Director Database Performance Engineering
Santa Clara County, CA - USA
Job Summary
What you get to do in this role:
Team Management:
The successful candidate will lead the Database Performance Engineering organization responsible for driving performance scalability efficiency and customer experience across ServiceNows database platforms and supporting infrastructure.
This leader will be responsible for building developing and scaling high-performing engineering teams focused on database performance operating system performance scalability engineering performance testing benchmarking observability capacity planning workload optimization and automation. Responsibilities include talent acquisition performance management career development succession planning objective setting coaching and prioritization of strategic initiatives.
The role will establish a strong engineering-first culture centered on data-driven decision making continuous improvement performance excellence and operational efficiency.
This position is accountable for identifying and eliminating performance bottlenecks across database services operating systems compute storage infrastructure and distributed application environments while ensuring the platform can scale to support future business and customer growth.
The Director will partner closely with Product Engineering Database Engineering Cloud Infrastructure Architecture and Operations teams to ensure performance and scalability considerations are incorporated throughout the software development lifecycle.
The successful candidate will serve as the senior technical leader for complex performance investigations customer-critical escalation engagements migration readiness assessments and platform scalability initiatives transforming operational insights into long-term engineering improvements.
They will influence architectural decisions and technology investments by providing performance expertise scalability guidance and production-based insights that improve platform efficiency and customer outcomes.
Process and Procedures:
The successful candidate will establish scalable performance engineering practices standards testing methodologies and governance processes across the organization.
They will drive adoption of performance testing and benchmarking frameworks workload characterization methodologies capacity planning models observability standards scalability assessments and performance engineering best practices.
This leader will continuously evaluate database operating system infrastructure and application performance trends identify systemic bottlenecks and implement engineering improvements that increase efficiency scalability and customer satisfaction.
The role will establish meaningful KPIs and engineering metrics that provide visibility into platform performance workload growth resource utilization infrastructure efficiency scalability risks customer experience and organizational effectiveness.
The successful candidate will leverage AI-powered tools analytics automation frameworks and production intelligence to accelerate performance analysis identify emerging bottlenecks optimize resource utilization and improve engineering productivity.
They will use performance testing results production telemetry customer escalations and capacity forecasts to drive architectural improvements migration readiness scalability investments and long-term platform evolution.
The Director will champion a proactive performance engineering model that shifts the organization from reactive troubleshooting to predictive analysis prevention and continuous optimization.
Qualifications :
To be successful in this role you have:
- Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes decision-making or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools automating workflows analyzing AI-driven insights or exploring AIs potential impact on the function or industry.
15 years of experience in database engineering performance engineering distributed systems or large-scale SaaS platform operations.
8 years of engineering leadership experience including leading managers and globally distributed teams.
Extensive experience leading Performance Engineering Database Engineering Platform Engineering Infrastructure Engineering or related technical organizations.
Deep expertise in database technologies operating system performance distributed systems and cloud-native architectures.
Strong understanding of query optimization workload management execution planning indexing strategies capacity planning scalability engineering and performance analysis.
Experience designing and executing large-scale performance testing benchmarking workload simulation and capacity modeling programs.
Strong understanding of performance tuning across database operating system storage network and application layers.
Proven experience identifying and resolving complex performance bottlenecks in large-scale distributed environments.
Experience leading customer-critical investigations involving performance scalability efficiency and capacity-related challenges.
Strong experience leveraging observability and telemetry platforms to analyze system behavior and drive performance improvements.
Experience partnering with software engineering organizations to improve platform performance scalability efficiency and production readiness.
Experience driving engineering initiatives through data metrics benchmarking and measurable business outcomes.
Exceptional communication stakeholder management and leadership skills.
Bachelors degree in Computer Science Engineering or a related technical field or equivalent practical experience.
Desired Skills
Experience operating large-scale enterprise database platforms supporting mission-critical workloads.
Experience building and scaling Database Performance Engineering Scalability Engineering or Performance Architecture organizations.
Experience with performance testing benchmarking workload simulation capacity forecasting and migration validation frameworks.
Experience leveraging AI technologies to improve performance analysis anomaly detection workload forecasting and engineering productivity.
Strong understanding of distributed systems architecture cloud platform operations and hyperscale environments.
Experience developing executive-facing performance scorecards engineering metrics and business impact reporting.
Experience influencing platform architecture database strategy and long-term scalability roadmaps.
Experience with observability telemetry monitoring and advanced performance analytics platforms.
Experience with Linux-based production environments and large-scale cloud infrastructure.
Demonstrated success leading strategic performance optimization initiatives and complex cross-functional engineering programs.
Experience supporting enterprise database technologies such as MySQL MariaDB PostgreSQL Oracle SQL Server or cloud-native database platforms.
Familiarity with ServiceNow platform architecture and large-scale SaaS operations.
JV20
For positions in this location we offer a base pay of $221200 - $387100 plus equity (when applicable) variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications skill level competencies and work location. We also offer health plans including flexible spending accounts a 401(k) Plan with company match ESPP matching donations a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.
Additional Information :
Work Personas
We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible remote or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.
Equal Opportunity Employer
ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color creed religion sex sexual orientation national origin or nationality ancestry age disability gender identity or expression marital status veteran status or any other category protected by addition all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.
Accommodations
We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply please contact for assistance.
Export Control Regulations
For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities.
From Fortune. 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. Used under license.
Remote Work :
No
Employment Type :
Full-time
About Company
Learn here. Grow here. Make a difference here. At ServiceNow, our cloud?based platform and solutions deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity for employees and enterprises. Were growing fast, innovating even faster, and making an impact on our c ... View more