Senior Staff Software Engineer - Backend (Persistence)

It all started in sunny San Diego, California in 2004 when a visionary engineer, Fred Luddy, saw the potential to transform how we work. Fast forward to today — ServiceNow stands as a global market leader, bringing innovative AI-enhanced technology to over 8,100 customers, including 85% of the Fortune 500®. Our intelligent cloud-based platform seamlessly connects people, systems, and processes to empower organizations to find smarter, faster, and better ways to work. But this is just the beginning of our journey. Join us as we pursue our purpose to make the world work better for everyone.

About the Team: 

The engineering organization is a dynamic group of builders, thinkers, and problem-solvers dedicated to delivering scalable, AI-powered software products that elevate how organizations work. We value clean architecture, intuitive user experiences, and a culture of continuous improvement. Every engineer here plays a key role in shaping the quality and reliability of our products.  

About the Role – Staff Data Platform Software Engineer, Graph API Team 

As part of the Persistence organization, you’ll be building the backbone of the ServiceNow AI Platform — the system that powers reliability, scale, and intelligent transformation. You will help: 

• Innovate to bring better (quality, performant, scalable, secure) access to our data platform that internal and external customers build upon 
• Enable Cypher-like query capabilities on relational domains (like CMDB), supporting deep analytics and insight 
• Push IO, transaction, and concurrency limits across relational, time-series, and columnar stores 
• Innovate to bring more capability to developers and automation to end customers 

The Graph API team is part of the Data Access team, responsible for translating customers’ data requests from the ServiceNow platform and accurately querying the database using our home-grown SQL generation engine. This team is responsible for SQL generation into PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle databases, as well as table management and database metadata.  

What you get to do in this role: 

• You’ll work on top of core data architecture that touches every part of our product, ensuring our systems maintain quality, reliability, security and performance. Design and develop scalable, maintainable, and reusable software components with a strong emphasis on performance and reliability. 
• Collaborate with product managers to translate requirements into well-architected solutions, owning features from design through delivery 
• Build intuitive and extensible user experiences using modern UI frameworks, ensuring flexibility for customer-specific needs. 
• Contribute to the design and implementation of new products and features while enhancing existing product capabilities.  
• Integrate automated testing into development workflows to ensure consistent quality across releases. 
• Participate in design and code reviews ensuring best practices in performance, maintainability, and testability.  
• Develop comprehensive test strategies covering functional, regression, integration and performance aspects 
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement by sharing best practices in engineering and quality  
• Promote a culture of engineering craftsmanship, knowledge-sharing, and thoughtful quality practices across the team. 

Required: 

• Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI's potential impact on the function or industry. 
• Typically requires a minimum of 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 8 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 5 years experience; or equivalent experience.
• Experience In using AI Productivity tools such as Windsurf, Cursor, etc is a plus or nice to have. 
• 6+ years of hands-on backend development with experience in Java. 
• Experience with modern front-end frameworks such as Angular, React, or Vue. 
• Strong knowledge of data structures, algorithms, object-oriented design, design patterns, and performance optimization  
• Familiarity with automated testing frameworks (e.g., JUnit, Selenium, TestNG) and integrating tests into CI/CD pipelines 
• Understanding software quality principles including reliability, observability, and production readiness. 
• Ability to troubleshoot complex systems and optimize performance across the stack. 
• Experience with AI-powered tools or workflows, including validation of datasets, model predictions, and inference consistency. 
• Comfort with development tools such as IDEs, debuggers, profilers, source control, and Unix-based systems 
• Relational Database Experience: Developing on, troubleshooting, and optimizing performance. 
• Good understanding of cloud-based and distributed systems. Knowledge and/or experience with relational databases: Oracle, MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL Server 
• Deep knowledge of databases, data modelling, and data storage technologies.  
• Experience with troubleshooting difficult production issues e.g., memory leaks, concurrency issues, locking issues, network problems, intermittent failures etc. across the stack. 

Nice to have: 

• Familiarity with ServiceNow platform is a plus. 
• Familiarity with RDBMS internals. 
• Passionate about database technologies 
• Experience with Unix shell.  
• Experience working in a DevOps environment. 
• Experience working in a customer focused environment. 
• Experience with Knowledge Graph technologies like Cypher and Neo4J

Why Join Us 

• Build and deliver high-impact software that powers digital experiences for millions of users. 
• Collaborate in a culture that values craftsmanship, quality, and innovation. 
• Work symbiotically with AI and automation tools that enhance engineering excellence and drive product reliability. 
• Be part of a culture that encourages innovation, continuous learning, and shared success.

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $178,000 - $311,500, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or nationality, ancestry, age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements. 

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact [email protected] for assistance. 

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities. 

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