Dropbox is a Virtual First company. For this role, we are hiring in Zones 2 and 3. Please refer to our Compensation section below to see what neighborhoods fall under each Zone.

Role Description

The Principal Software Engineer is a highly skilled expert responsible for shaping and executing the organization’s intelligence vision. This role integrates expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Automation, Data Analytics and Visualization to deliver transformative customer, partner, and colleague experiences that drive revenue growth and enhance productivity.

The position defines the technical direction for intelligence initiatives, leading the design, development, and deployment of robust, scalable, and secure AI solutions while fostering innovation through emerging technologies.

A critical aspect of the role is providing partnership, mentorship and technical guidance, cultivating a culture of excellence and continuous learning. Through close cross-functional collaboration across teams and stakeholders, the role ensures technical efforts are strategically aligned and deliver measurable impact. Additionally, the position plays a central role in strategic problem-solving, addressing complex challenges in intelligence systems and data pipelines, and making informed architectural decisions that ensure long-term scalability and success.

Responsibilities

• Define, drive, and communicate the technical vision for intelligence, AI, and data initiatives, ensuring alignment with CIT strategy, EPD goals, and broader organizational objectives.
• Take a holistic view of CIT systems and architecture to ensure they are scalable, reliable, secure, and maintainable over multiple years.
• Lead the design, development, and deployment of high performance AI systems, data pipelines, and intelligent services from conception through production.
• Make strategic architectural decisions to address complex AI, data, and platform challenges, balancing short term delivery with long term resilience and scalability
• Identify opportunities to simplify systems, reduce operational and security risk, and improve developer productivity.
• Contribute directly to prototyping, proof of concepts, and implementation of technical components when needed to validate strategy, de risk decisions, or accelerate progress.
• Architect, evolve, and scale AI, automation, and intelligence platforms that enable advanced analytics, personalization, search, and intelligent decision making.
• Drive innovation in intelligence models, distributed training, optimization techniques, and data engineering to maximize performance, quality, and business impact.
• Enhance search and discovery capabilities using intelligent algorithms, natural language processing, and modern data systems.
• Evaluate, select, and integrate emerging technologies in AI, ML, and automation to maintain a competitive and forward looking technical posture.
• Partner across engineering, product, design, infrastructure, and other stakeholders to ensure intelligence initiatives directly support strategic objectives.
• Translate technical capabilities and advancements into clear business outcomes that improve productivity, efficiency, and growth.
• Resolve conflicting requirements and priorities with sound technical judgment that favors long term organizational outcomes over local optimization.
• Advocate for intelligence driven solutions across the organization and influence company wide technical priorities.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to senior engineering leadership, with IC6 scope extending to org wide and EPD level strategy.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to engineers and data scientists from mid level through senior, fostering continuous learning and technical excellence.
• Serve as a technical multiplier by raising the effectiveness of surrounding teams through design reviews, code reviews, architectural guidance, and pragmatic execution.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing across teams through documentation, design writeups, technical discussions, and mentorship programs.
• Act as a voice for engineers by synthesizing feedback, surfacing gaps and risks, and communicating them clearly to leadership.
• Contribute to multi year technical vision and roadmap planning, anticipating future scale, complexity, and organizational needs.
• Identify architectural, operational, and security risks early and mobilize proactive mitigation plans across org boundaries.
• Partner closely with managers, product leaders, and senior engineers to ensure ambitious initiatives remain feasible, sustainable, and well aligned.
• For IC6 scope, influence technical direction beyond CIT and partner directly with senior EPD leadership on company wide strategy.
• Lead and support critical, high impact initiatives by defining technical direction, clarifying requirements, gathering estimates, and ensuring delivery against milestones.
• Drive execution on complex projects with significant ambiguity or high cost of failure.
• Improve engineering effectiveness by championing best practices such as CI, automated testing, reliability reviews, and clear ownership models.
• Promote a bias toward action, thoughtful experimentation, and continuous learning.
• Model excellence in engineering craft, collaboration, accountability, and inclusive behavior.
• Lead by example in living Dropbox values, including integrity, ownership, simplicity, and inclusivity.
• Support hiring by interviewing, calibrating candidates against a high technical bar, and representing Dropbox authentically to candidates and partners.

Requirements

• 12+ years of professional experience in software engineering, with depth in areas such as intelligent workflows, enterprise scale AI adoption, automation, or data engineering.
• Proven track record of leading large scale, multi team technical initiatives from conception to production, including solving ambiguous problems, setting technical vision, and driving impact without direct authority.
• Strong architectural judgment and systems thinking, with the ability to balance short term delivery with long term sustainability, scalability, and operational excellence.
• Demonstrated ability to influence across teams and disciplines through technical leadership, collaboration, and sound decision making rather than formal authority.
• Experience mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar of an organization through design reviews, code reviews, and technical guidance.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain complex technical concepts, translate technical strategy to diverse audiences, and influence stakeholders at all levels.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong coding ability in at least one language commonly used in AI and data systems such as Python, Java, Go, or Scala, with hands on experience building models, data pipelines, or scalable production services.
• Experience operating in platform, infrastructure, or internal tooling organizations, including leading or significantly influencing org wide technical initiatives.
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and competing priorities, drive clarity, and make sound technical and product tradeoffs in partnership with product managers.
• Experience collaborating cross functionally with product, design, infrastructure, and legal or privacy stakeholders to deliver AI powered or data intensive products responsibly.
• Familiarity with AI assisted development practices in large codebases, along with experience representing engineering externally through talks, blogs, or industry events when applicable.

Compensation

US Zone 1

This role is not available in Zone 1

US Zone 2

$256,300—$346,700 USD

US Zone 3

$227,800—$308,200 USD

• US Zone 1: San Francisco metro, New York City metro, or Seattle metro
• US Zone 2: California (outside SF metro), Colorado, Connecticut (outside NYC metro), Delaware, Illinois (Chicago metro), Indiana (Chicago metro), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (Chicago metro), New Hampshire, New Jersey (outside NYC metro), New York (outside NYC metro), Oregon, Pennsylvania (D.C. metro), Pennsylvania (outside NYC metro), Texas (Austin metro) Virginia (DC metro), Washington (outside Seattle metro), Washington DC metro, West Virginia (DC metro), Wisconsin (Chicago metro)
• US Zone 3: All other US locations

Company Description

Dropbox isn’t just a workplace—it’s a living lab for designing a more enlightened way of working. We’re a global community of bold visionaries and resourceful doers shaping the future of Dropbox and, in turn, the future of work. Our Virtual First model combines the autonomy of a distributed workplace with the power of human connection, creating space for meaningful work and lasting relationships. With a startup mindset and enterprise-level opportunities, we expect Dropbox employees to think critically, stay curious, and use modern tools, including AI, to improve how work gets done. Here, you can be who you are and grow into who you’re meant to be. You own your impact, helping make work more intuitive, joyful, and human for yourself and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. If you’re ready to push boundaries and challenge yourself, Dropbox is ready for you.

Team Description

The Dropbox Engineering Team develops the technology, platforms, and products that create more enlightened ways of working for hundreds of millions of people. Customers rely on Dropbox to manage, share, and collaborate on content seamlessly—our engineering makes that easier and more intuitive than ever before.Our platform features a robust systems software layer that stores and processes exabytes of data, and a suite of growing services that enhance core products like our sharing and sync engine. We’re also driving innovation with new offerings such as Dash, our AI-powered knowledge management engine. Our infrastructure spans high-performance servers and cutting-edge components across multiple data centers worldwide, ensuring reliability, speed, and scalability at a global scale. We think like a startup but build for an enterprise, exploring new possibilities that transform how people work. If you're excited about turning complex technical challenges into intuitive solutions at scale, join our Engineering team.

Virtual First

Dropbox’s Virtual First way of working is designed to help people do their best work with flexibility, autonomy, and connection. Day to day, teams work remotely with nonlinear schedules and core collaboration hours that support deep focus and individual working styles. We prioritize asynchronous communication to improve clarity, respect deep work time, and reduce unnecessary meetings. While remote work is the primary experience for our employees, we also prioritize intentional, in-person connection. We bring teams together through regular team gatherings, on-demand workspaces, and Dropbox Neighborhood events in order to strengthen team cohesion, foster creativity, and enhance momentum. Virtual First is built to provide the same access to opportunity, growth, and impact for everyone, regardless of location.

This role requires travel to offsites and various other team gatherings (approximately 5-10% of the year or 2-3 days per quarter). We provide advance notice when possible and encourage candidates to discuss any accommodation needs during the interview process.

Dropbox supports responsible use of AI for preparation, but misrepresentation of skills or experience is not permitted. See our AI Principles.

Dropbox is an equal opportunity employer. We are a welcoming place for everyone, and we do our best to make sure all people feel supported and connected at work.