Principal Software Engineer

Company Description

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 — Service Now 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 Interfaces and AI Engineering team is at the heart of Service Now’s platform innovation, focused on shaping the future of user experience. We build and maintain core frameworks for in-product AI experiences, including cutting‑edge agentic and generative AI capabilities, that empower our customers to work more effectively and create more value.

The Opportunity:
Principal Software Engineer

We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our team. In this highly technical, hands‑on role, you’ll be a key driver in defining and implementing the next generation of our user experience and AI frameworks. You’ll lead significant projects that integrate AI with our core platform, tackling challenges from framework selection and design to large‑scale migration and implementation. This is a unique opportunity to directly impact the platform used by millions of users worldwide and to pioneer new ways of working with AI.

What you’ll do:

• Lead the architecture, design, and development of our core user experience frameworks, ensuring they are scalable, performant, and future‑proof.
• Drive major initiatives related to the integration of generative and agentic AI into our product interfaces.
• Evaluate, select, and champion new technologies and frameworks, including orchestrating large‑scale platform migrations.
• Mentor and guide other engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation.
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and other engineering teams to translate complex requirements into elegant, effective solutions.
• Champion engineering best practices, including code quality, testing, and system reliability.

To be successful in this role you have:

• 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.
• Extensive experience as a senior or principal‑level software engineer, with a strong background in front‑end and platform engineering.
• Proven track record of leading major, cross‑functional technical projects from conception to launch.
• A strong sense of ownership and a relentless customer focus, with a passion for creating exceptional user experiences.
• A growth mindset and a passion for staying on top of new technologies and industry trends.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Experience using AI Productivity tools such as Windsurf, Cursor, etc is a plus or nice to have.
• 10+ years of experience with front‑end JavaScript frameworks (e.g., React, Vue, Angular) and building high‑scale front‑end applications.
• Expertise in modern JavaScript frameworks (e.g., React, Angular, Vue), with a preference for experience in building and maintaining design systems or UI frameworks.
• Deep and broad hands‑on experience with AI/ML systems, particularly in the areas of generative AI, large language models, or agentic systems.

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $217,500 - $380,700, 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,…