Senior Software Developer, Site Reliability Engineering – Google – Waterloo, ON
Google’s Technical Infrastructure team is looking for a Senior Software Developer, Site Reliability Engineering to join their team in Waterloo, Ontario. This is a mid-level position where you’ll be working at the intersection of software and systems development — keeping Google Cloud’s large-scale distributed systems reliable, performant, and continuously improving.
This role is about more than just keeping the lights on. You’ll be involved in the full lifecycle of services — from initial design through deployment, monitoring, and ongoing refinement. If you’re the kind of engineer who loves solving problems at massive scale, diving into complexity analysis, and pushing for smarter automation, this could be a strong fit.
About the Role: Senior Software Developer, Site Reliability Engineering
As a Senior Software Developer in Site Reliability Engineering at Google, you’ll focus on building and optimizing the infrastructure that powers Google Cloud’s internal and external services. Much of the work centres on eliminating toil through automation, improving system reliability, and designing scalable solutions to complex distributed systems challenges. You’ll consult on system design, lead launch reviews, and contribute to capacity planning before services go live — and continue supporting them long after.
The Site Reliability Development team at Google fosters a culture of intellectual curiosity, blameless postmortems, and self-direction. The team brings together diverse backgrounds and perspectives, encouraging big thinking and calculated risk-taking. You’ll have the support and mentorship to keep growing technically while contributing to meaningful projects that have real impact at global scale.
Benefits and Salary
The Canada base salary range for this full-time position is CAD $182,000–$187,000, plus bonus, equity, and a comprehensive benefits package. Google’s salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location, with individual pay also reflecting job-related skills, experience, and education. To learn more about what Google offers in terms of benefits, visit the official Google benefits page.
Job Details
📌 Job Type: Full-Time
🏢 Company: Google
📍 Location: Waterloo, ON, Canada
📊 Level: Mid
💰 Pay: CAD $182,000–$187,000 base salary + bonus + equity + benefits
Responsibilities
In this role, you’ll be involved at every stage of a service’s life — from early design conversations to post-launch monitoring and iteration. Your work will directly impact the reliability and performance of Google Cloud’s services, and your contributions to automation and system design will shape how Google’s infrastructure evolves over time.
- Engage and improve the full lifecycle of services — from inception and design through deployment, operation, and refinement
- Support pre-launch activities including system design consulting, developing software platforms and frameworks, capacity planning, and launch reviews
- Monitor and maintain live services by measuring availability, latency, and overall system health
- Scale systems sustainably through automation and push for changes that improve both reliability and development velocity
- Lead incident response using sustainable practices and conduct blameless postmortems to drive continuous improvement
Requirements / Skills
Google is looking for an experienced engineer who’s comfortable operating at the intersection of software development and systems reliability. The ideal candidate brings a strong foundation in large-scale distributed systems, hands-on coding experience, and a track record of providing technical leadership on complex projects. A collaborative mindset and genuine curiosity are valued as much as technical skills here.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- 5+ years of software development experience in one or more programming languages
- 3+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and troubleshooting large-scale distributed systems
- 2+ years of experience leading projects and providing technical leadership
- Master’s degree in Computer Science or Engineering is preferred
- English proficiency is required, as this is a globally collaborative role
How to Apply
To apply, visit the official Google job posting using the link below. Make sure your resume is up to date and reflects relevant experience in distributed systems and software development before submitting.
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Job Summary & Tips for Applying
Quick Summary & What to Highlight: This Senior Software Developer, Site Reliability Engineering role at Google in Waterloo is perfect for candidates who excel in large-scale distributed systems design, software development and automation, and technical leadership. On your resume, emphasize any experience with cloud infrastructure, systems reliability, and capacity planning, attention to detail, and your ability to work in a fast-paced, high-scale environment. If you’ve previously worked in site reliability engineering, DevOps, or platform engineering, make sure to highlight specific achievements and responsibilities that align with this position.
Resume & Application Tips: Before applying, tailor your resume to match the job description. Include keywords like site reliability engineering, distributed systems, and automation that appear in the posting. Quantify your achievements where possible (e.g., “reduced system downtime by 30% through automated monitoring” or “led design and launch of a fault-tolerant service handling 10M+ requests/day”). Write a brief cover letter expressing your genuine interest in Google and why you’re excited about this opportunity in Waterloo. Double-check your application for spelling errors and ensure your contact information is current.
Interview Preparation: If selected for an interview, research Google‘s values, recent news about Google Cloud, and the company’s engineering culture beforehand. Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to demonstrate your distributed systems design and leadership experience. Common questions may include scenarios about incident response, system design trade-offs, and handling production outages at scale. Dress appropriately for a technology environment, arrive 10–15 minutes early (or log in early for virtual interviews), and bring copies of your resume. Prepare thoughtful questions about the SRE team’s scope, on-call expectations, and growth opportunities. After the interview, send a thank-you email within 24 hours reiterating your interest in the position.