Staff Software Engineer, Database Efficiency
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 6, 2026. First seen by Alion on Nov 4, 2026. Google scores B on the Alion truth index.
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.
With your technical expertise you will manage project priorities, deadlines, and deliverables. You will design, develop, test, deploy, maintain, and enhance software solutions.
In this role, you will be instrumental in driving a measurable, fleet-wide impact on the efficiency and speed of services used by billions. This position is ideal for a systems engineer passionate about end-to-end performance optimization and hardware/software co-design.
The AI and Infrastructure team is redefining what’s possible. We empower Google customers with breakthrough capabilities and insights by delivering AI and Infrastructure at unparalleled scale, efficiency, reliability and velocity. Our customers include Googlers, Google Cloud customers, and billions of Google users worldwide.
We're the driving force behind Google's groundbreaking innovations, empowering the development of our cutting-edge AI models, delivering unparalleled computing power to global services, and providing the essential platforms that enable developers to build the future. From software to hardware our teams are shaping the future of world-leading hyperscale computing, with key teams working on the development of our TPUs, Vertex AI for Google Cloud, Google Global Networking, Data Center operations, systems research, and much more.
Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits
Learn more about benefits at Google.
Responsibilities
- Provide technical leadership on projects.
- Influence and coach a distributed team of engineers.
- Facilitate alignment and clarity across teams on goals, outcomes, and timelines.
- Leverage hardware/software co-design to unlock new performance capabilities, translating your deep knowledge of modern server architecture into targeted software enhancements.
- Investigate massive database and analytics workloads to identify and resolve critical performance bottlenecks across the entire compute stack.
Qualifications
Minimum qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
- 8 years of experience programming in C++ or Python.
5 years of experience with performance, large-scale systems data analysis, visualization tools, or debugging.
- Experience with database internals.
- Experience in performance analysis and software architecture.
Preferred qualifications:
- Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
- 8 years of experience with data structures and algorithms.
- 3 years of experience in a technical leadership role leading project teams and setting technical direction.
- 3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization involving cross-functional, or cross-business projects.
- Experience in computer architecture.