Principal Software Engineer, Ads Platform
About The Position
Snap is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join its Ads Platform team. The role focuses on building next-generation advertising formats, backend infrastructure, and solutions that deliver clicks, conversions, and value for advertisers. The engineer will work end-to-end on new advertising products, formats, and infrastructure, from ideation and experimentation through analysis and optimization. The role also involves collaborating across teams to understand product requirements, weigh trade-offs, and deliver solutions that support Snap’s performance advertising suite. The engineer will advocate for best practices in availability, scalability, operational excellence, and cost management, and provide technical direction with influence across the company. They will use AI tools and high-velocity engineering workflows to design and ship scalable services while maintaining high standards for code correctness, security, and production readiness. Snap follows a “Default Together” approach, expecting team members to work in an office four or more days per week. The position is eligible for equity in the form of RSUs. In the United States, the annual base salary range varies by pay zone: Zone A (CA, WA, NYC), $276,000–$414,000; Zone B, $262,000–$393,000; and Zone C, $235,000–$352,000.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical field such as computer science, mathematics, or statistics, or equivalent years of experience.
- At least 10 years of post-Bachelor’s software development experience; or a Master’s degree in a technical field and at least 9 years of post-graduate software development experience; or a PhD in a related technical field and at least 6 years of post-graduate software development experience.
- At least 2 years of experience in technical leadership or acting as a domain expert to a technical organization.
- Experience providing technical leadership or ownership and setting technical direction for engineering projects.
- Experience architecting, designing, and developing distributed systems.
- Excellent programming and software design skills, including debugging, performance analysis, and test design.
- Proven ability to operate highly available systems at scale.
- Ability to learn new concepts and technologies proactively and apply them at work.
- Ability to solve ambiguous problems.
- Strong collaboration and mentorship skills.
- Ads domain expertise and a strong interest in advertising.
- Adaptability in learning and applying evolving AI systems and tools and modern development practices.
Nice To Haves
- Proven track record of delivering large-scale projects in attribution and measurement.
- Experience operating highly available systems at significant scale.
- Experience with backend services or distributed systems.
- Ads domain experience.
Responsibilities
- Build next-generation advertising formats, backend infrastructure, and solutions that deliver clicks, conversions, and value for advertisers.
- Work end-to-end on new advertising product, format, and infrastructure ideas, including experimentation, analysis, and optimization.
- Collaborate across teams to understand product requirements, evaluate trade-offs, and deliver solutions for innovative products and services.
- Support Snap’s performance advertising suite by delivering appropriate technical solutions.
- Advocate for and apply best practices in availability, scalability, operational excellence, and cost management.
- Provide technical direction and influence across the company.
- Use AI tools and high-velocity engineering workflows to design and ship scalable services while upholding standards for code correctness, security, and production readiness.
Benefits
- Paid parental leave.
- Comprehensive medical coverage.
- Emotional and mental health support programs.
- Compensation packages that provide an opportunity to share in Snap’s long-term success.
- Equity in the form of RSUs.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
