Senior Staff Data Platform Engineer - Data Access Team, Santa Clara

Company Description

It all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried tears of joy. That moment inspired Fred to build a company that could do that for everyone—freeing people from busywork so they could focus on meaningful work. Today, ServiceNow is the AI control tower for business reinvention. Our ServiceNow AI platform brings together any AI, any data, and any workflow— helping 85% of the Fortune 500® work smarter, faster, and better. We're building an AI-native culture where technology and talent are unstoppable together. And we're just getting started.

Join us to put AI to work for people.

Job Description

Position Location:
This is a Flexible (Hybrid) position. Flexible positions require 2 days per week in a ServiceNow office location. We have offices in several locations, including San Francisco, CA; Pleasanton, CA; Santa Clara, CA; San Diego, CA; and Kirkland, WA

Are you energized by the power of enterprise-scale data to transform how we work? At ServiceNow, our mission is to “make the world of work, work better for people,” and our AI-driven platform is delivering on that promise. We're the #1 enterprise platform for uniting AI, data, and workflows — simplifying how people work, automating what slows them down, and enabling seamless, impactful experiences.

About the Role — Senior Staff Data Platform Software Engineer, Data Access Team

The engineering organization is a dynamic group of builders, thinkers, and problem-solvers dedicated to delivering scalable, AI-powered software products that elevate how organizations work. We value clean architecture, intuitive user experiences, and a culture of continuous improvement. Every engineer here plays a key role in shaping the quality and reliability of our products.

As part of the Persistence organization, you'll be building the backbone of the ServiceNow AI Platform — the system that powers reliability, scale, and intelligent transformation. You will help:

Innovate to bring better (quality, performant, scalable, secure) access to our data platform that internal and external customers build upon
Push IO, transaction, and concurrency limits across relational, time-series, and columnar stores
Innovate to bring more capability to developers and automation to end customers

About the Team

The Data Access team is responsible for translating customers' data requests from the ServiceNow platform and accurately querying the database using our home-grown SQL generation engine. This team is responsible for SQL generation into Trino, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle databases, as well as table management and database metadata.

As a Senior Staff Software Engineer on the Data Platform team, you will be a key technical leader within the Platform Persistence group, setting direction for the team's architecture and raising the bar for engineering craftsmanship across the organization.

What you get to do in this role:

You'll work on top of core data architecture that touches every part of our product, ensuring our systems maintain quality, reliability, security and performance.
Be a master at managing and enhancing a complex codebase with quality and speed
Deliver projects on time and with quality, with other engineers in tow
Set technical direction and architecture strategy for the Data Access team's systems, ensuring long-term scalability and maintainability
Collaborate with product managers and engineering leadership to translate business requirements into well-architected, cross-team technical solutions, owning features from design through delivery
Drive design and code reviews, championing best practices in performance, maintainability, and testability across multiple teams
Develop and advocate for comprehensive test strategies covering functional, regression, integration, and performance aspects
Foster a culture of continuous learning and engineering excellence, sharing best practices in engineering and quality across the broader organization
Having aptitude for learning new technologies quickly
Developing platform technologies at scale
Relational Database Experience: Developing on, troubleshooting, and optimizing performance
Mentor junior, senior, and staff-level engineers to help them thrive in a complex codebase, raising the technical bar across the team

To be successful:

Having aptitude for learning new technologies quickly
Demonstrated success completing complex, cross-team projects, on time and with quality
Experience with troubleshooting difficult production issues e.g., memory leaks, concurrency issues, locking issues, network problems, intermittent failures etc. across the stack
Track record of technical leadership — influencing architecture and engineering decisions across multiple teams without relying on direct authority
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience authoring design docs/RFCs and presenting technical strategy to senior engineering leadership

Qualifications

To be successful in this role you have:

Experience leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into engineering work — whether using AI-powered coding and operational tooling, automating workflows, or reasoning about how AI changes the way software and infrastructure are built.
10+ years of software development experience with a Bachelor's degree; OR 8+ years with a Master's degree; OR 6+ years with a PhD OR equivalent work experience.
demonstrated track record of technical leadership at a Staff or Senior Staff level (or equivalent)
Expert level with core Java development
Advanced-Expert level of backend platform development
Expert-level understanding of best practices for object-oriented and modularized software, with emphasis on Java
Knowledge and/or experience with relational databases: PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL Server, Trino, etc.
Strong knowledge of data structures, algorithms, object-oriented design, design patterns, and performance optimization at scale
Experience with automated testing frameworks (e.g., JUnit, Selenium, TestNG) and integrating tests into CI/CD pipelines
Deep understanding of software quality principles including reliability, observability, and production readiness
Good understanding of cloud-based and distributed systems
Experience leveraging critical thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving — including AI-powered tools, automating workflows, or analyzing AI-driven insights

Nice to have:

Familiarity with ServiceNow platform is a plus
Familiarity with RDBMS internals
Passionate about database technologies
Experience with Unix shell
Experience working in a DevOps environment
Experience working in a customer-focused environment

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $201,300 - $352,300, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Additional Information

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact [email protected] for assistance.

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 be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities.