Job Overview & Organization Mission

Join Atlassian in Sydney as Principal Systems Engineer architecting multi-terabyte distributed storage engines for Atlassian Cloud.

Atlassian’s Core Storage Engineering team in Sydney is seeking an exceptional Principal Systems Software Engineer. You will design, build, and optimize foundational distributed storage infrastructure supporting hundreds of millions of daily queries across Jira, Confluence, and Loom.

As a key member of the team at Atlassian in Sydney, NSW, you will play a central role in driving excellence, upholding top-tier Australian industry standards, and contributing directly to the strategic milestones of one of the nation’s premier employers.

Key Duties & Core Responsibilities

In this critical role, your operational duties and key performance responsibilities will encompass:

• Architect extreme-throughput: Architect extreme-throughput distributed key-value and object storage backends using Rust and Go.
• Implement high-performance: Implement high-performance consensus algorithms (Raft, Paxos) and storage indexing structures (LSM-trees, B-trees).
• Optimize kernel-level: Optimize kernel-level I/O, memory allocations, and network socket operations on Linux/AWS.
• Drive technical: Drive technical roadmaps, author architectural RFCs, and mentor staff and senior engineers across Atlassian.

Required Qualifications, Licenses & Experience

To be successful in this position at Atlassian, candidates are expected to satisfy the following essential selection criteria:

• Mandatory Qualification: Bachelor or Master of Computer Science or Software Engineering.
• Relevant Experience: Minimum 5+ Years of verified industry experience in Australia or recognized overseas equivalence.
• 10+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in distributed systems and systems programming.
• Proficiency in Rust, Go, C++, or Java for high-performance low-level services.
• Deep understanding of distributed consensus, CAP theorem, and hardware-level performance tuning.

Core Competencies & Key Technical Proficiencies

The successful applicant will possess demonstrated capabilities across the following domain skill sets:

Salary, Compensation & Employee Benefits

At Atlassian, we understand that our people drive our achievements. An outstanding remuneration and wellbeing package is provided in line with Australian benchmarks:

• Competitive Remuneration: AU$195,000 – AU$245,000 per year + standard Australian Superannuation (11.5%).
• Executive compensation $195,000 – $245,000 + substantial RSU equity grants + super.
• Atlassian ‘Team Anywhere’ policy: flexible hybrid work or 100% remote within Australia.
• $1,500 annual wellbeing allowance + dedicated innovation ShipIt hackathons.
• Leave Entitlements: 4 weeks annual leave (with 17.5% annual leave loading where applicable) plus 10 days paid personal/carer’s leave.
• Flexible Work: Progressive work-life balance options with supportive corporate culture and leadership development pathways.

About the Employer: Atlassian

Atlassian provides world-class team collaboration software including Jira, Confluence, Trello, and Bitbucket.

Atlassian is deeply committed to building diverse, equitable, and culturally inclusive work environments. We proudly celebrate diversity and welcome applications from all qualified individuals including First Nations Australians, people with disabilities, and candidates from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Application Process & Next Steps

Applications for this position are currently open and being reviewed on a rolling basis. Suitable candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible before the published closing date.

Please prepare an updated Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a tailored Cover Letter highlighting your relevant experience against the key selection criteria outlined above.

To proceed with your application, click the Apply on Employer Site button to access the official Atlassian careers gateway.