Principal Engineer, Quizlet
Data and Database Systems Architecture
$276-320k
+ stock options
More information about location
3 days a week in office
Learning tools for students and teachers
Open for applications
Learning tools for students and teachers
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
$276-320k
+ stock options
More information about location
3 days a week in office
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To give every student the tools and confidence to succeed, no matter their motivation or what they’re striving to achieve.
Role
Who you are
- Distributed Database Expertise: Deep, hands-on experience architecting and operating globally distributed transactional systems. Expert knowledge of Cloud Spanner internals, advanced MySQL sharding and scaling (e.g., PlanetScale), and production optimization under heavy load
- Analytical Data Systems: Deep experience with large-scale analytical data warehousing (BigQuery) and designing resilient data ingestion/ELT plumbing
- Architectural Influence: Proven ability to define global data strategies and drive cross-functional change, effectively partnering with product engineering and data science teams to guide schema design and data access patterns
- Scale and Operational Discipline: A history of leading the design and implementation of highly available data systems (targeting four-nines or higher), with proven experience in operational fundamentals like backup, recovery, and data integrity assurance
- Cloud Architecture: Extensive experience in designing and optimizing large-scale cloud-native architecture on GCP (or equivalent), including database networking, security policies, and cost governance
What the job involves
- We're hiring a Principal Engineer to serve as the Lead Architect for Data Systems, overseeing the architecture, operations, and performance of our foundational database infrastructure
- This high-leverage role works in partnership with the other Principal Engineer roles to establish industry-leading standards for reliability and cost-efficiency
- The role reports to the Senior Director of Technical Infrastructure
- We’re happy to share that this is an onsite position in our San Francisco office
- We believe that this working environment facilitates increased work efficiency, team partnership, and supports growth as an employee and organization
- Database Architecture & Scaling: Lead the architectural plan for scaling and evolving our core database systems (Cloud Spanner, PlanetScale MySQL, and BigQuery). This includes driving critical decisions on sharding, data topology evolution, and global data distribution strategies
- Deep Performance Optimization: Act as the organization's primary Subject Matter Expert (SME) for data performance. You will actively guide teams on everything from high-level schema design and query optimization to low-level deep-dive analysis (e.g., "why is my query slow?") across all three database systems
- Technical Leadership & Influence: Lead, mentor, and guide the team of SRE/Platform engineers focused on database systems. You will also partner closely with product engineering, data engineering, and AI/ML teams to influence schema design, operational excellence, and ensure the database layer supports their requirements
- Data Lifecycle & Operational Excellence: Own the resilience of the data tier, including the definition and implementation of comprehensive backup, recovery, and business continuity strategies. Regularly audit and test these mechanisms to ensure high availability for critical data storage
- Reliability Engineering & Availability (The Core Mandate): Architect and implement solutions to meet and maintain an internal 99.99% availability target for critical data access, supporting the overall platform's 99.95% SLO. This includes designing connection management, capacity planning, and automation to handle peak load and ensure data consistency
- Cost Efficiency & Governance: Act as the technical owner for data-related cost optimization. Balance performance and reliability needs while implementing strategies for efficient storage, indexing, and throughput to minimize expenditure
Our take
Quizlet has evolved from a simple flashcard tool into one of the most recognizable consumer learning platforms, now serving over 60M active users. It reaches two-third of US high schoolers and half of college students, putting it among the top 20 US websites and leading education apps on mobile.
Its core strength lies in helping students learn quickly and effectively through tools like flashcards, practice tests, AI-generated study guides, and now course-specific collaborative folders. By focusing on efficiency and relevance, Quizlet has become a go-to resource for students who want targeted, outcome-driven study support. And its collaborative features also allow large groups of students to share and refine materials together, so learning really is a shared experience.
Recent expansions - including Course-Powered Quizlet and its deepened partnership with Brand Metrics - show the platform's continued momentum. With AI-driven personalization, independent ad measurement, and growing peer-recommended content, Quizlet is strengthening trust with advertisers while meeting modern student expectations. And these advancements sure position Quizlet as a leading, forward-thinking plater in ed-tech.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
75% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
May 2020
$30m
SERIES C
Feb 2018
$20m
SERIES B
Total funding: $62m
Company benefits
- Competitive Healthcare: Comprehensive health, dental, vision and disability plans for you and your family. 100% paid premiums for employees, 75% for dependents
- PTO & Family Benefits: Everyone gets 20 days of PTO, a minimum of 10 paid holidays, and 5 volunteer days off. We also provide resources for growing families, such as Carrot (fertility & family forming) and UrbanSitter (daycare & nannies). Our generous family leave plan offers 12 weeks of leave plus disability leave for birthing mothers when welcoming a new little learner into their family.
- Learning & Development: Here at Quizlet, we invest in our employees’ career development to support learning and professional growth. Employees have access to LinkedIn Learning, an on-demand learning solution designed to help them gain new skills and advance their careers. We host speakers and workshops and also offer support for other professional development opportunities.
- Shared Financial Success: Competitive salaries, stock options and a 401k match that makes saving for retirement easy.
- Wellness: We strive to promote the physical and mental health & well-being of our employees. We offer resources for mental health & well-being, plus a $100/month reimbursement towards wellness and fitness memberships.
- Commuter Benefits: We don’t have a school bus, but we'll help cover 50% of your public commuter & parking costs, plus pre-tax FSA. If you decide to work late, your ride home is on us.
Company HQ
China Basin, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Kurt Beidler
(CEO)Prior to joining Quizlet in 2024, Kurt was the Co-CEO of Swift. He also spent 17 years at Amazon in various roles, including General Manager of Automotive Sales, Advertising, and Amazon Kids as well as Director of Kindle Content in Beijing.
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