Software Engineer, PhD, Early Career, 2026

About the Job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

As a key member of a small and versatile team, you design, test, deploy and maintain software solutions.

We seek innovative engineers with various expertise, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking, data storage, security and AI/ML.

Within Google Cloud, the AI and Infrastructure(AI2) organization is at the forefront of creating groundbreaking AI/ML capabilities. We are responsible for designing and managing the software, hardware, and Machine Learning (ML) systems infrastructure that power essential Google services such as Search and YouTube, as well as Google Cloud products.

As a PhD Software Engineer within AI2, your specialized research expertise will be instrumental in solving complex, real-world problems on an unprecedented scale. You'll engage in innovative projects spanning areas like AI/ML, networking, data storage, security, and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the technical goal for next-generation distributed systems.
• Design, develop, and implement scalable, reliable, and high-performance large-scale distributed systems.
• Apply specialized research expertise to the design, analysis, and development of complex systems across the stack.
• Investigate, diagnose, and resolve technical issues by analyzing root causes and impact.
• Write and review code, ensuring adherence to best practices in style, accuracy, testability, and efficiency.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications:

• PhD degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience in software development, with a focus on areas such as large-scale distributed systems, AI/ML, networking, data storage, or security.
• Experience in architecture or development of distributed systems, including concurrency, multi-threading, or synchronization.
• Experience in algorithms, complexity analysis, and system design.
• Experience coding in one of the following programming languages including but not limited to: C, C++, Python Java or Golang.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience in areas such as algorithms, architecture, artificial intelligence, compilers, databases, data mining, distributed systems, machine learning, networking, or general systems.
• Expertise in designing and implementing complex systems for either production or experimental use.
• Proficiency in performance analysis or the analysis of systems data.
• Demonstrated success in publishing peer-reviewed articles in prestigious conferences or journals (e.g., ACL, KDD, SOSP, Nature).
• Availability to commence a full-time position in 2026.
• Exceptional engineering capabilities.