Senior Principal Engineer

What you'll do

• Define and drive the long-term technical vision and architectural direction for FoundationDB.
• Provide deep technical guidance on complex, high-impact challenges and scalability constraints.
• Lead the rethinking of the transaction layer and scalability architecture from first principles.
• Guide the team in building next-generation CDC pipelines, log storage, and tiered storage.
• Align technical direction with business and platform priorities through cross-functional partnership.
• Define the technical hiring bar and mentor the next generation of engineers.

What we're looking for

• 15+ years of experience designing, implementing, and operating highly scalable distributed systems.
• Deep expertise in planet-scale database systems like Spanner, DynamoDB, CockroachDB, or comparable technology.
• Proven ability to define and communicate long-term technical strategy across large, complex engineering organizations.
• Strong cross-functional partnership skills with platform, infrastructure, and product engineering teams.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills to articulate complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• A strong sense of ownership and a track record of driving outcomes in ambiguous, high-stakes environments.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Experience with modern data storage systems (preferred).
• Knowledge of security & privacy (preferred).