Principal Engineer, Online Systems

As a principal engineer on the Online Systems team, you’ll join a team that powers Pinterest’s most business-critical online systems at massive scale, driving the reliability, efficiency, and evolution behind every core Pinner and Advertiser experience. You'll lead major efforts like multi-region deployment and Kubernetes migration, set the standard for operational excellence, and define the long-term vision for our online serving infrastructure, supporting machine learning and product innovation across the company. This is an opportunity for high-impact technical leadership, broad visibility, and cross-functional influence at the heart of Pinterest’s platform.

What you’ll do:

• 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.
  
  

What we’re looking for:

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise 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.
• Exceptional collaboration skills with cross-functional partners, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, make tradeoffs, and keep stakeholders aligned on priorities and progress.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent experience.
  
  

Relocation Statement:

• This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

In-Office Requirement Statement:

• We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
• This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times per quarter and therefore needs to be in a commutable distance from one of the following offices: PA or SF offices.

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