Software Engineer, Backend, Level 5

Location: Bellevue, India | Los Angeles, Canada | New York, United States | Palo Alto, Canada | San Francisco, Canada | Seattle, India

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Full time

About Snap Inc

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.

About the Role

Snap Inc is a camera company that believes AR and visual storytelling will transform how the world communicates. We're seeking a Software Engineer, Backend, Level 5, to power the backend infrastructure behind Snapchat, Lens Studio, and Spectacles—reaching hundreds of millions of users daily with fun, ephemeral experiences. In Engineering, you'll design and operate our most critical services, from user identity and friend graphs to the core persistence layer that enables real-time AR Lenses and seamless camera interactions. Join a creative culture where we move fast with precision, always prioritizing privacy and innovation to help people live in the moment. You'll work cross-functionally to understand product needs for AR glasses, visual messaging, and global-scale features, evaluating trade-offs to deliver scalable solutions. Advocate for best practices in availability, cost management, and operational excellence while independently owning medium-sized projects spanning weeks and multiple PRs. Your expertise in distributed systems will ensure our services handle massive traffic, supporting everything from friend suggestions to AR content delivery with low latency and high reliability. We're committed to a 'Default Together' policy, expecting 4+ days/week in office to foster dynamic collaboration in our vibrant Snap community. With a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, we build teams of unique voices to create products that express creativity worldwide. Base salary ranges from $178,000-$313,000 USD (Zone A: CA, WA, NYC $209,000-$313,000; Zone B: $199,000-$297,000; Zone C: $178,000-$266,000) plus equity, based on experience and location. Snap is an equal opportunity employer offering comprehensive benefits including medical coverage, parental leave, mental health support, and more.

What You'll Do

• Design, implement, and operate critical scalable backend services powering Snapchat's user identity, friend graph, and core persistence layer
• Collaborate across engineering and product teams to translate innovative AR and camera features into robust backend solutions
• Evaluate trade-offs in scalability, performance, and cost to deliver Snapchat experiences reaching hundreds of millions daily
• Build and maintain highly-available distributed systems that support real-time AR Lenses and Spectacles integration
• Develop services enhancing Snapchat's visual messaging, ensuring seamless global communication
• Apply best practices for availability, operational excellence, and privacy in every deployment
• Test, debug, and optimize backend systems for low-latency camera and AR interactions
• Participate in on-call rotations for incident response and hotfix resolution
• Advocate for infrastructure improvements to support Snap's creative, fast-moving culture
• Integrate with cloud services to handle massive scale for Lens Studio and Snapchat innovations
• Mentor junior engineers on backend best practices in a collaborative environment

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or equivalent relevant technical field
• 6+ years of post-Bachelor’s software development experience
• Master’s degree in a technical field + 5+ years of post-grad software development experience, or PhD + 2+ years
• Experience with distributed systems
• Proven track record of operating highly-available systems at significant scale
• Ability to independently execute on medium-sized features taking weeks and multiple PRs
• Understanding of operational aspects including incident investigation and resolution
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Java, C++, and/or Python
• Experience with NoSQL solutions, Memcache/Redis, Kubernetes, or Google/AWS services
• Background in large-scale microservices, cloud computing, or infrastructure design
• Familiarity with security, networking, data storage, or machine learning
• Experience building systems for AR or real-time camera technologies

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Backend service development
• Distributed systems architecture
• Large-scale microservices
• Cloud computing (Google Cloud/AWS)
• NoSQL databases
• Memcache/Redis caching
• Kubernetes orchestration
• Java programming
• C++ programming
• Python programming
• System scalability and availability
• Operational excellence and on-call experience
• Debugging and performance optimization
• Cross-team collaboration
• Privacy and security best practices
• Trade-off evaluation for product features
• Incident investigation and resolution
• High-quality code testing practices

Our Benefits

• Paid parental leave
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Emotional and mental health support programs
• Competitive compensation with equity in RSUs
• Flexible paid time off and wellness stipends
• 401(k) matching and financial planning resources
• Onsite fitness centers and catered meals at Snap offices
• Professional development budget for conferences and courses
• Snapchat+ perks and employee discounts on Spectacles

Compensation

$209,000-$313,000 annually

This position is eligible for equity in the form of RSUs.

"Default Together" Policy: At Snap Inc, we practice a "default together" approach and expect team members to work in an office 4+ days per week.

Snap is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.