About the job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

We develop and optimize the ISO GQL standard natively on Spanner, owning the complete engine stack from parser and optimizer to the execution layer. ISO GQL is a sibling standard database language to SQL. Our GQL implementation provides a full-featured interface, including DDL, DML, and DQL to manage global-scale graph data with relational-grade consistency.

Google Cloud accelerates every organization’s ability to digitally transform its business and industry. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google’s cutting-edge technology, and tools that help developers build more sustainably. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $174,000-$252,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities

• Design and build the graph query engine within Cloud Spanner, enabling seamless execution of graph queries alongside standard Google SQL on globally distributed, petabyte-scale data.

• Develop high-performance C++ code to optimize critical paths including graph traversals, query planning, and storage interaction, while ensuring strict ACID guarantees and low latency.

• Design and implement complex technical projects such as path-finding algorithms and query engine interoperability, taking them from ambiguous requirements to production deployment with a high degree of autonomy.

• Act as a trusted technical advisor for key customers, providing expert consultancy on graph schema design, query performance tuning, and best practices for large-scale implementations.

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.

• 5 years of experience with software development in one or more programming languages (e.g. C++).

• 3 years of experience with developing large-scale infrastructure, distributed systems or networks, or experience with compute technologies, storage or hardware architecture.

• Experience with database internals, distributed systems, and compilers.

Preferred qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, or a related technical field.

• 5 years of experience with data structures and algorithms.

• Experience with query compilers, plan generation, and execution engines with knowledge of GQL or Cypher.

• Experience developing accessible technologies.

• Understanding of concurrency control, consensus algorithms (Paxos), and data replication strategies.