ServiceNow
S

Senior Staff Software Engineer - Data Platform & Kubernetes

ServiceNow
Santa Clara, CA
Hybrid
Full-time
$150k - $262k
1d ago

Apt Insight

In this role, you will join the Data Platform Engineering organization as a hands-on technical leader responsible for the architecture, delivery, and reliability of shared, multi-tenant platform services. You will design and operate mission-critical data systems—including managed Postgres, streaming platforms, and key-value stores—deployed on Kubernetes across a large global fleet supporting regulated federal markets. You will act as an anchor engineer for high availability, disaster recovery, and infrastructure automation while breaking down complex platform challenges into scalable designs. Collaborating closely with principal engineers and product teams, you will establish service-level objectives, design Kubernetes-native operators, and mentor engineering talent across the organization.

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Responsibilities

Lead the technical design, deployment, and operational lifecycle of multi-tenant managed data services on Kubernetes across global environments.
Architect high availability, automated failover, disaster recovery, and multi-region topologies with explicit recovery time and recovery point objectives.
Develop Kubernetes-native automation, including custom controllers, operators, and self-service APIs using Go.
Conduct failure-mode analysis, chaos testing, game days, and post-incident reviews to ensure resilient distributed data systems.
Partner with product engineering teams to establish consumption contracts, multi-tenant isolation models, and service-level objectives.
Mentor junior and mid-level software engineers through comprehensive code reviews, technical pairing, and architectural guidance.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree with 12+ years of software development experience, Master's with 8+ years, PhD with 5+ years, or equivalent practical experience.
At least 8 years of hands-on experience building production software and managing stateful workloads and distributed systems on Kubernetes.
Demonstrated track record of designing and delivering multi-tenant data or streaming services such as Postgres, Kafka, or Redis.
Strong proficiency in systems programming with Go or extensive systems-language expertise with an aptitude for Go.
Deep expertise in distributed system concepts including consensus, replication topologies, consistency models, and partition tolerance.
Must be a US Citizen, Naturalized Citizen, or Permanent Resident capable of passing US Federal Personnel Authorization Screening Standards (USFedPASS).
Nice to Have
Experience developing or customizing Kubernetes operators for stateful services such as CloudNativePG, Strimzi, or Zalando Postgres operators.
Deep internal knowledge of Postgres, Kafka, or Redis clustering, replication, and performance optimization.
Experience implementing infrastructure as code using tools like Terraform or Crossplane alongside major cloud providers.

Work Environment

Operates under a flexible hybrid work model requiring 2 days per week in an office location such as Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Diego, Pleasanton, or Kirkland.
Involves supporting US Regulated Markets requiring strict security compliance and comprehensive background screening.
Fosters an engineering culture focused on technical leadership, continuous delivery via GitOps, and platform scalability.

Benefits & Perks

Annual base salary range of $149,800 to $262,200 plus equity eligibility and variable incentive compensation.
Comprehensive health coverage, flexible spending accounts, and family leave programs.
401(k) retirement plan with company match and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).
Flexible time off and charitable donation matching programs.
Clear advancement pathways within technical leadership and platform architecture.