Principal Software Engineer - Multi-Cloud Control Plane - Kubernetes

ServiceNow is building a cloud-native platform that spans Kubernetes, distributed systems, and hyperscaler infrastructure, and this Principal Software Engineer role provides org-wide technical direction for how it is designed and operated at scale. In this hybrid position based in San Diego, you will take ownership of complex, ambiguous platform challenges including multi-cloud control-plane architecture, reliability across hundreds of clusters, and the identity and trust fabric that underpins workload security.

What you’ll do

• Set the technical direction for the cloud-native platform across multiple engineering teams, establishing architecture and standards for building and running Kubernetes, distributed systems, and hyperscaler infrastructure at scale.
• Own the hardest platform problems, including multi-cloud topology, control-plane design, workload isolation, identity and trust fabric, and reliability for hundreds of clusters and dozens of product workloads.
• Partner with engineering fellows, principal engineers, and other senior technical leaders to drive consistent architectural decisions and adoption of best practices across the platform ecosystem.
• Identify and mitigate major technical risks with C-suite visibility, including making calls on managed versus self-managed tradeoffs, substrate portability, and multi-hyperscaler strategy.
• Design and build critical components when needed, including control planes, operators, infrastructure abstractions, and other systems built on top of the platform.
• Mentor staff and principal engineers and help shape the organization’s next generation of technical leadership.

What you bring

• Experience leveraging or critically thinking about integrating AI into engineering and platform work, such as AI-powered tooling, automating operational workflows, building agentic systems for fleet visibility and operations, or evaluating AI’s impact on infrastructure design and operations.
• 12+ years designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems in production, with deep expertise running Kubernetes at scale (multi-cluster, multi-region, multi-tenant).
• Hands-on, authoritative experience across one or more major hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP), including managed Kubernetes services (EKS, AKS, GKE) and the networking, IAM, and capacity tradeoffs involved.
• A proven track record of technical leadership across multiple engineering teams, influencing architecture and direction without relying on positional authority.
• Deep expertise in modern platform building blocks, including the operator/controller pattern, infrastructure-as-code and control planes (for example, Crossplane), GitOps-based delivery, container networking (CNI), and service mesh.
• Strong programming skills in Go and fluency across the cloud-native ecosystem.

Technologies

• Kubernetes, AWS, EKS, Azure, AKS, GCP, GKE
• Go, Crossplane, GitOps
• CNI, service mesh
• SPIFFE, SPIRE, mTLS, Kata Containers

Additional helpful experience

• Designing identity and trust fabrics for distributed systems, including workload identity, mTLS, and standards such as SPIFFE/SPIRE.
• Multi-tenant workload isolation and runtime security experience (for example, Kata Containers or sandboxed runtimes).
• Experience building and operating platforms for regulated or federal markets, including FedRAMP, air-gapped or self-hosted distribution, and OCI bundling.
• Observability at scale, including metrics, tracing, and SLO-driven operations across a large fleet.
• A platform-as-product mindset, treating internal engineering teams as customers and operating the platform with a roadmap, contracts, and a delivery pipeline.

Compensation and benefits

• Base pay of $254,500 - $445,400 per year, plus equity (when applicable), and variable/incentive compensation and benefits.
• Health plans, including flexible spending accounts.
• 401(k) plan with company match.
• ESPP.
• Matching donations.
• Flexible time away plan and family leave programs.

Location and work arrangement

• San Diego, CA (hybrid).
• Flexible positions require 2 days per week in a ServiceNow office.
• ServiceNow offices include Santa Clara, CA, San Diego, CA, and Kirkland, WA.

ServiceNow may verify eligibility for a work persona using a third-party service to confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office. If you require reasonable accommodation during the application process, contact [email protected]. For roles requiring access to controlled technology under export control regulations, ServiceNow may need export control approval from government authorities, and employment is contingent upon obtaining any required export license or approval.