Principal Software Engineer
ServiceNow · Posted Nov 4
Cloud-based workflow automation and artificial intelligence platform services
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About the role
This Principal Software Engineer role at ServiceNow is focused on defining long-term technical architecture and building core infrastructure services and microservices that support machine learning, frontend, and platform teams. The engineer will write production-grade code across K8s, Python, Golang, and Postgres, align architecture with business goals, and mentor senior engineers. The position requires 15+ years of software engineering experience, including distributed systems and AI integration in engineering processes.
What you will do
- Technical Architecture & Strategy Define and own the long-term technical architecture, making critical build vs. buy decisions to ensure systems remain resilient as the platform scales 10x
- Platform & Infrastructure Design and build core infrastructure services and microservices that serve machine learning, frontend, and platform teams
- Business Alignment Align technical architecture with business goals, ensuring engineering velocity, system reliability, and infrastructure costs directly support customer acquisition, retention, and time-to-market
- Hands-on Engineering Write high-performance, clean, and maintainable production-grade code across the stack (K8s, Python, Golang, Postgres etc.)
- Cross-functional Execution Drive and deliver business-critical engineering outcomes in close collaboration with cross-functional engineering teams
- Engineering Culture Mentor senior engineers, champion engineering excellence, and foster a culture of rapid, impact-driven innovation
- Ownership & Initiative Identify critical system and business gaps proactively, propose solutions, align stakeholders, and drive execution with a high degree of ownership
Skills used in this role
What the employer is looking for
- Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI’s potential impact on the function or industry.
- Experience 15+ years of software engineering experience with a demonstrated progression into Principal or Sr. Staff Engineer capacity at a high-growth tech company or top-tier AI lab
- Technical Proficiency Strong hands-on coding ability with deep design thinking, capable of driving both code-level execution and system-level architecture decisions. Proficiency in any programming language with ability to adapt — K8s, Python, Golang, Postgres and data lakes preferred
- Distributed Systems Proven experience in distributed systems — performance, scalability, latency, optimization, and monitoring
- Commercial Mindset Demonstrated ability to connect engineering decisions to business outcomes such as latency improvements, driving margin efficiency, and enabling rapid product feature launches
- High Agency Self-driven with strong ownership, ability to identify system and business gaps, propose solutions, align stakeholders, and execute at startup pace
- Product & AI Mindset Experience integrating or evaluating AI tools and workflows in engineering processes and decision-making
Benefits and support
- Compensation and benefits are detailed in the job posting
About ServiceNow
ServiceNow provides an end-to-end cloud-based platform and workflow automation solutions that help enterprises digitize and unify operations. Its platform leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to streamline IT service management, customer service, and business processes.
- Industry
- Software Development
- Company size
- 10001+ employees
- Founded
- 2004
- Location
- Santa Clara, California, USA
- Funding stage
- Public Company
Funding
Public Company · $4.08B raised
- 2026-04-17Post IPO Debt$4.00B
Leadership
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
President and Chief Financial Officer
President, Chief Product Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Chief Technology Officer and EVP, DevOps
Recent coverage
ServiceNow Newsroom
ServiceNow Reports Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results2026-10-28
GuruFocus
ServiceNow Reports Strong Q3 2026 with 20.5% Subscription Revenue Growth2026-10-29
The Futurum Group
ServiceNow Delivers Q3 Beat-and-Raise Driven by Accelerating Enterprise AI Adoption2026-10-30