Staff Data Platform Software Engineer - Persistence Team

ServiceNow•Santa Clara, CA

3h•$176,100 - $308,200•Hybrid

About The Position

The engineering organization is a dynamic group of builders, thinkers, and problem-solvers dedicated to delivering scalable, AI-powered software products that elevate how organizations work. We value clean architecture, intuitive user experiences, and a culture of continuous improvement. Every engineer here plays a key role in shaping the quality and reliability of our products. As part of the Persistence organization, you'll be building the backbone of the ServiceNow AI Platform - the system that powers reliability, scale, and intelligent transformation. You will help: Innovate to bring better (quality, performant, scalable, secure) access to our data platform that internal and external customers build upon Push IO, transaction, and concurrency limits across relational, time-series, and columnar stores Innovate to bring more capability to developers and automation to end customers The Data Access team is responsible for translating customers' data requests from the ServiceNow platform and accurately querying the database using our home-grown SQL generation engine. This team is responsible for SQL generation into Trino, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle databases, as well as table management and database metadata. As a Staff Software Engineer on the Data Platform team, you will be a key technical contributor within the Platform Persistence group, providing technical direction for your team's projects and helping raise the bar for engineering craftsmanship.

Requirements

8+ years of software development experience with a Bachelor's degree; OR 6+ years with a Master's degree; OR 3+ years with a PhD; OR equivalent work experience.
Experience leveraging critical thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving - including AI-powered tools, automating workflows, or analyzing AI-driven insights
Expert level skills with core Java development
Advanced level of backend platform development
Expert level understanding of best practices for object-oriented and modularized software, with emphasis on Java
Knowledge and/or experience with relational databases: PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL Server, Trino, etc.
Strong knowledge of data structures, algorithms, object-oriented design, design patterns, and performance optimization at scale
Experience with automated testing frameworks (e.g., JUnit, Selenium, TestNG) and integrating tests into CI/CD pipelines
Understanding of software quality principles including reliability, observability, and production readiness
Good understanding of cloud-based and distributed systems
Aptitude for learning new technologies quickly
Demonstrated success completing complex projects, on time and with quality
Experience with troubleshooting difficult production issues e.g., memory leaks, concurrency issues, locking issues, network problems, intermittent failures etc. across the stack
Track record of technical leadership - influencing architecture and engineering decisions within the team and with close collaborators
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience authoring design docs and presenting technical approaches to the team

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with ServiceNow platform is a plus
Familiarity with RDBMS internals
Passionate about database technologies
Experience with Unix shell
Experience working in a DevOps environment
Experience working in a customer focused environment

Responsibilities

Work on top of core data architecture that touches every part of our product, ensuring our systems maintain quality, reliability, security and performance.
Be a master at managing and enhancing a complex codebase with quality and speed
Deliver projects on time and with quality, with other engineers in tow
Set technical direction for key initiatives within the Data Access team, ensuring scalability and maintainability
Collaborate with product managers to translate requirements into well-architected solutions, owning features from design through delivery
Drive design and code reviews, championing best practices in performance, maintainability, and testability
Develop and advocate for comprehensive test strategies covering functional, regression, integration, and performance aspects
Contribute to a culture of continuous learning and engineering excellence, sharing best practices in engineering and quality with the team
Having aptitude for learning new technologies quickly
Developing platform technologies at scale
Relational Database Experience: Developing on, troubleshooting, and optimizing performance
Mentor junior and senior engineers to help them thrive in a complex codebase