Principal Software Engineer - Multi-Cloud - Control Plane - Kubernetes

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will lead technical authority for ServiceNow’s cloud-native platform, with a focus on Kubernetes, distributed systems, and multi-cloud control-plane architecture. This distinguished engineering role drives solutions to the most complex platform challenges and aligns architectural decisions across multiple teams.

Role Overview

Own org-wide technical direction for how Kubernetes, distributed systems, and hyperscaler infrastructure are designed, built, and operated at scale. Lead the platform work across multiple engineering teams and organizations, setting standards and architecture patterns for reliability across large-scale deployments.

Responsibilities

• Define and set technical direction for the cloud-native platform across multiple engineering teams, including architecture and operational standards for Kubernetes, distributed systems, and hyperscaler infrastructure at scale.
• Own the hardest and most ambiguous 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 in initiatives, with visibility up to C-suite, including decisions on managed versus self-managed tradeoffs, substrate portability, and multi-hyperscaler strategy.
• Design and build critical platform components when needed, including control planes, operators, infrastructure abstractions, and systems built on top by other teams.
• Mentor staff and principal engineers and help shape the next generation of organizational technical leadership.

Requirements

• Experience leveraging or critically assessing how to integrate AI into engineering and platform operations, including AI-powered tooling, automation of operational workflows, agentic systems for fleet visibility and operations, and understanding AI’s impact on infrastructure build and run.
• 12+ years of experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems in production, with deep Kubernetes expertise at scale (multi-cluster, multi-region, multi-tenant).
• Hands-on authoritative experience with one or more major hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP), including managed Kubernetes offerings (EKS, AKS, GKE) and the associated networking, IAM, and capacity tradeoffs.
• Proven 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, Azure, GCP
• EKS, AKS, GKE
• Go, Crossplane
• GitOps, CNI, service mesh
• SPIFFE, SPIRE
• mTLS
• Kata Containers
• FedRAMP
• OCI

Compensation and Benefits

• Base pay: USD 254,500 - 445,400 per yearly, plus equity (when applicable)
• Variable/incentive compensation and benefits
• Health plans, including flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) Plan with company match
• ESPP
• Matching donations
• Flexible time away plan
• Family leave programs

Work Location

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

Additional Qualifications

• Experience designing identity and trust fabrics for distributed systems, including workload identity and mTLS, and standards such as SPIFFE/SPIRE.
• Experience with multi-tenant workload isolation and runtime security (for example Kata Containers and sandboxed runtimes).
• Experience building and operating platforms for regulated or federal markets, including FedRAMP, air-gapped or self-hosted distribution, and OCI bundling.
• Experience with 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 the platform as a product with a roadmap, contracts, and a delivery pipeline.

Work Personas and Eligibility

ServiceNow uses work personas to describe flexible, remote, or required-in-office categories based on the nature of the work and an employee’s assigned work location. To determine eligibility, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may need to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. Employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any required export license or other approval.

Accommodations

If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use the online application and need an alternative method to apply, contact [email protected] for assistance.