Principal Software Engineer

{ "jobLocation" : { "@type" : "Place", "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "United States of America", "addressLocality" : "Santa Monica - 2850 Ocean Park Blvd" } }, "hiringOrganization" : { "name" : "Snap Inc.", "@type" : "Organization", "sameAs" : "" }, "identifier" : { "name" : "Principal Software Engineer", "@type" : "PropertyValue", "value" : "H226PE10" }, "datePosted" : "2026-07-21", "employmentType" : "FULL_TIME", "title" : "Principal Software Engineer", "description" : "Snap Inc is a technology company. We believe the camera presents the greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Snap contributes to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together. The Company operates Snapchat, a visual messaging app that enhances your relationships with friends, family, and the world, and Specs Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to making computing more human, in addition to Bitmoji, Saturn, and other digital services. Snap Engineering teams build fun and technically sophisticated products that reach hundreds of millions of Snapchatters around the world, every day. We’re deeply committed to the well-being of everyone in our global community, which is why our values are at the root of everything we do. We move fast, with precision, and always execute with privacy at the forefront. We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join Snap Inc! What you’ll do: Design, implement, and scale critical engineering components and services to support Snap's most strategic initiatives Work across teams to understand product requirements, evaluate trade-offs, and deliver the solutions needed to build innovative products or services Advocate for and apply best practices when it comes to availability, scalability, operational excellence, and cost management Provide technical direction that influences the entire company Utilize AI tools and high velocity engineering workflows to design and ship scalable services while upholding rigorous standards for code correctness, security, and production ready quality code Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Excellent programming and software design skills, including debugging, performance analysis, and test design Proven track record of operating highly-available systems at scale Ability to proactively learn new concepts and technology and apply them at work Skilled at solving ambiguous problems Strong collaboration and mentorship skills Proficiency in, or a strong aptitude for, leveraging AI tools to streamline development, paired with the critical judgment to audit generated output for architectural integrity, performance bottlenecks, and security risks. Adaptability in learning and applying evolving AI systems and tools to remain at the forefront of engineering trends and modern development practices Minimum Qualifications: Bachelors in technical field such as computer science, mathematics, statistics or equivalent years of experience 10+ years of post-Bachelor’s software development experience; or a Master’s degree in a technical field + 9+ year of post-grad software development experience; or a PhD in a related technical field + 6+ years of post-grad software development experience 2+ years of experience with technical leadership or acting as the domain-expert to a technical organization Experience in technical leadership/ownership and setting technical direction for engineering projects Experience architecting, designing, and developing distributed systems Preferred Qualifications: Advanced degree in a technical field such as computer science Experience with cross platform development Ability to promote product excellence and collaboration, driving a portfolio of concurrent engineering projects, from short-term critical feature launches to long-term research initiatives. Ability to create a compelling vision for the future, communicate clearly,