Staff Software Engineer, Storage and Caching

Snap; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Snap Inc. is seeking a Staff Technical Lead to define the strategy and technical direction for Storage, Caching, and Identity infrastructure. You will drive multi-quarter initiatives across AWS and GCP, design and operate large-scale distributed systems, and improve reliability, performance, and developer experience at scale.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with Infrastructure and Product teams, and influence architecture and platform investments to support an AI-first world.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field; equivalent practical experience.
• 9+ years of software development experience and technical leadership in complex initiatives.
• Experience building and operating backend distributed systems at scale.
• Strong collaboration and communication across Senior Manager/Director level teams.

Responsibilities

• Define multi-quarter and multi-year roadmaps for Snap's storage and caching infrastructure.
• Design, build, and operate reliable backend services with a focus on scalability and cost efficiency.
• Lead as a hands-on Staff-level tech lead from concept to delivery.
• Mentor engineers and align technical direction across infrastructure and product teams.
• Improve developer experience and platform velocity through durable abstractions.
• Shape AI-enabled improvements for platform quality and operations.

Skills

Backend systems

Distributed systems

Technical leadership

Cross-functional leadership

System design

Observability

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Master's degree or PhD (advantage)

Tools

AWS

GCP

Kubernetes

Service Mesh

Job description

Snap Inc is a technology company. We believe the camera presents the greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Snap contributes to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together.

The Company operates Snapchat , a visual messaging app that enhances your relationships with friends, family, and the world, and Specs Inc. , a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to making computing more human, in addition to Bitmoji , Saturn, and other digital services.

We are looking for an L6 Staff Technical Lead to define the strategy and technical direction for Snap's Storage, Caching, and Identity infrastructure.

In this hands-on leadership role, you will drive high-impact, multi-quarter initiatives; design and operate highly available distributed systems across AWS and GCP; and improve reliability, performance, cost efficiency, and developer experience at scale. You will influence architecture across critical Storage, Caching, User, Friends, and Relationship services , partner broadly across Infrastructure and Product Engineering, mentor engineers, and turn ambiguous technical challenges into durable platforms and executable roadmaps.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape how Snap's Storage & Caching Infrastructure evolves to meet the demands of an AI-first world. If you are passionate about building large-scale distributed systems and foundational infrastructure, we would love to hear from you.

What you'll do

• Lead the technical direction for Snap's Service Infrastructure platform, defining multi-quarter and multi-year roadmaps across areas such as service mesh, compute, observability, and adjacent platform capabilities.
• Design, build, and operate foundational backend infrastructure that powers critical services across Snap with a focus on reliability, scalability, performance, and operational excellence.
• Act as a hands-on Staff-level tech lead, driving ambiguous and high-impact technical initiatives from concept through architecture, implementation, rollout, and iteration.
• Partner closely with engineers and leaders across infrastructure and product teams to align on technical direction, priorities, trade-offs, and long-term platform investments.
• Improve the developer and operator experience for teams building on Snap's backend platform by creating durable systems, abstractions, and mechanisms that raise engineering velocity and quality at scale.
• Drive best practices in service reliability, observability, incident response, system performance, and cost efficiency across mission-critical infrastructure.
• Mentor and uplevel other engineers, provide technical leadership across team boundaries, and help resolve complex technical conflicts to move the organization forward.
• Help shape how Snap's infrastructure evolves for an AI-first future, including identifying opportunities where AI can improve platform quality, developer productivity, or operational workflows in a responsible and scalable way.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep experience designing, building, and operating backend services or distributed systems at significant scale.
• Strong technical leadership skills, with the ability to set vision, ideate high-impact projects, and translate strategy into executable roadmaps.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives over multiple quarters while balancing architectural quality, reliability, and delivery velocity.
• Strong foundation in system design, including APIs, service architecture, compute platforms, storage concepts, observability, and workflow orchestration.
• Proven track record of owning highly available, mission-critical systems, including operational readiness, incident response, and systemic improvements.
• Strong judgment in making technical trade-offs and prioritizing the right long-term platform investments for a large engineering organization.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to influence engineers and leaders across Senior Manager- or Director-level organizations.
• Ability to mentor, unblock, and elevate other engineers while creating structures and mechanisms that make teams more effective over time.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and driving clarity in technically complex problem spaces.
• Familiarity with responsible use of emerging AI technologies to improve engineering quality, alignment, and innovation at scale.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

9+ years of software development experience; or a Master's degree in a technical field and 8+ years of software development experience; or a PhD in a related technical field and 5+ years of software development experience.

Experience a technical lead, domain expert, or owner of complex technical initiatives.

Experience building and operating backend systems or distributed systems in pr