Lead Principal Software Engineer, Core Infrastructure

Oracle • Seattle, WA

23h • $146,300 - $306,400

About The Position

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Compute is hiring a hands-on Lead Principal Engineer to provide technical leadership for compute control plane services, focused on Imaging and Container Registry. The role architects, builds, and operates distributed systems that are multi-tenant, highly available, horizontally scalable, resilient, and cost-efficient across OCI regions, with consistent latency, throughput, and durability.

The engineer will collaborate across Compute, Storage, Networking, OKE, and Functions to deliver platform features, enforce secure-by-default designs, and improve reliability. The position owns the service lifecycle from design and implementation through deployment, on-call operations, and continuous improvement, while setting engineering standards and mentoring engineers. It also defines and drives the technical roadmap for OCI Imaging and Container Registry Services, translates customer needs into priorities with product management and field teams, and contributes to the broader Compute vision for globally supporting mission-critical workloads.

This role calls for technical breadth and experience solving cloud-scale problems through distributed systems design and implementation. The successful candidate will lead projects across organizational boundaries, communicate effectively in writing and verbally, and represent their work to senior leaders. Leadership expectations also include taking ownership of deliverables, collaborating across geographically distributed teams, and guiding the team in emerging AI technologies and engineering patterns.

Requirements

• 10+ years of development experience with large-scale, highly available distributed systems.
• Proficiency in Java programming patterns.
• Advanced knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and operating systems.
• Experience operating distributed services at scale.
• Expertise in Linux and operating systems.
• Systematic problem-solving approach, strong communication skills, ownership, and drive.
• Deep understanding of service metrics and alarms, including development of dashboards, service KPIs, and alarming systems.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to articulate technical concepts and document solution approaches.
• Ability to lead projects across organizational boundaries and collaborate across geographically distributed teams.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related IT field, or equivalent relevant experience.

Nice To Haves

• Programming experience with Scala and Python.
• Experience managing and automating end-to-end CPU/GPU lifecycles at scale.
• Proficiency with cloud and CI/CD environments.
• Proficiency with Kubernetes, OS images, and Terraform.
• Proficiency with modern build tools and pipelines.
• Experience building multi-tenant, virtualized infrastructure.
• Proficiency with change control management and mature operating processes.
• Proficiency with security, including identity, SSL, and certificates.
• Proficiency with databases and data stores.
• A proactive, experimentation-oriented mindset and willingness to learn and guide a team on emerging AI technologies, frameworks, and engineering patterns.
• Demonstrated problem-solving ability leveraging AI, distributed systems, and cloud-native application behaviors.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and operate distributed, highly available, resilient, multi-tenant, horizontally scalable, and cost-efficient systems across OCI regions.
• Collaborate with Compute, Storage, Networking, OKE, and Functions teams to deliver platform features focused on Imaging and Container Registry Services.
• Enforce secure-by-default designs and improve service reliability.
• Mentor and guide engineers in distributed systems design, high-scale data processing, and operational excellence; establish and raise engineering standards across teams.
• Own service-level objectives for availability, latency, and durability, and reduce operational toil through automation, observability, and self-healing mechanisms.
• Own the full service lifecycle, including design, implementation, deployment, on-call, and continuous improvement.
• Define and drive the technical roadmap for OCI Imaging and Container Registry Services.
• Work with product management and field teams to translate customer needs into roadmap priorities.
• Contribute to the broader Compute vision for evolving Imaging and Container Registry Services to support mission-critical workloads globally.
• Lead projects across organizational boundaries and represent technical work to senior leaders.
• Propose, scope, design, and direct automation, optimizations, and enhancements.
• Drive technical outcomes, take ownership of deliverables, and guide the team on emerging AI technologies, frameworks, and engineering patterns.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including expert medical opinion.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Life insurance and AD&D.
• Supplemental life insurance for employees, spouses, and children.
• Health care and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Pre-tax commuter and parking benefits.
• 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company match.
• Flexible or accrued paid vacation, depending on eligibility and position.
• 11 paid holidays.
• Paid sick leave: 72 hours upon hire, refreshed annually, with unused balance carrying over up to a 112-hour cap.
• Paid parental leave.
• Adoption assistance.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• Financial planning and group legal benefits.
• Voluntary auto, homeowner, and pet insurance.
• May be eligible for bonus, equity, and compensation deferral.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal