Principal Engineer, Cloud Data Infrastructure

Principal Engineer, Data Platform Infrastructure And Performance Engineering This role is the technical authority for Venmo's data platform infrastructure and performance engineering. The Principal Engineer sets the technology vision, defines architectural direction, and provides deep technical leadership for the teams responsible for mission-critical databases, data pipelines, messaging systems, caching infrastructure, and performance engineering powering Venmo's real-time payment processing at massive scale. This is a deeply hands-on individual contributor role with broad organizational influence — you will stay close to the code and systems, own technical strategy, pioneer AI-first engineering practices, and mentor the Venmo data platform engineering community. You will also serve as the primary technical voice in cross-functional and executive-level conversations. Essential Responsibilities: Increases results & effectiveness of all software engineers in a large domain Sets the technology roadmap for a domain Adapts their role to the need, selecting the most effective means of realizing their technical goals Provides advice and counsel to senior executives within PayPal, influencing the development of multi-year business strategies Exercises wide latitude in determining objectives and approaches to assignments and takes initiative to achieve results Handles ambiguous and unfamiliar situations and uses creativity to deliver decisive resolutions Uses discovery & exploratory research, not being limited to technical domains, to make successful decisions Identifies themes & trends that span projects and teams, and finds broadly impactful opportunities for improvement Uses professional savvy to determine when industry-standard solutions can be adopted, versus when a problem space warrants a novel solution ("build/buy") Mentor others as a means of propagating technical influence, and to enhance the performance of their organization Minimum Qualifications: 10+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor's degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience. Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications :

• Background in financial technology, payments processing, or regulated industries.
• Experience supporting transaction processing systems requiring extreme reliability and millisecond-level response times.
• Familiarity with resilience engineering, failure injection testing, and business continuity planning.
• Knowledge of modern data pipeline frameworks and real-time analytics architectures.
• History of mentoring and growing senior/staff-level engineers into technical leadership roles.
• Experience integrating AI/ML workflows into data platform infrastructure including vector databases, feature stores, or LLM serving infrastructure.

Subsidiary: Venmo Travel Percent: 0 The base pay for this role will depend on where you work and the relevant experience and expertise you bring. The expected range of pay for this role by location is: Primary Location | Pay Range: San Jose, California | ($218,000.00 - $323,950.00 Annually) Additional Location(s) | Pay Range: Austin, Texas | ($198,000.00 - $294,250.00 Annually) Additional compensation for this role may include an annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable. PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. When making an application directly, we will never ask you to share passwords, one-time passcodes (OTP), or verification codes. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. All communication regarding your application will come from official PayPal email domains. If you suspect fraudulent activity, please report it immediately. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit . For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations. Our Benefits: At PayPal, we're committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can't do this without our most important asset-you. That's why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing—physical, emotional, and financial—delivering meaningful value where it matters most. We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health. Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io . Belonging at PayPal: Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal. Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community . We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don't hesitate to apply. PayPal