Principal Software Engineer, Languages & Compilers
Roblox
$295,250 - $345,040 / year
Need a reasonable accommodation to apply or interview? Contact us.
JobMinglr uses automated technology to recommend jobs based on profile information and job preferences. Match Score does not determine eligibility for a position, prevent a user from viewing or applying to a job, or make hiring decisions on behalf of an employer.
Description
Every day, tens of millions of people come to Roblox to explore, create, play, learn, and connect with friends in 3D immersive digital experiences– all created by our global community of developers and creators.
At Roblox, we’re building the tools and platform that empower our community to bring any experience that they can imagine to life. Our vision is to reimagine the way people come together, from anywhere in the world, and on any device. We’re on a mission to connect a billion people with optimism and civility, and looking for amazing talent to help us get there.
A career at Roblox means you’ll be working to shape the future of human interaction, solving unique technical challenges at scale, and helping to create safer, more civil shared experiences for everyone.
As a Principal Software Engineer on the Roblox Programmability team, you will work with us on software ecosystem development of the embedded scripting languages in the Roblox engine while working with the Engineering Director. To enable developers on the Roblox platform to build tomorrow's top games, they require more than a functional scripting environment; they need sophisticated programming interfaces, a robust set of script libraries, comprehensive development tools, and an ultra-fast, multithreaded runtime. Join our team to guide the evolution of a new suite of programming interfaces and sophisticated tooling features that millions of developers will use daily. You will play a pivotal role in this process.
You Will:
- Contribute to the design and development of programming models that improve script performance and scalability
- Develop prototypes to validate designs against realistic use cases, ensuring they meet our performance and functionality standards
- Take ownership of new feature development from concept and prototyping through to deployment and maintenance
- Improve the adaptability and performance of existing components
- Collaborate with engineers across engine and partner teams to build collaborative solutions
You Have:
- Over 10+ years of experience developing and deploying user-facing software products
- A minimum of Bachelor's degree in Computer Science
- Proficiency in C++ and an understanding of parallel/concurrent programming concepts
- Experience with API and tool development, game development, distributed systems, and Lua/Luau programming is a plus
- A grasp of industry standards and design patterns
- The ability to analyze and approach problems from multiple perspectives, weighing the advantages and drawbacks of different solutions
You Are:
- Enthusiastic about crafting software programming environments for game developers, eager to apply insights from multiple programming ecosystems to our scripting environment
- Self-driven, able to navigate complex codebases with minimal guidance
- Reliable, developing systems that are not just effective but also resilient over time
- Inquisitive, constantly learning and staying on top of the latest trends in scripting languages and programming environments
For roles that are based at our headquarters in San Mateo, CA: The starting base pay for this position is as shown below. The actual base pay is dependent upon a variety of job-related factors such as professional background, training, work experience, location, business needs and market demand. Therefore, in some circumstances, the actual salary could fall outside of this expected range. This pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. All full-time employees are also eligible for equity compensation and for benefits as described on this page.
Roles that are based in an office are onsite Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with optional presence on Monday and Friday (unless otherwise noted).
Roblox provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Roblox also provides reasonable accommodations to candidates with qualifying disabilities or religious beliefs during the recruiting process.
For US based roles only, please note the Company may not be able to employ candidates for this role who have United States work authorization related to certain U.S. visa categories, or support future H-1B sponsorship at this time.
Benefits
- stock options
About this role
Roblox is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the evolution of programming languages and scripting environments within its platform, where tens of millions of developers and creators build immersive 3D experiences. In this role, you'll own the design and development of programming models, APIs, and tooling that directly impact how millions of developers write code daily. Your work will span from prototyping new features and validating designs against real-world use cases to deploying and maintaining systems that power the platform's scripting runtime—requiring you to balance performance, scalability, and developer experience across a multithreaded, distributed environment.
This position demands deep expertise in systems-level software development: you'll need over 10 years of experience shipping user-facing products, strong C++ proficiency, and solid grounding in concurrent programming. Experience with game development, Lua/Luau, API design, or distributed systems is valuable. You should be comfortable navigating complex codebases independently, thinking through tradeoffs across multiple design approaches, and staying current with trends in programming language ecosystems.
The role is based in San Mateo and requires in-office presence Tuesday through Thursday. The salary range is $295,250–$345,040, with equity and full benefits included. This is a full-time position best suited for someone genuinely invested in building better programming environments for creators and capable of driving technical direction with minimal oversight.
How this employer is doing
average
- H1B: Active Visa Sponsor
- Active Visa Sponsor
This role's local market on JobMinglr
Pay for this role
$295,250 to $345,040 per year
That is the employer's posted range, and where you land in it is usually decided in one conversation. Before that conversation, run the numbers: analyze an offer for this role.
Before you apply, worth reading
How JobMinglr reads this job
Every listing here is scored against your profile before you apply: skills overlap, experience level, location and work arrangement, each weighted and explained. You see the score and the reasons, not just a list. How the matching works.