
Staff Software Engineer, Backend Infrastructure and Rapid Prototyping, Google Labs
Cambridge, MAJob$207–300K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today
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Job overview
Google Labs’ Language Applications organization builds foundational platforms and consumer products, and this role focuses on synthetic media and generative AI experiences. The engineer will develop resilient backend infrastructure, lead specialized machine-learning design, and prototype cross-stack features connecting multimodal generation pipelines with user interfaces. The position also provides technical leadership and coordinates priorities, architecture, and alignment across distributed teams.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
Staff Software Engineer, Backend Infrastructure and Rapid Prototyping, Google Labs
Share Staff Software Engineer, Backend Infrastructure and Rapid Prototyping, Google Labs
corporate_fare Google place New York, NY, USA; Cambridge, MA, USA; +2 more; +1 more
Advanced
Experience owning outcomes and decision making, solving ambiguous problems and influencing stakeholders; deep expertise in domain.
Share Staff Software Engineer, Backend Infrastructure and Rapid Prototyping, Google Labs
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XIn most instances, this position requires in-person interviews as part of the hiring process.Note: By applying to this position you will have an opportunity to share your preferred working location from the following: New York, NY, USA; Cambridge, MA, USA; Mountain View, CA, USA .
Minimum qualifications:
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Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or equivalent practical experience.
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8 years of experience in software development.
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5 years of experience testing and launching software products, and 3 years of experience with software design and architecture.
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5 years of experience with speech/audio, reinforcement learning, ML infrastructure, or another specialized ML field.
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5 years of experience leading ML design, optimizing end-to-end ML (deployment, evaluation, tuning), and integrating generative AI tools or Large Language Model (LLM) interfaces.
Preferred qualifications:
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Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
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8 years of experience with advanced data structures and algorithms.
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3 years of experience in a technical leadership role leading project teams and setting technical direction.
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3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization involving cross-functional or cross-business projects.
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Experience building distributed queueing infrastructure or rapidly prototyping cross-stack generative AI applications.
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.
At Google Labs, we incubate early-stage technologies that define the future of computing and AI. We operate as small, autonomous, product-driven teams that move with startup speed, take bold technical bets, and build breakthrough user experiences. Within Labs, the Language Applications organization builds foundational platforms and consumer products, including NotebookLM, Google AI Studio, and the Gemini API.
Our focus is pushing the frontier of synthetic media—audio, video, dynamic code, and interactive visual artifacts. We build the foundational systems that turn generative models into instant, intuitive, and reliable experiences for millions of creators, researchers, and knowledge workers worldwide.
Labs is a group focused on incubating early-stage efforts in support of Google’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Our team exists to help discover and create new ways to advance our core products through exploration and the application of new technologies. We work to build new solutions that have the potential to transform how users interact with Google. Our goal is to drive innovation by developing new Google products and capabilities that deliver significant impact over longer timeframes.Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits
Learn more aboutbenefits at Google (https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/benefits/) .
Responsibilities
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Design, develop, test, deploy, maintain, and enhance large-scale software solutions and resilient distributed backend infrastructure.
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Provide technical leadership on generative media projects, managing project priorities, deadlines, and architectural deliverables.
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Facilitate alignment and clarity across teams on goals, outcomes, and timelines, while influencing and coaching a distributed team of engineers.
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Lead the design and implementation of solutions in specialized ML areas, optimize ML infrastructure, and guide model optimization and data processing strategies.
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Prototype innovative cross-stack features and clean APIs that bridge core multimodal generation pipelines with interactive user interfaces.
Information collected and processed as part of your Google Careers profile, and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Google'sApplicant and Candidate Privacy Policy (./privacy-policy) .
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging, and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), expecting or parents-to-be, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law. See alsoGoogle's EEO Policy (https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/eeo/) ,Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal (https://careers.google.com/jobs/dist/legal/EEOC\_KnowYourRights\_10\_20.pdf) ,Belonging at Google (https://about.google/belonging/) , andHow we hire (https://careers.google.com/how-we-hire/) .
If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing ourAccommodations for Applicants form (https://goo.gl/forms/aBt6Pu71i1kzpLHe2) .
Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.
To all recruitment agencies: Google does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Google employees, or any other organization location. Google is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also https://careers.google.com/eeo/ and https://careers.google.com/jobs/dist/legal/OFCCP_EEO_Post.pdf If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form: https://goo.gl/forms/aBt6Pu71i1kzpLHe2.
How this job compares
Set against the 9,165 open Software Engineering jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 12, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$207–300K/yr
- Massachusetts median$144–235K/yr220 salary ranges
- US median$146–252K/yr7,053 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $254K, is 32% above the Massachusetts median midpoint ($192K) — in the top quarter of Software Engineering salary ranges in Massachusetts.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 273 open Software Engineering jobs in Massachusetts and 9,165 across the US. 9% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in Massachusetts
- Oracle22 open
- State Street14 open
- Amazon11 open
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 8 years of experience; Software Engineering postings that state a minimum ask for 7 years at the median (6,948 postings).
- Education
- 2,229 of the 9,165 open Software Engineering jobs (24%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 12, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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