Six Figure Work

Principal Engineer, Big Data Platform

Pinterest

Company websitepinterest.de (Pinterest, opens in new tab)

Base salary $242,634  to $499,541

Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in San Francisco, CA

Apply (opens in new tab)

You apply on the employer's own site. Six Figure Work does not handle applications.

  • LocationSan Francisco, CA
  • WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
  • Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
  • Last checked (3 h ago) · observed since

About this job

About Pinterest:

Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.

Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible.

At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.

Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here.

We’re looking for a principal software engineer to lead the next generation of data infrastructure at Pinterest which powers mission critical big data and AI applications. You’ll be working on some of the most exciting big data and AI open source technologies (Flink, Spark, Kubernetes, etc.), at the scale of exabytes of data to help Pinners discover and do what they love.

What you’ll do:

  • Lead the strategy and technical direction of Pinterest’s data infrastructure for big data and AI applications
  • Build and scale data infra frameworks and infrastructure to process petabytes-scale datasets, including compute engines, job management, resource management, scheduling and remote shuffling
  • Work with internal customers on critical business use cases that rely on big data 
  • Provide thought leadership to the entire company on how data should be processed and stored more reliably, quickly and efficiently at scale
  • Contribute to the team’s technical vision and long-term roadmap

What we’re looking for:

  • 12+ years of industry experience with a proven track record of technical excellence
  • 8+ years of experience of building and support large scalable Kubernetes or big data platform
  • Deep knowledge of big data / ML technologies (e.g. Flink, Spark, Presto, Kubernetes, Ray, PyTorch/TensorFlow)
  • Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Java, Go, Scala, Python)
  • Experiences in Kubernetes and AWS technologies
  • Exceptional collaboration skills with cross-functional partners, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, make tradeoffs, and keep stakeholders aligned on priorities and progress.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent experience.

In-Office Requirement Statement:

  • We let the type of work you do guide the collaboration style. That means we're not always working in an office, but we continue to gather for key moments of collaboration and connection.
  • This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times/quarter and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country. 

Relocation Statement:

  • This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

#LI-REMOTE

#LI-CL5

At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.

Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here.

US based applicants only

$242,634—$499,541 USD

Our Commitment to Inclusion:

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.

By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.

Source: Pinterest on Greenhouse · View original posting (opens in new tab)

Pay in context

This role's base floor ($242,634) is above 80% of the 1,514 Data & ML roles in California listed on this site; 1 other lists the same floor. Their median floor is $187,500; the middle half runs from $159,200 to $229,375.

Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 7, 2026.

This range next to 6 other live Pinterest roles with the nearest advertised base floor
Chart as a table
This range next to 6 other live Pinterest roles with the nearest advertised base floor
RolePublished base
Principal Engineer, Big Data Platform (this listing)$242,634 - $499,541
Sr. Staff Software Engineer, Product ML Infrastructure$245,402 - $429,454
Principal Engineer, AI Platform$242,634 - $499,541
Sr. Staff Product Manager, Ads Quality Ranking$230,280 - $402,990
Sr. Staff Product Manager, Data and Signals Connectivity$230,280 - $402,990
Director of Product Management, Advertiser Growth$228,911 - $471,286
Sr. Manager, Machine Learning Engineering-Applied Research$227,871 - $469,147

Same $100K to $400K scale as every card. All Pinterest roles · How to read the bar

Observed changes

  1. First observed on the employer's board
  2. Began meeting the published-salary criteria
Observed since
Employer-stated posting date
2026-09-02
Where this pay comes from

Location as the employer wrote it: US based applicants only

USD 242,634 – 499,541 · interval unstated · pay_input_range · US based applicants only

Method
Structured pay field published by the employer
Checked
Rule set
us-base-v2

The employer's job board publishes this pay as a dedicated data field. We read the field directly; no interpretation was needed.

What we verified

  • The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
  • The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
  • The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.

We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.