At a Glance
- Tasks: Shape the future of data infrastructure and build powerful systems for HubSpot's products.
- Company: Join HubSpot, a leading AI-powered customer platform with a vibrant culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible work options, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Collaborative environment with strong support for personal and professional development.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by designing scalable data platforms that drive innovation.
- Qualifications: Experience in large-scale distributed systems and a hands-on approach to engineering.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
About the Team
HubSpot’s Data Infrastructure team builds the shared data store platforms that power the company’s products and internal systems at scale. The team’s mission is to provide a unified data platform and deliver databases as a service in a way that makes it easy, performant, and reliable for engineers across HubSpot to build on top of it. This team owns and evolves some of the most critical foundational systems inside HubSpot, including HBase, Kafka, Elasticsearch, MySQL/Vitess, Hadoop, Iceberg, and Qdrant, along with the platform capabilities, abstractions, and workflows that make those systems usable by product teams. The scope spans big data, SQL and storage infrastructure, batch processing, stream processing, and search. This is not a team focused on simply administering existing systems. It is an engineering organization responsible for shaping how HubSpot builds on top of its data stores over the long term.
About the Role
We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help shape the technical future of Data Infrastructure at HubSpot. This is a deeply hands-on role for a builder who wants to own the architecture and evolution of the foundational data systems behind HubSpot’s products. As a Principal Engineer, you will help define how our data stores should scale, how developers should interact with them, and what platform patterns we should create so teams across HubSpot can build faster on top of reliable, high-leverage infrastructure. At HubSpot, Principal Engineers are expected to stay close to the code, lead high-impact initiatives end-to-end, and influence technical direction well beyond a single team. This role is for someone who can move between storage engines, developer-facing platform design, and large-scale architectural bets while remaining a hands-on builder throughout.
Key Expectations
- Own the future of HubSpot’s data stores: Shape the technical direction for the data platforms that underpin HubSpot’s products, with a focus on the data stores themselves and the systems around them. Drive architectural decisions across storage, access patterns, scaling models, tenancy, performance, and developer ergonomics. Help define what the next generation of HubSpot’s database platform should look like, not just how to operate the current one.
- Be a deeply hands-on, high-leverage builder: Write production code regularly and lead complex initiatives from idea to rollout. Build internal frameworks, APIs, and platform capabilities that make HubSpot’s data stores easier to adopt, extend, and evolve. Turn ambiguous infrastructure problems into simple, scalable systems and clear technical direction.
- Lead platform architecture across multiple domains: Work across big data, SQL/Vitess, batch, stream processing, and search to establish consistent platform patterns where they matter and domain-specific depth where they do not. Define reusable abstractions for data storage, ingestion, processing, and access that reduce fragmentation across the engineering organization. Push for simplicity, clarity, and extensibility in systems that can easily become overly bespoke or operationally heavy.
- Influence across the broader engineering org: Partner with engineering and product leaders to align infrastructure direction with what HubSpot needs to build next. Work horizontally across teams to guide technical tradeoffs, unblock difficult decisions, and raise the architectural bar for platform work. Act as a multiplier through design reviews, technical mentoring, and principled decision-making on the most important systems in the space.
What You Bring
- Deep experience building and evolving large-scale distributed systems, especially storage systems, data infrastructure, or foundational backend platforms.
- Strong architectural instincts with a bias toward simplicity, consistency, clear boundaries, and long-term platform leverage.
- A track record of owning and delivering complex, cross-team technical initiatives with product-line or company-level impact.
- Comfort working across multiple layers of the stack, from storage engines and data flows to APIs, internal frameworks, and developer experience.
- A hands-on mindset. You lead by building, debugging, reviewing, and shipping, not by staying removed from the systems you influence.
- The ability to move into unfamiliar technical territory quickly, form strong opinions grounded in first principles, and help teams make better long-term decisions.
Why this role matters
HubSpot’s future depends on data platforms that are not only reliable, but also powerful building blocks for product innovation. The Principal Software Engineer in Data Infrastructure will help determine how those building blocks are designed, how they scale, and how engineers across HubSpot use them to create the next generation of our products.
At HubSpot, we value both flexibility and connection. Whether you’re a Remote employee or work from the Office, we want you to start your journey here by building strong connections with your team and peers. If you are joining our Engineering team, you will be required to attend a regional HubSpot office for in-person onboarding. If you join our broader Product team, you’ll also attend other in-person events, such as your Product Group Summit and other gatherings, to continue building on those connections.
About HubSpot
HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) is an AI-powered customer platform with all the software, integrations, and resources customers need to connect marketing, sales, and service. HubSpot's connected platform enables businesses to grow faster by focusing on what matters most: customers.
At HubSpot, bold is our baseline. Our employees around the globe move fast, stay customer-obsessed, and win together. Our culture is grounded in four commitments: Solve for the Customer, Be Bold, Learn Fast, Align, Adapt & Go!, and Deliver with HEART. These commitments shape how we work, lead, and grow.
Principal Software Engineer - Data Infrastructure employer: HubSpot
HubSpot is an exceptional employer that fosters a vibrant and inclusive work culture, empowering employees to take ownership of their projects while collaborating with diverse teams across the globe. With a strong commitment to personal and professional growth, HubSpot offers numerous opportunities for development, particularly in the dynamic fields of AI and international marketing. Located in key European markets, employees benefit from a flexible remote work environment that encourages innovation and creativity, making it an ideal place for those passionate about driving impactful change in the tech industry.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Software Engineer - Data Infrastructure
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
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✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
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Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like HubSpot that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Software Engineer - Data Infrastructure
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at HubSpot.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at HubSpot and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at HubSpot
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If HubSpot uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.