The Core Intelligence & Media team is driving one of Dropbox’s top priorities: integrating AI-powered capabilities directly into the File Sync & Share experience to transform Dropbox into an intelligent workspace for media creators and collaborators. We are building intelligent systems that enhance how users discover, organize, and interact with their content.
This is a unique opportunity to work on both 0→1 AI-powered features that shape Dropbox’s future and foundational backend systems that power reliable, performant media experiences at scale. You will operate in a fast-paced environment where we ship early, learn quickly, and iterate based on user signal—collaborating closely with Product, Design, ML, and platform teams across Dropbox.
Our Engineering Career Framework is viewable by anyone outside the company and describes what’s expected for our engineers at each of our career levels. Check out our blog post on this topic and more here.
- Design and implement scalable backend systems that power intelligent, media-rich experiences within Dropbox
- Own complex, ambiguous technical problems and drive them from definition through delivery in partnership with Product and Design
- Serve as a technical DRI for high-impact initiatives within the team, shaping technical approach and execution plans
- Be a hands-on contributor who implements critical and foundational components while setting a high bar for code quality and maintainability
- Contribute to shared APIs and system abstractions that enable new product capabilities and operate reliably at large scale
- Influence technical decisions across collaborating teams, contributing to alignment while maintaining strong engineering standards in a virtual-first environment
Many teams at Dropbox run Services with on-call rotations, which entails being available for calls during both core and non-core business hours. If a team has an on-call rotation, all engineers on the team are expected to participate in the rotation as part of their employment. Applicants are encouraged to ask for more details of the rotations to which the applicant is applying.
Requirements- BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field involving coding (e.g., physics or mathematics), or equivalent practical experience
- Minimum of 9 years of professional experience as a software engineer
- Experience working on consumer-facing product teams and owning delivery of user-facing features at scale
- Experience collaborating cross-functionally with Product, Design, and partner engineering teams
- Ability to work independently in ambiguous, fast-moving environments while making pragmatic technical tradeoffs
- Experience integrating AI or ML capabilities into production products and shipping to customers
- Demonstrated 0→1 experience building and launching new product features or systems
- Experience working with media systems (video, audio, large-scale file processing)
- Experience integrating ML/AI APIs (e.g., LLMs, semantic search, tagging systems, agentic workflows) into production systems
- Experience with experimentation frameworks (A/B testing, metrics-driven product iteration)
- Experience designing internal APIs or shared platform abstractions
- Experience leveraging modern AI tools to accelerate development workflows
US Zone 1
This role is not available in Zone 1
Top Skills
Dropbox San Francisco, California, USA Office
Though remote is our primary way of working, meaningful in-person connection and collaboration is a critical part of Virtual First. Our San Francisco Studio is a place for teams to come together to host meetings, off-sites, and build community.
Similar Jobs at Dropbox
What you need to know about the San Francisco Tech Scene
Key Facts About San Francisco Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 365,500; 13.9% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Google, Apple, Salesforce, Meta
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, fintech, consumer technology, software
- Funding Landscape: $50.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins
- Research Centers and Universities: Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of San Francisco; Santa Clara University; Ames Research Center; Center for AI Safety; California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
