Platform Engineer – Database Systems

About Quizlet:

At Quizlet, our mission is to help every learner achieve their outcomes in the most effective and delightful way. Our $1B+ learning platform serves tens of millions of students every month, including two-thirds of U.S. high schoolers and half of U.S. college students, powering over 2 billion learning interactions monthly.

We blend cognitive science with machine learning to personalize and enhance the learning experience for students, professionals, and lifelong learners alike. We’re energized by the potential to power more learners through multiple approaches and various tools.

Join us to design and deliver AI-powered learning tools that scale across the world and unlock human potential.

As a Platform Engineer
, you’ll join Quizlet’s Platform Engineering team to build and maintain the database systems that power our global learning platform. You’ll help ensure Quizlet’s data layer is fast, reliable, and scalable — working on systems that serve tens of millions of learners every month. You’ll collaborate with senior engineers to optimize database performance, improve observability, and strengthen our infrastructure reliability.

We’re happy to share that this is an onsite position in our San Francisco office
. To help foster team collaboration, we require that employees be in the office a minimum of three days per week:
Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday
, and as needed by your manager or the company.

• Support the development and operation of Quizlet’s production databases, including Cloud Spanner, Planet Scale MySQL, and Big Query.
• Contribute to performance tuning, query optimization, and capacity planning.
• Build automation and monitoring tools that improve reliability and reduce operational toil.
• Assist in maintaining high availability and low-latency performance across data systems.
• Partner with other engineers to improve data access layers, caching strategies, and observability.

• 2–4 years of backend or platform engineering experience, ideally with database systems in production
• Experience with one or more of MySQL, Postgres, Cloud Spanner, or Big Query
• Proficiency in Go or Python for automation, tooling, or service development
• Familiarity with Kubernetes (GKE) and Terraform for infrastructure management
• Interest in distributed systems, caching, and performance optimization
• Strong problem-solving and collaboration skills, with a growth mindset

• Quizlet is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Salary transparency helps to mitigate unfair hiring practices when it comes to discrimination and pay gaps
• Total compensation for this role is market competitive, including a starting base salary of $163,900 – $190,800
  , depending on location and experience, as well as company stock options
• Collaborate with your manager and team to create a healthy work-life balance
• 20 vacation days that we expect you to take!
• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance (100% employee and 75% dependent PPO, Dental, VSP Choice)
• Employer-sponsored 401(k) plan with company match
• Access to Linked In Learning and other resources to support professional growth
• Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, Commuter benefits, and Wellness benefits
• 40 hours of annual paid time off to participate in volunteer programs of choice

🌎 Massive reach: 60M+ users, 1B+ interactions per week

🧠 Cutting-edge tech:
Generative AI, adaptive learning, cognitive science

📈 Strong momentum:
Top-tier investors, sustainable business, real traction

🎯 Mission-first:
Work that makes a difference in people’s lives

🤝 Inclusive culture:
Committed to equity, diversity, and belonging

We strive to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome!

We work to create a holistic interview process, where both Quizlet and candidates have an opportunity to view what it would be like to work together, in exploring a mutually beneficial partnership.

We provide a transparent setting that gives a comprehensive view of who we are!

At Quizlet, we’re excited about…