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. #LI-HYBRID #LI-CL5 At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise. Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here. US based applicants only $285,452-$499,541 USD