Senior Staff Software Tech Lead, Photos Create

About the job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

The Photos Create team aims to empower our users with simple tools to express themselves creatively. We partner to transform your moments into whatever you want, however you want, whenever you want. The team focuses on bringing Google’s cutting edge gen media technologies to Google Photos and delivering a delightful experience for Photos’ 1.5 billion users to create assets that are easily snackable.

US: $262000 - $364000 (USD) + 25% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities

• Define and deliver the long-term engineering goal for our space. Balance leadership with personal ownership of complex, ambiguous problems, ensuring they are clarified and solved through direct technical leadership.
• Contribute to the codebase and system design, setting a high bar for technical excellence and yet scalable execution.
• Steer short and long-term investments to deliver at a rapid industry pace.
• Balance strategic influence with a ‘get-it-done’ mindset, proving out new genMedia features and tech in our product to learn quickly.
• Work efficiently across teams and cross-functionally with PM, UX and PgM to drive strategy.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development (e.g., Java, C++).
• 5 years of experience building large-scale infrastructure, distributed systems, or networks.
• 5 years of experience making technical contributions to projects.
• 3 years of experience working in an organization involving cross-functional or cross-business projects.

Preferred qualifications:

• Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• 5 years of experience in a technical leadership role leading project teams and setting technical direction.
• Experience with Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLM).
• Enthusiasm for working on technological innovations and the capability to thrive amidst associated ambiguities and challenges.

• Experience launching ML-enabled product features to consumers.

• Proven track record of driving significant product impact through a combination of strategic guidance and direct technical contribution on high-complexity projects.