Principal Software Engineer, Core Sharing & Collaboration

<h2 class="p1"><span class="s1">Role Description</span></h2> <p><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">As a Principal Engineer at Dropbox, you will own company critical, loosely defined technical problems with multi year impact, operating at the intersection of technology, product, business strategy, and applied AI. You will define long term technical direction for customer facing experiences used by millions, identifying where AI meaningfully improves customer value and translating evolving business context and industry advances into durable, multi area strategies and roadmaps that shape how Dropbox builds, scales, and innovates, while remaining hands on in software development where it provides the greatest leverage.</span></p> <p><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Your influence will span organizations, setting foundational architecture, driving execution standards, and aligning senior technical and product leaders across boundaries. You will lead the responsible introduction and adoption of AI across product capabilities and engineering workflows, bring clarity to the most complex decisions, institutionalize engineering excellence, and contribute directly through critical design, prototyping, and code reviews.</span></p> <p><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">In return, you will operate as a trusted technical partner to senior leadership, shape systems and platforms including AI powered foundations that define Dropbox’s future, and act as a company level technical strategist, advancing Dropbox’s mission to create a more enlightened way of working.</span></p> <p><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Our Engineering Career Framework is&nbsp;<a class="_ymio1r31 _ypr0glyw _zcxs1o36 _mizu1v1w _1ah3dkaa _ra3xnqa1 _128mdkaa _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu1r31 _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _kqswh2mm _syaz13af _ect4ttxp _1a3b1r31 _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj13af _9oik1r31 _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l313af _1nrm1r31 _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h12zz _10531ra0 _1ien1ra0 _n0fx1ra0 _1vhv17z1" href="https://dropbox.github.io/dbx-career-framework/" data-renderer-mark="true"><u data-renderer-mark="true">viewable by anyone outside the company</u></a> and describes what’s expected for our engineers at each of our career levels. Check out our blog post on this topic and more <a class="_ymio1r31 _ypr0glyw _zcxs1o36 _mizu1v1w _1ah3dkaa _ra3xnqa1 _128mdkaa _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu1r31 _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _kqswh2mm _syaz13af _ect4ttxp _1a3b1r31 _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj13af _9oik1r31 _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l313af _1nrm1r31 _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h12zz _10531ra0 _1ien1ra0 _n0fx1ra0 _1vhv17z1" href="https://dropbox.tech/culture/sharing-our-engineering-career-framework-with-the-world" data-renderer-mark="true">here</a>.<br></span></p> <h2 class="p1"><span class="s1">Responsibilities</span></h2> <ul> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">Own and drive technical outcomes across multiple teams and organizations, delivering company critical customer and business impact at scale.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">Define long term technical strategy and partner with senior Product and Engineering leaders as the technical owner for the most important company objectives.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">Tackle the most ambiguous and far reaching technical and product problems, shaping what the company builds as much as how it builds it.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">Remain deeply hands on in software development, owning and implementing the most critical, complex, and foundational parts of the system where leverage is highest.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">Influence and align roadmaps across organizations, resolving structural bottlenecks and changing how Dropbox builds and operates.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">Architect and evolve foundational systems</span> <span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp h-lparen">(this</span><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp"> may involve both frontend and backend systems) </span><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">and platforms that enable new product capabilities and operate reliably at the scale of hundreds of millions of users.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qovwiyz82zz65zz72zz78zz122zz88zz69zhyfc0z71zytz87zz79zz65zosqfcfkz80zne">Model exceptional technical judgment and execution rigor, setting and sustaining high engineering standards across a distributed, virtual environment</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Drive AI adoption both to increase productivity and to produce AI based features.</span></li> </ul> <h2 class="p1"><span class="s1">Requirements</span></h2> <ul> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Advanced degree in Computer Science or a related technical field involving substantial software development, or equivalent industry experience demonstrating deep technical mastery.</span></li> <li><span class="thread-132154000134551086379526 author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qowz81zz86z9z90zz78zpz67zz74zz66zz85zy1z82zkz89zz89zt8z83zz65zz83z6z85zz78z8z77zz70zlz68zz81z7">15+</span><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp"> years of experience designing, building, and evolving large scale software systems with sustained impact across multiple teams or organizations.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Demonstrated success operating at a </span><span class="thread-273200569889505387430892 author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Principal level</span><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">, owning company critical technical problems and influencing long term technical direction.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Strong experience building consumer facing products at scale, with a deep understanding of user experience, performance, reliability, and operational excellence.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Broad and deep technical expertise across multiple domains, including several of frontend, mobile, search, databases, storage systems, concurrency, and distributed systems.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Practical experience applying modern ML, LLM based APIs, and agentic frameworks in production systems, with sound judgment around quality, cost, and risk.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly and persuasively to senior engineering, product, and executive audiences.</span></li> </ul> <h2>Preferred Qualifications</h2> <ul> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Experience defining and scaling company wide platforms or architectural standards that are adopted across multiple organizations.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Proven track record of leading the introduction of new technologies such as AI or ML into core products or engineering workflows with durable impact.</span></li> <li><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qotv4z67zz122z8z65zz66zz80zdz77zz65zez78zfz70zbz83zz81zz90zcz67zwz78zz74zz122zrvjz84zz80zp">Experience operating in highly distributed, virtual first engineering organizations at global scale.</span></li> </ul> <h2 data-usually-unique-id="044234883370604133046166"><span class=" author-d-1gg9uz65z1iz85zgdz68zmqkz84zo2qowz81zqz90zkz74zz76zeez80zz68zz89zz88zvqz86zuxlz73zexxz80zz73z6d6z72zz79zsz77z">Compensation</span></h2>