Principal Software Engineer

Every day, tens of millions of people come to Roblox to explore, create, play, learn, and connect with friends in 3D immersive digital experiences- all created by our global community of developers and creators.


At Roblox, we're building the tools and platform that empower our community to bring any experience that they can imagine to life. Our vision is to reimagine the way people come together, from anywhere in the world, and on any device.We're on a mission to connect a billion people with optimism and civility, and looking for amazing talent to help us get there.


A career at Roblox means you'll be working to shape the future of human interaction, solving unique technical challenges at scale, and helping to create safer, more civil shared experiences for everyone.

Every day, tens of millions of people from around the world come to Roblox to play, learn, work, and socialize in immersive digital experiences created by the community.

Our vision is to build a platform that enables shared experiences among billions of users. This is what's known as the metaverse: a persistent space where anyone can do just about anything they can imagine, from anywhere in the world and on any device. The breadth of opportunities, and the evolving demands of this first-of-its-kind platform, ensure that your avenues for growth are always expanding and flexible.

As a Principal Software Engineer of the Game Engine data model team, you will innovate on the core data structures that form the backbone of Roblox's platform. In this role you will have first hand opportunity to design and build one of the core technologies that makes the Roblox game engine special.


The Data Model framework provides an interface between engine capabilities and our creators. It also acts as a fabric to core technologies, such as networking, scripting, Studio, rendering and physics which are essential to the high performance of the Roblox game engine. This role is in our San Mateo, CA HQ three days a week (Tuesdays to Thursdays).

You Will:

• Develop engine code that performs well for all user-created games on the Roblox platform.
• Establish the foundational architecture and technical direction for the team.
• Work cross-functionally , across teams and technology platforms to deliver high quality and amazing functionality.
• Lead by example and mentor engineers to implement technological best practices, patterns, and strategies.
• Improve the product quality by encouraging automation testing.
• Take Ownership of projects throughout their full lifecycles.
• Execute on all the devices Roblox supports - from desktop clients to mobile phone clients to console clients.

You Have:

• At least 8+ years experience and expertise with C++ code-generation and analysis tools (libclang, Abstract Syntax Trees, etc).
• Outstanding systems-level C++ programming skills.
• Curiosity about the actual work the CPU does when you use smart pointers, templates, virtual functions, and blocks of memory, both structured and raw.
• BS or MS in Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.

Additional Considerations:

• Familiarity with game engines or other large-scale simulations is beneficial.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and follow-through.
• Ability to build systems that work and keep on working optimally.
• Detailed in handling potential failure cases, and diligent in automated testing.
• Willingness to learn, and stay up-to-date on technology developments.

For roles that are based at our headquarters in San Mateo, CA: The starting base pay for this position is as shown below. The actual base pay is dependent upon a variety of job-related factors such as professional background, training, work experience, location, business needs and market demand. Therefore, in some circumstances, the actual salary could fall outside of this expected range. This pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. All full-time employees are also eligible for equity compensation and for benefits as described on this page .

Annual Salary Range

$295,250-$345,040 USD

Roles that are based in an office are onsite Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with optional presence on Monday and Friday (unless otherwise noted).

Roblox provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Roblox also provides reasonable accommodations to candidates with qualifying disabilities or religious beliefs during the recruiting process.

For US based roles only, please note the Company may not be able to employ candidates for this role who have United States work authorization related to certain U.S. visa categories, or support future H-1B sponsorship at this time.