Principal Engineer, Online Systems
At a Glance
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, US; Palo Alto, CA, US
- Work Regime
- hybrid
- Experience
- 12+ years
- Department
- Engineering
- Posted
- 2026-04-27T12:49:08-04:00
Key Requirements
Required Skills
Domain Knowledge
- Engineering
- Legal
- Medical
Requirements
in distributed systems, especially online serving, storage, and caching systems:
hands-on experience building and operating highly available, reliable, production-grade systems at large scale; strong technical judgment in reliability, scalability, performance, and infrastructure efficiency; proficiency in at least one of C++, Java, or Python.
Proven track record driving large-scale technical impact:
experience leading reliability and scalability improvements, cost efficiency initiatives, and modernization efforts across critical production systems; able to define technical strategy, influence architecture decisions, and drive execution through cross-functional collaboration, strong communication, and operational excellence.
Strong ownership, quality mindset, and thoughtful use of AI:
demonstrates high standards for engineering quality, integrity, and accountability for final outcomes; able to use AI to accelerate analysis, debugging, design exploration, or operational workflows while applying critical thinking, validating correctness, and maintaining sound technical judgment rather than outsourcing ownership to tools.
Responsibilities
Improve reliability, scalability and infra efficiency for Pinterest’s critical online systems across storage and caching, online service and realtime analytics systems to support continued business growth.
Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives to modernize Pinterest’s online serving stack through multi-region deployment, Kubernetes migration, and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and industry best practices.
Quality champion for online systems and the broad engineering organization, holding a high bar on execution quality and operational excellence.
Drive the online systems vision and strategy for the next 3 years and beyond, and translate that strategy into cross-functional roadmaps with measurable outcomes.
Foster a diverse and inclusive engineering culture that makes all feel welcome, and invest in mentorship, critical thinking, and candid feedback to strengthen individual and organizational growth.