Software Engineer – Backend (New Grad) – Snap Inc.
Snap (NYSE: SNAP) is the company behind Snapchat — the visual messaging app used by 800+ million registered users and 422 million daily active users, and the #1 preferred platform among 13-34 year olds. Snap pioneered ephemeral messaging, Stories, augmented reality (AR) lenses, and Spotlight short-form video — features later copied by every major social platform. Snap's Lens Studio has 300,000+ AR creators who have built 3+ million AR lenses. We are hiring New Grad Backend Engineers in Santa Monica to build the platform where the next generation expresses itself and communicates.
Responsibilities
- Build Snapchat's messaging backend in Go — implementing end-to-end encrypted ephemeral messaging, group chats, and media storage for 422M+ DAU
- Develop Snapchat's Stories and Spotlight feed backend — implementing content ranking, curation algorithms, and video transcoding pipeline for short-form content
- Build Snap AR backend services — implementing AR lens delivery, processing, and analytics for 3+ million AR experiences created in Lens Studio
- Implement Snap Map backend — geospatial services enabling friend location sharing and real-time public Snap discovery on the interactive Snap Map
- Build Snap Ads backend — implementing ad auction, creative delivery, and measurement for Snap's programmatic advertising business reaching Gen Z and Millennial users
- Design and optimize Cassandra, ScyllaDB, and GCS data models for Snap's ephemeral content storage and real-time messaging infrastructure
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
- Proficiency in Go, Python, or Java (Snap's primary backend languages)
- Understanding of real-time messaging, media processing, or distributed systems concepts
- Familiarity with NoSQL databases, message queues, or cloud infrastructure is a plus
- Passion for AR, visual communication, and building experiences for the next generation of users
Benefits
- Competitive salary with Snap RSU equity and annual bonus
- Free Snapchat+ subscription and monthly gift card credits
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
- 401(k) with Snap matching
- Santa Monica, CA headquarters with stunning beach proximity and creative culture