Distinguished Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network, built to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Our products help people make powerful connections, discover exciting opportunities, build necessary skills, and gain valuable insights every day. We're committed to providing transformational opportunities for our employees by investing in their growth and aspire to create a culture built on trust, care, inclusion, and fun.

This role is hybrid, performed both from home and from a LinkedIn office on select days, based in Mountain View, CA or Bellevue, WA.

About the role

LinkedIn’s Data Infrastructure team builds and operates some of the largest online, offline, and serving systems in the world. These systems are critical to our business success, and we are constantly pushing the boundaries of scale, reliability, and user experience. We are seeking a Distinguished Engineer with deep expertise in Online Infrastructure, Platforms, and Databases to provide leadership across the Data Infrastructure organization.

Online Data Infrastructure at LinkedIn delivers the specialized systems required to run LinkedIn’s user-facing, online applications with high availability, low latency, and optimal performance. This leader will leverage their broad infrastructure knowledge and work across online and offline data systems, other infrastructure and product teams to drive innovation, optimize performance, increase reliability, and enable superior user experiences that increase customer engagement.

Responsibilities

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of LinkedIn's infrastructure, particularly focusing on Online Infrastructure and Databases, and provide domain expertise and thought leadership.
• Lead and facilitate cross-functional technical discussions to align product and technology strategies, emphasizing developer productivity while meeting scale, performance, and efficiency requirements.
• Define and drive technical strategies and roadmaps that translate business requirements into robust architecture and technology plans.
• Design and architect highly scalable, resilient, and distributed systems to support Data Infrastructure objectives.
• Establish and advocate for best practices, design patterns, and quality standards for scalable Distributed Databases and caching systems.
• Identify and address gaps in the current infrastructure by recommending and implementing migration strategies for legacy systems.
• Mentor and guide senior engineering talent, fostering a culture of craftsmanship, innovation, and technical excellence.
• Represent LinkedIn as a thought leader by publishing technical papers, presenting at conferences, and driving industry innovation in Data Infrastructure.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the infrastructure supports LinkedIn's business goals and customer needs.
• Drive the adoption of new technologies and methodologies that enhance the performance, reliability, and maintainability of LinkedIn’s infrastructure.
• Ensure compliance with security and privacy standards, implementing measures to protect LinkedIn’s data and systems.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on infrastructure, distributed systems, or databases.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent research experience.
• Proven track record of technical leadership in building robust, scalable platforms.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing, implementing, and managing large-scale, distributed systems that are both resilient and scalable.
• 5+ years of experience in a technical or scientific leadership position.
• Proven ability to lead and mentor engineering teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and collaboration.
• Expertise in designing and implementing distributed databases, data, and compute infrastructure at scale.
• Experience identifying gaps in current infrastructure, recommending strategic improvements, and driving implementation of cutting-edge solutions to advance the field of Data Processing and Data Infrastructure.
• Experience leading large-scale development projects from concept to production.
• Proficiency with AI-based development and the use of AI/ML in production systems.
• Ability to drive cross-company initiatives and influence the evolution of infrastructure systems.
• Excellent communication skills, with experience mentoring engineering talent and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.

Skills

• Distributed Systems
• Online Infrastructure
• Databases

Pay

The pay range for this role is $253,000 to $416,000. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, depth of experience, certifications, and specific work location.

The total compensation package may also include an annual performance bonus, stock, benefits, and/or other applicable incentive compensation plans.