Lead Software Engineer - Systems in Chennai, India

Freshworks is seeking a talented Lead Systems Engineer to join our team in Chennai, India. In this role, you will be instrumental in architecting and building the foundational systems that power our internet-scale SaaS products. You will design and develop services that are not only fast and secure but also built for long-term reliability and scalability. Working across various products and platforms, you will own the design, deployment, and evolution of critical systems that impact core functionalities from user login to system logging.

This position is ideal for individuals who excel at building for scale, possess a deep understanding of multi-tenant architectures, and are meticulous about performance, extensibility, and fault tolerance. If you are passionate about engineering robust, high-performance systems, you will find this role exceptionally rewarding.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and develop robust systems and APIs with a strong emphasis on reliability and modularity.
• Design services to effectively support multi-tenant, cloud-native applications.
• Lead initiatives for optimizing code, refactoring, and scaling existing systems to meet growing demands.
• Take full ownership of the system lifecycle, from initial requirement gathering through design, implementation, and ongoing support.
• Champion and implement best practices for Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), design patterns, and system scalability.
• Ensure the high availability (99.99%+), security, and effective monitoring of all production systems.
• Collaborate closely with Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), Product Managers (PMs), and other technical leads to deliver platform-wide capabilities.
• Mentor a team of 2-4 systems engineers and lead technical discussions across multiple engineering teams.

Requirements

• Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA): Demonstrated expertise in selecting optimal data structures and developing efficient, optimized code, including a thorough understanding of time/space complexity trade-offs. Deep knowledge of REST APIs is essential.
• Problem Solving & Logical Analysis: Proven ability to clearly articulate thought processes, decompose complex problems into manageable components, and engineer effective, scalable solutions.
• Object-Oriented Design (OOD): Strong command of OOP principles, experience in designing extensible code, and proficient application of SOLID principles.
• System Design (High-Level Design - HLD & Low-Level Design - LLD): Proven ability to design scalable, highly available, and fault-tolerant end-to-end systems, including defining APIs, database schemas, and data models.
• Familiarity with Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), caching strategies, distributed queues, and microservices architecture.
• Exposure to and experience with AI tools and technologies for enhancing system efficiency.
• Leadership & Collaboration: Possess strong ownership, collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, and demonstrate potential for technical mentorship.
• Ability to gather both functional and non-functional requirements and translate them into scalable, highly available, fault-tolerant system designs.
• Proficiency in designing APIs, database schemas, and comprehensive data models.
• Technical Communication: Excellent skills in clearly conveying complex technical concepts and solutions.
• Problem-Solving & Analysis: Strong analytical and logical reasoning capabilities for tackling intricate technical challenges.
• Code & Design Optimization: Adept at optimizing code and system designs for maximum performance and efficiency.
• Experience in conducting thorough and effective code reviews.
• Tech Stack Knowledge: Well-versed in relevant technologies and capable of articulating suitable tech stacks for various system designs.
• Hands-on experience with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, DevOps tooling, and major cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP.

Qualifications

• A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a closely related field.
• 6 to 9 years of professional experience in building backend systems and infrastructure.
• Proven track record of building systems from inception and guiding them through multiple development iterations.
• Experience with RDBMS, NoSQL databases, and various queuing systems.
• Familiarity with observability tools, rate limiting strategies, and multi-region deployment considerations.
• A mindset that thrives in ambiguous environments and enables rapid progress without compromising technical depth.

Freshworks is committed to fostering an inclusive global workplace where everyone can achieve their full potential, regardless of background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or ethnicity. We are dedicated to providing equal opportunities and believe that a diverse workforce enriches our environment and drives success for our employees, communities, and the business.