Do you want to help design and implement the next generation of cloud computing?
Do you want to help build the future of AI accelerating compute architectures across the Akamai Connected Cloud?
Join our Compute team!
Our team's mission is to accelerate innovation by making computing simple, scalable, accessible, and affordable for all. We provide the infrastructure and services that enable developers to build next-generation applications. We take ownership of the design and development of core compute interfaces, virtualization management, APIs, and low-level platform services.
Partner with the best
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will own the design of the control plane that places, reconciles, and operates VMs across the Compute fleet.
As a Principal Software Engineer Lead, you will be responsible for:
- Defining the database partitioning and sharding strategy to scale control plane state management 5x, with capacity models for placement and inventory state.
- Owning the placement reconciliation loop: desired-state model, idempotent reconcilers, drift detection, and reconciliation-lag SLOs.
- Generalizing bulk and asynchronous operations into one model with standard operation resources, batching, concurrency caps, and automatic halt on failure thresholds.
- Setting consistency guarantees per data path, enforcing idempotency and fencing on controller actions, and specifying saga-style workflows.
Do what you love
To be successful in this role you will:
- Have 12 years of experience in building distributed systems along with experience in owning control planes or large-scale orchestration or its equivalent
- Have deep database experience with SQL, including partitioning, sharding, replication, and online schema change.
- Have built asynchronous systems: durable task queues, event-driven workflows, and retry and backpressure design.
- Have hands-on experience building and operating containerized applications, including Kubernetes.
- Have good competence in Python or Go; experience with the other or with ColdFusion is good, but not required.
- Have deep understanding of consistency (leases, fencing, idempotency, optimistic concurrency) and hands-on experience with reconciliation or controller patterns (Kubernetes-style controllers or equivalent).
About us
At Akamai, we make life better for billions of people, trillions of times a day.
Whether you're streaming live events, scrolling social media, watching your favorite series, or managing your savings, we're the engine behind the scenes. We provide the world's most distributed platform from Cloud to Edge to help the giants of the digital world work faster and stay more secure, making the internet a better experience for everyone.
Our focus is simple:
Cloud and Edge: Running apps closer to users for instant performance.
Security: Neutralizing threats before they ever reach your data.
Content Delivery: Scaling the world's biggest moments without a glitch.
AI: Enabling our customers to build, secure, and scale AI apps on the world's most distributed cloud platform.
At Akamai, we don't just support the internet; we power and protect it, because behind every great digital experience is a massive hidden challenge. And we're the ones who solve it. When millions of people hit play or pay, Akamai ensures it just works.
Benefits at Akamai: We support your health, well-being, finances, and life beyond work. See our benefits.
FlexBase adapts to your job's needs
Akamai's FlexBase program is yet another way we show our commitment to providing employees with an exceptional workplace experience. It's not about telling employees where to work; it's about supporting employees to do their best work.
We trust our incredible employees to work in ways that suit them best: at home, in an office, or a combination of both.
Compensation
Akamai is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. For US based candidates only - the base salary for this position ranges from $169,300 - $304,700/year; a candidate’s salary is determined by various factors including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location. Compensation for candidates outside the US will vary. The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of annual bonus or incentives, equity awards and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). Akamai provides industry-leading benefits including healthcare, 401K savings plan, company holidays, vacation (in the form of PTO), sick time, family friendly benefits including parental leave and an employee assistance program including a focus on mental and financial wellness; Eligibility requirements apply.
Skills Required
- 12 years of experience building distributed systems, including ownership of control planes or large-scale orchestration, or equivalent experience
- Deep SQL database experience, including partitioning, sharding, replication, and online schema changes
- Experience building asynchronous systems with durable task queues, event-driven workflows, retries, and backpressure
- Hands-on experience building and operating containerized applications, including Kubernetes
- Competence in Python or Go
- Experience with both Python and Go or with ColdFusion
- Deep understanding of leases, fencing, idempotency, optimistic concurrency, and consistency
- Hands-on experience with reconciliation or controller patterns, such as Kubernetes-style controllers or equivalent
Akamai Technologies Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Akamai Technologies and has not been reviewed or approved by Akamai Technologies.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Unlimited PTO in the U.S., wellness days, paid volunteering time, and the FlexBase model contribute to broad time‑off flexibility. These practices are described as supporting strong work‑life balance.
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Parental & Family Support — Generous paid parental leaves, paid family care leave, subsidized backup childcare, and inclusive family‑building benefits via Carrot form a comprehensive family support suite. Coverage spans fertility support through caregiving resources.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with a substantial company match and immediate vesting, plus Roth and Mega Backdoor Roth options, underpin long‑term savings. These features provide reliable long‑term savings opportunities.
Akamai Technologies Insights
What We Do
At Akamai, we make life better for billions of people, billions of times a day. Every moment, billions of people, all over the world, are using the internet to shop, play games, look after finances, learn remotely, share videos, connect across the world, and so much more. These life-shaping digital experiences wouldn’t be possible without Akamai. We power and protect life online. It’s an extraordinary mission, and our global teams achieve it by solving the toughest challenges, and turning the impossible into the possible. With the world’s most distributed compute platform — from cloud to edge — we make it easy for businesses to develop and run applications, while we keep experiences closer to users and threats farther away. That’s why innovative companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and secure their digital experiences. Thanks to our world’s most distributed platform for cloud computing, security, and content delivery. Akamai keeps applications and experiences closer and threats farther away. Devoted, determined problem-solvers who share a passion for technology, we’re always pushing ground-breaking ideas and driving innovation. Do you want to power and protect life online, by solving the toughest challenges with us? Be part of an amazing team!
Why Work With Us
Our people are devoted, determined problem-solvers who share a passion for technology. We find solutions through persistence, and push ground-breaking ideas forward with urgency and courage. This creates an environment where we harness creative energy and drive innovation. We are inclusive and diverse, and we love to collaborate across the world.
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