Senior Software Engineer - User Data Platforms
Yahoo
The User Data Platforms (UDP) team powers Yahoo’s core user identity and profile systems - the foundation that manages data for billions of users across Yahoo products. This includes the User DataBase (UDB), a globally distributed, high-performance data store that runs on-prem on Aerospike and in GCP (Google Cloud Platform) on Spanner; the Canonical Profile (CP) service, which transforms raw user data into structured, well-defined attributes; and the Member Profile (MP) platform, which expands on that foundation by combining declared and inferred user data to enable personalization at scale. The team also operates Hadoop Grid-side services that process and enrich these datasets to deliver near-real-time insights across Yahoo’s ecosystem.
As a Senior Software Development Engineer, you’ll help build, optimize and innovate in these mission-critical systems that power Yahoo’s success. You’ll collaborate with a top-tier geo-distributed DevOps team that uses modern Agile practices and cutting-edge tooling to deliver fast, reliable releases. This role will deepen your expertise in distributed data systems and multi-cloud infrastructure - expanding both your technical depth and long-term career growth opportunities.
Responsibilities
Design, develop, and deploy highly available and highly performant infrastructure platforms and network services that support Yahoo’s user data ecosystem.
Collaborate with architecture and technical leads to define requirements, design solutions, and generate implementation plans with minimal guidance.
Build and maintain RESTful APIs using Java and modern frameworks, ensuring high throughput and low latency.
Design and evolve data models and database schemas for multi-master and transactional distributed environments leveraging Aerospike, GCP Spanner, and other database technologies.
Develop integrations with external vendors through secure tunnels, SDKs, and custom communication frameworks.
Deploy and monitor multi-cloud services across AWS (Amazon Web Services) and GCP using tools like Lambda, ECS/Fargate, CloudWatch, S3, GKE, and Spanner.
Ensure scalability, reliability, and security across concurrent projects.
Leverage AI coding tools such as CoPilot and participate in code reviews to maintain quality and enforce best practices.
Contribute to Agile ceremonies and DevOps initiatives that enable fast, reliable releases.
Partner with internal product and engineering teams to ensure effective use and adoption of UDP services across Yahoo
Qualifications
BS or MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field - or equivalent practical experience.
5+ years of software engineering experience, with a strong focus on backend development and distributed systems.
Proven experience in backend/server development and large-scale distributed systems.
Proficiency in Java and a strong understanding of networking technologies (HTTP, DNS, TCP/IP).
Experience designing and building RESTful APIs and implementing mutual TLS (mTLS).
Solid understanding of NoSQL and transactional databases using eventual and strict consistency, and multi-master world-wide replication.
Hands-on experience with AWS (e.g., S3, DynamoDB, CloudWatch, ECS, Lambda) and GCP (e.g., GKE, Spanner).
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker), and orchestration (Kubernetes).
Experience working in Agile/DevOps environments preferred.
Excellent communications, collaboration and problem-solving skills.
The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.
At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don’t require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You’ll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter!
Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please submit a request via the Accommodation Request Form (www.yahooinc.com/careers/contact-us.html) or call +1.866.772.3182. Requests and calls received for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.
We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace strengthens Yahoo and deepens our relationships. When you support everyone to be their best selves, they spark discovery, innovation and creativity. Among other efforts, our 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) enhance a culture of belonging with programs, events and fellowship that help educate, support and create a workplace where all feel welcome.
The compensation for this position ranges from $128,250.00 - $266,875.00/yr and will vary depending on factors such as your location, skills and experience.The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of discretionary annual bonus or commissions. Our comprehensive benefits include healthcare, a great 401k, backup childcare, education stipends and much (much) more.Currently work for Yahoo? Please apply on our internal career site.