Staff Software Engineer, Storage Platform

Robinhood; Washington; On-site; USD 230,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus opportunities

Equity ownership

401(k) matching

100% paid health insurance

Job summary

Robinhood is seeking a Staff Software Engineer for its Storage Platform in Bellevue, WA. You will design and evolve core infrastructure for storage systems, tackling horizontal sharding, proxy-based routing, and cross-shard transactions to improve reliability and cost efficiency.

You will lead multi-region initiatives, optimize performance, and empower internal teams with scalable data access patterns. This role emphasizes high uptime, strong engineering craft, and impactful fintech-scale work.

Qualifications

• - Deep expertise in PostgreSQL (Aurora PostgreSQL preferred).
• - Experience building or operating distributed systems (sharding, replication, distributed transactions).
• - Proficiency in Go and/or Rust for backend/infrastructure services.
• - Hands-on with Kubernetes and AWS managed services; observability tooling.

Responsibilities

• - Design and implement distributed storage systems (sharding, query routing, proxy services).
• - Improve availability, failover, and disaster recovery across multi-region deployments.
• - Build and enhance control plane automation to manage thousands of databases and caching clusters.
• - Optimize DB performance via query analysis, connection pooling, and observability standards.
• - Partner with product/infrastructure to standardize service connections to Postgres/NoSQL/caching while meeting security/regulatory requirements.

Skills

PostgreSQL/Aurora

Distributed systems

Go

Rust

Kubernetes

AWS services (RDS/DynamoDB)

Observability

Performance tuning

Cost optimization

Tools

PostgreSQL

Aurora PostgreSQL

Kubernetes

AWS (RDS, DynamoDB)

Job description

Join us in building the future of finance.

Our mission is to democratize finance for all. An estimated $124 trillion of assets will be inherited by younger generations in the next two decades. The largest transfer of wealth in human history. If you’re ready to be at the epicenter of this historic cultural and financial shift, keep reading.

About the team + role

We are building an elite team, applying frontier technologies to the world’s biggest financial problems. We’re looking for bold thinkers. Sharp problem-solvers. Builders who are wired to make an impact. Robinhood isn’t a place for complacency, it’s where ambitious people do the best work of their careers. We’re a high-performing, fast-moving team with ethics at the center of everything we do. Expectations are high, and so are the rewards.

The Storage Platform team builds and operates the platform that powers database access across Robinhood. We own relational (Postgres/Aurora), key-value (DynamoDB), and caching systems, along with the SDKs, control plane automation, and data plane services that enable safe and reliable access at scale. Our mission is to standardize and strengthen how services connect to storage, improve reliability and performance, and reduce operational overhead through automation. We manage thousands of databases and hundreds of caching clusters supporting millions of users and critical brokerage workloads. Availability is our highest priority — our systems are designed to meet strict uptime targets, including no downtime during market hours.

As a Staff Software Engineer, you will design and evolve the core infrastructure that underpins Robinhood’s storage systems. You’ll lead complex distributed systems initiatives such as horizontal sharding, proxy-based query routing, connection pooling, and cross-shard transactions. You’ll work on improving database reliability, performance, and cost efficiency across multi-region deployments. This role has a direct impact on system availability, latency, and resiliency for customer-facing products and internal engineering teams.

Here is a blog post from the team!

• Read a blog post or listen to this chat from members of the team!

This role is based in our Bellevue, WA office, with in-person attendance expected at least 3 days per week.

At Robinhood, we believe in the power of in-person work to accelerate progress, spark innovation, and strengthen community. Our office experience is intentional, energizing, and designed to fully support high-performing teams.

What you’ll do

• Design and implement distributed storage systems, including sharding strategies, query routing layers, and database proxy services

• Improve availability, failover, and disaster recovery capabilities across multi-region deployments

• Build and enhance control plane automation that manages thousands of databases and caching clusters at scale

• Optimize database performance and throughput by analyzing query patterns, improving connection pooling, and implementing observability standards

• Partner with product and infrastructure teams to standardize how services connect to Postgres, NoSQL, and caching systems while meeting regulatory and security requirements

What you bring

• Deep expertise in PostgreSQL (Aurora PostgreSQL preferred) and strong understanding of relational database internals

• Experience building or operating distributed systems, including horizontal sharding, replication, and distributed transactions (e.g., two-phase commit)

• Proficiency in Go and/or Rust, with experience building backend or infrastructure services

• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, AWS managed services (RDS, DynamoDB), and observability tooling (metrics, logging, tracing)

• Strong understanding of system reliability, performance tuning, and cost optimization in high-scale production environments

What we offer

• Challenging, high-impact work to grow your career.

• Performance-driven compensation with multipliers for outsized impact, bonus programs, equity ownership, and 401(k) matching.

• Best-in-class benefits to fuel your work, including 100% paid health insurance for employees with 90% coverage for dependents.

• Lifestyle wallet — a highly flexible benefits spending account for wellness, learning, and more.

• Employer-paid life & disability insurance, fertility benefits, and mental health benefits.

• Time off to recharge including company holidays, paid time off, sick time, parental leave, and more!

• Exceptional office experience with catered meals, events, and comfortable workspaces.

In addition to the base pay range listed below, this role is also eligible for bonus opportunities + equity + benefits.

Base pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. The expected base pay range for this role is based on the location where the work will be performed and is aligned to one of 3 compensation zones. For other locations not listed, compensation can be discussed with your recruiter during the interview process.

Base Pay Range:

Zone 1 (Menlo Park, CA; New York, NY; Bellevue, WA; Washington, DC)

$230,000—$270,000 USD

Zone 2 (Denver, CO; Westlake, TX; Chicago, IL)

$203,000—$238,000 USD

Zone 3 (Lake Mary, FL; Clearwater, FL; Gainesville, FL)

$180,000—$211,000 USD

Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards, which vary by region and entity.

Robinhood provides equal opportunity for all applicants, offers reasonable accommodations upon request, and complies with applicable equal employment and privacy laws. Inclusion is built into how we hire and work—welcoming different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences so everyone can do their best. Please review the Privacy Policy for your country of application.