Quizlet
Principal Engineer - Platform Architecture & Core Reliability
Quizlet, San Francisco, California, United States, 94199
Principal Engineer - Platform Architecture & Core Reliability
About Quizlet
At Quizlet, our mission is to help every learner achieve their outcomes in the most effective and delightful way. Our $1B+ learning platform serves tens of millions of students every month, powering over 2 billion learning interactions monthly.
We blend cognitive science with machine learning to personalize and enhance the learning experience for students, professionals, and lifelong learners alike. We’re energized by the potential to power more learners through multiple approaches and various tools.
Join us to design and deliver AI‑powered learning tools that scale across the world and unlock human potential.
About The Role
We're hiring a Principal Engineer to lead critical architectural decisions that establish industry‑leading standards for reliability and operational excellence. This is a high‑leverage, hands‑on role focused on optimizing performance, driving engineering velocity, and leading systemic architectural change. The role reports to the Senior Director of Technical Infrastructure.
This is an
onsite
position in our San Francisco office. Employees must be in the office a minimum of three days per week: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with additional days as needed.
In This Role, You Will
Lead the strategy and implementation necessary to achieve and maintain a 99.95% availability target, evolving multi‑region deployment and resilience under high‑volume traffic.
Define a scalable architecture for our core data systems, optimizing performance across Cloud Spanner, PlanetScale MySQL, and BigQuery.
Drive performance and efficiency improvements across our managed compute environment, specifically Kubernetes (GKE) clusters and Istio service mesh.
Architect high‑leverage internal platforms, designing CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, CircleCI, and ArgoCD, and standardizing safe deployment practices.
Leverage incident analysis and proactive monitoring to improve operational practices and influence architectural decisions.
Own cost‑per‑request metrics, identifying architectural efficiencies such as caching and connection pooling to reduce spend while maintaining service speed.
What You Bring To The Table
10+ years of software development, SRE, or platform engineering experience across three or more high‑leverage domains.
Proven ability to drive significant architectural outcomes as a Principal or Staff Engineer in a large‑scale platform or infrastructure role.
Experience scaling consumer‑facing systems to tens of thousands of requests per second with high‑availability across multi‑region cloud environments.
Deep expertise in complex data backbones involving transactional and analytical systems (Cloud Spanner, PlanetScale, BigQuery).
Operational knowledge of Kubernetes (GKE) orchestration with Istio service mesh.
Design and implementation of automated CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, CircleCI, or ArgoCD.
Mastery of observability using Datadog, defining SLOs, and leading structured incident response.
Extensive experience designing large‑scale cloud‑native architecture on GCP, including network optimization and cost management.
Compensation, Benefits & Perks
Base salary $260,000 – $320,000, plus company stock options.
20 vacation days and 40 hours of annual paid time off for volunteer programs.
Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance.
Employer‑sponsored 401k with company match.
LinkedIn Learning and other professional growth resources.
Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, commuter benefits, and wellness benefits.
Why Join Quizlet?
Massive reach: 60 million+ users, 1 billion+ interactions per week.
Cutting‑edge tech: Generative AI, adaptive learning, cognitive science.
Strong momentum: Top‑tier investors, sustainable business, real traction.
Mission‑first culture that makes a difference.
Inclusive culture committed to equity, diversity, and belonging.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Quizlet is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
At Quizlet, our mission is to help every learner achieve their outcomes in the most effective and delightful way. Our $1B+ learning platform serves tens of millions of students every month, powering over 2 billion learning interactions monthly.
We blend cognitive science with machine learning to personalize and enhance the learning experience for students, professionals, and lifelong learners alike. We’re energized by the potential to power more learners through multiple approaches and various tools.
Join us to design and deliver AI‑powered learning tools that scale across the world and unlock human potential.
About The Role
We're hiring a Principal Engineer to lead critical architectural decisions that establish industry‑leading standards for reliability and operational excellence. This is a high‑leverage, hands‑on role focused on optimizing performance, driving engineering velocity, and leading systemic architectural change. The role reports to the Senior Director of Technical Infrastructure.
This is an
onsite
position in our San Francisco office. Employees must be in the office a minimum of three days per week: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with additional days as needed.
In This Role, You Will
Lead the strategy and implementation necessary to achieve and maintain a 99.95% availability target, evolving multi‑region deployment and resilience under high‑volume traffic.
Define a scalable architecture for our core data systems, optimizing performance across Cloud Spanner, PlanetScale MySQL, and BigQuery.
Drive performance and efficiency improvements across our managed compute environment, specifically Kubernetes (GKE) clusters and Istio service mesh.
Architect high‑leverage internal platforms, designing CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, CircleCI, and ArgoCD, and standardizing safe deployment practices.
Leverage incident analysis and proactive monitoring to improve operational practices and influence architectural decisions.
Own cost‑per‑request metrics, identifying architectural efficiencies such as caching and connection pooling to reduce spend while maintaining service speed.
What You Bring To The Table
10+ years of software development, SRE, or platform engineering experience across three or more high‑leverage domains.
Proven ability to drive significant architectural outcomes as a Principal or Staff Engineer in a large‑scale platform or infrastructure role.
Experience scaling consumer‑facing systems to tens of thousands of requests per second with high‑availability across multi‑region cloud environments.
Deep expertise in complex data backbones involving transactional and analytical systems (Cloud Spanner, PlanetScale, BigQuery).
Operational knowledge of Kubernetes (GKE) orchestration with Istio service mesh.
Design and implementation of automated CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, CircleCI, or ArgoCD.
Mastery of observability using Datadog, defining SLOs, and leading structured incident response.
Extensive experience designing large‑scale cloud‑native architecture on GCP, including network optimization and cost management.
Compensation, Benefits & Perks
Base salary $260,000 – $320,000, plus company stock options.
20 vacation days and 40 hours of annual paid time off for volunteer programs.
Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance.
Employer‑sponsored 401k with company match.
LinkedIn Learning and other professional growth resources.
Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, commuter benefits, and wellness benefits.
Why Join Quizlet?
Massive reach: 60 million+ users, 1 billion+ interactions per week.
Cutting‑edge tech: Generative AI, adaptive learning, cognitive science.
Strong momentum: Top‑tier investors, sustainable business, real traction.
Mission‑first culture that makes a difference.
Inclusive culture committed to equity, diversity, and belonging.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Quizlet is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply.
#J-18808-Ljbffr