Greenhouse ·
full-timeInfrastructure Software Engineer, Metadata Services
Dropbox · Remote - Poland
Dropbox provides cloud‑based file storage and synchronization services used by millions of individuals and businesses. As an Infrastructure Software Engineer on the Metadata team, you will design, implement, and operate the distributed databases that underlie every Dropbox service, focusing on low‑latency, strongly consistent data access. Day‑to‑day work includes building and optimizing replication, consensus, and caching mechanisms, writing performance‑critical code in Go and Rust, participating in on‑call rotations to maintain production reliability, and collaborating with infrastructure and product partners to shape mid‑ and long‑term roadmaps. You will also contribute to design reviews, postmortems, and reliability improvements while ensuring durability and transactional consistency. The role suits candidates with a solid computer‑science background, five or more years of software development experience, deep knowledge of distributed systems fundamentals such as partitioning, fault tolerance, and consensus algorithms, and hands‑on experience building databases or large‑scale data infrastructure. Proficiency in Go, Rust, or related languages, strong debugging and performance‑analysis skills, and the ability to work cross‑functionally are essential.
Education
- Level: Bachelor's degree
- Courses: BS, MS, PhD
- Specializations: Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics
Key Skills
Experience required
5-5 years experienceAbout the Role As a Software Engineer on the Metadata team, you’ll build and operate large‑scale distributed databases that every Dropbox service depends on. You will design and evolve core infrastructure that manages Dropbox’s databases at scale, enabling fast, reliable access to data for millions of users and internal services. Responsibilities Design and maintain distributed database systems providing low‑latency, strongly consistent data access. Implement and optimize replication, consensus, and caching mechanisms to meet availability and performance goals. Operate production systems, including on‑call rotation, ensuring high availability and data durability. Collaborate with infrastructure and product teams to assess use cases and requirements, supporting roadmap development. Contribute to system design reviews, postmortems, and reliability improvements. Write high‑quality, efficient code in Go and Rust for performance‑critical systems. Requirements BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or related technical field (e.g., physics, mathematics) or equivalent experience. 5+ years of professional software development experience. Experience designing and implementing distributed systems fundamentals: replication, consistency, partitioning, fault tolerance. Experience building databases, storage systems, or large‑scale data infrastructure. Proficient in programming and debugging across languages such as Python, Go, Rust, C/C++, Java. Familiarity with consensus and coordination systems (e.g., Raft, Paxos, ZooKeeper). Strong debugging and performance analysis skills. Eligibility BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or related technical field.
Infrastructure Software Engineer, Metadata Services: role and responsibilities
- Design and maintain distributed database systems providing low-latency, strongly consistent data access.
- Implement and optimize replication, consensus, and caching mechanisms to meet availability and performance goals.
- Operate production systems, including on-call rotation, ensuring high availability and data durability.
- Collaborate with infrastructure and product teams to assess use cases and requirements, supporting roadmap development.
- Contribute to system design reviews, postmortems, and reliability improvements.
- Write high-quality, efficient code in Go and Rust for performance-critical systems.
Skills for this role
Required skills
Also mentioned in the listing
| Role | Infrastructure Software Engineer, Metadata Services |
|---|---|
| Company | Dropbox |
| Location | Remote - Poland |
| Compensation | Not disclosed |
| Posted | 2026-09-21 |
| Deadline | Rolling |
How to prepare for the Infrastructure Software Engineer, Metadata Services role
- Highlight specific projects where you built or improved replication or consensus mechanisms such as Raft.
- Showcase experience optimizing caching layers and storage systems for low-latency access.
- Demonstrate proficiency in Go and Rust by sharing code samples or performance benchmarks.
- Prepare to discuss incident response and on-call procedures you have handled in production environments.
- Review core concepts of LSM trees, B-trees, and hash indexes and be ready to explain their trade-offs.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Applicants often list only language proficiency without showing distributed systems design; fix by detailing a specific replication or consensus implementation you built.
- Many focus on theoretical knowledge and omit production operation experience; fix by describing any on-call, monitoring, or durability work you have done.
- Some resumes skip mentioning performance optimization of caching or storage; fix by quantifying latency improvements or throughput gains you achieved.
- Candidates sometimes ignore the need for cross‑team collaboration; fix by citing examples where you worked with product or infrastructure teams to shape requirements.
Resume keywords for this listing
Terms the listing itself uses. Include the ones you can back with a project or experience.
Typical process for this type of role
A general guide — the exact steps for this specific listing may vary; check the original posting for details.
- 1ApplicationSubmit your resume through the apply link.
- 2ScreeningRecruiter reviews your background against the role.
- 3AssessmentA technical test, assignment, or coding round, depending on the role.
- 4Interview(s)One or more rounds with the hiring team.
- 5OfferOffer letter with compensation and start date.
Before you apply
0/4More at Dropbox
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