Base salary range: $177,185 - $364,795 USD (US based applicants only).

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition or genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.