Principal Software Engineer, Ads Format, Level 7

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’s three core products are Snapchat, a visual messaging app that enhances your relationships with friends, family, and the world; Lens Studio, an augmented reality platform that powers AR across Snapchat and other services; and its AR glasses, Spectacles.

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 the Ads Format team at Snap.

What you’ll do:

• Design and implement highly automated systems for ad format serving, optimization, and A/B testing to maximize user engagement and advertiser ROI.

• Lead the vision and strategy for our next-generation ad formats infrastructure, focusing on scalability, performance, and advertiser value.

• Innovate and conceptualize new ad format ideas, leveraging market trends, user behavior, and advertiser needs.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product management, design, data science, and other engineering teams, to deliver cohesive and impactful solutions.

• Advocate for and apply best practices when it comes to availability, scalability, operational excellence, and cost management

• Mentor and guide other engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning within the team.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Deep expertise in building and scaling ad formats or similar user-facing content delivery systems.

• 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

• Ads domain experience

• Client side and full stack experience preferred

Minimum Qualifications: 

• 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

• 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, and have a collaborative leadership approach

If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please don’t be shy and provide us some