Senior Software Engineer — Ingestion for Spark

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<p>At Snowflake, we are powering the era of the agentic enterprise. To usher in this new era, we seek AI-native thinkers across every function who are energized by the opportunity to reinvent how they work. You don’t just use tools; you possess an innate curiosity, treating AI as a high-trust collaborator that is core to how you solve problems and accelerate your impact. We look for low-ego individuals who thrive in dynamic and fast-moving environments and move with an experimental mindset — who rapidly test emerging capabilities to discover simpler, more powerful ways to deliver results. At Snowflake, your role isn't just to execute a function, but to help redefine the future of how work gets done.</p><p><strong>Build the future of the AI Data Cloud</strong><br />Snowflake's File Ingestion team owns the engines behind <strong>COPY INTO and Snowpipe</strong> — the paths that land customer data into the AI Data Cloud at hundreds of petabytes per quarter, growing year over year. We build the batch and continuous file-ingest paths that customers depend on to move data into the platform at scale. We run at high ingest throughput with customer data landing in minutes end-to-end.<br /><br />We're hiring a <strong>Senior Software Engineer</strong> to own deep, high-impact work across our file-ingest engines. You will operate at the intersection of systems performance, query execution, and customer-driven feature delivery — shaping the architecture of how data enters the platform.<br /><br /><strong> What you'll do</strong><br />- Design and deliver major end-to-end features in the ingestion control-plane services.<br />- Drive multi-quarter technical initiatives across the ingest surface like Snowpark Connect..<br />- Partner with architects, PMs, and adjacent teams to shape designs that scale across cloud providers and large enterprise footprints.<br />- Write and review design docs, set technical direction on cross-team work, and own the bar for code quality and operational excellence in your area..<br />- Mentor mid-level and junior engineers; raise the team's overall design and review quality.<br />- Engage directly with enterprise customers to root-cause production issues, prototype fixes, and turn customer feedback into roadmap signal.<br /><br /><strong> What we're looking for</strong><br />- 7+ years building production systems software, with a track record of owning high-impact projects from design through GA.<br />- Expert proficiency in C++ or Java — strong preference for engineers comfortable in both.<br />- Deep understanding of at least one of: query execution engines, ingestion pipelines, distributed data systems.<br />- Demonstrated cross-team design leadership and architectural judgment — able to navigate trade-offs across performance, correctness, and time-to-market.<br />- Strong written communication; comfortable driving consensus across PMs, architects, and adjacent engineering teams.<br />- BS or MS in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.<br /><br /><strong> Bonus points for</strong><br />- Optimizing query engines or ingestion systems at PB-scale.<br />- Performance engineering: SIMD, vectorization, cache-aware algorithms, memory management.<br />- Background in cloud-native data warehouses or lakehouse platforms.<br />- Familiarity with Apache Spark and open-table formats such as Apache Iceberg.<br />- Open-source contributions to data systems.<br />- Compiler, transactional database, or storage-engine background.<br /><br /><strong> Why this team</strong><br />- Highest-leverage surface in Snowflake's data path. Every feature we ship moves the volume needle for tens of thousands of enterprise accounts.<br />- Cross-cutting technical scope. Our surface touches scanners, parsers, file formats, schedulers, query planning, and storage — broad systems and product work.<br />- Direct customer signal. You'll work with enterprise accounts where your fixes unblock real revenue.<br />- Senior bar. This role expects you to set technical direction, partnering with the team's tech lead and architect to shape our roadmap.</p><p>Snowflake is growing fast, and we’re scaling our team to help enable and accelerate our growth. We are looking for people who share our values, challenge ordinary thinking, and push the pace of innovation while building a future for themselves and Snowflake.</p><p>How do you want to make your impact?</p><p>For jobs located in the United States, please visit the job posting on the Snowflake Careers Site for salary and benefits information: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://careers.snowflake.com">careers.snowflake.com</a></p><p>The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:<ul><li> The estimated base salary range for this role is $200,000 - $287,500.</li><li>Additionally, this role is eligible to participate in Snowflake’s bonus and equity plan.</li></ul></p><p>The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location. This role is also eligible for a competitive <a class="benefits_link" href="https://careers.snowflake.com/us/en/benefits" target="_blank">benefits</a> package that includes: medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance; 401(k) retirement plan; flexible spending & health savings account; at least 12 paid holidays; paid time off; parental leave; employee assistance program; and other company benefits.</p><p>To comply with pay transparency requirements and other statutes, you can notify us if you believe that a job posting is not compliant by completing this <a class="benefits_link" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfLgZaN7w6vEPtyK_M8dwrdT4Vue0fn-s1_KCq4rCACJ_lV3g/viewform" target="_blank">form.</a></p>

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Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

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Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...