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Senior Distributed Systems Engineer Jobs in Boulder, CO

Senior Control Systems Engineer

Denver, CO · On-site +1

$171K - $178K/yr

Control Systems Engineer- Senior This position is located On-site in our Denver Colorado location ... Design marine electrical power generation and distribution systems and integrate C5i technologies ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Aurora, CO · Hybrid

$106K - $145K/yr

We are seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to drive the technical design, system integration, and ... distribution layers linking the core facility safely to remote NASA/NOAA antenna systems over ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Aurora, CO · Hybrid

$106K - $145K/yr

We are seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to drive the technical design, system integration, and ... distribution layers linking the core facility safely to remote NASA/NOAA antenna systems over ...

Sr Systems Engineer

Louisville, CO · On-site

$109K - $149K/yr

The Sr Systems Engineer champions the viewpoint of the integrated whole during system development and works to glue segments and subsystems together via top-down decomposition of stakeholder ...

Sr Systems Engineer

Louisville, CO · On-site

$109K - $149K/yr

The Sr Systems Engineer champions the viewpoint of the integrated whole during system development and works to glue segments and subsystems together via top-down decomposition of stakeholder ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Aurora, CO · On-site

$106K - $145K/yr

US Citizenship is required TS/SCI Security Clearance required w/ CI Poly Senior Level Systems Engineer DPG Solutions is looking for a senior level Systems Engineer to support mission focused ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Aurora, CO · On-site

$106K - $145K/yr

Salary: 145k - 225k total compensation US Citizenship is required TS/SCI Security Clearance required w/ CI Poly Senior Level Systems Engineer DPG Solutions is looking for a senior level Systems ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Aurora, CO · On-site

$145K - $225K/yr

US Citizenship is required TS/SCI Security Clearance required w/ CI Poly Senior Level Systems Engineer DPG Solutions is looking for a senior level Systems Engineer to support mission focused ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Aurora, CO · On-site

$106K - $145K/yr

US Citizenship is required TS/SCI Security Clearance required w/ CI Poly Senior Level Systems Engineer DPG Solutions is looking for a senior level Systems Engineer to support mission focused ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Aurora, CO · On-site

$106K - $180K/yr

... Senior Systems Engineer to drive the technical design, system integration, and deployment of ... distribution layers linking the core facility safely to remote NASA/NOAA antenna systems over ...

Senior Systems Engineer

Berthoud, CO · On-site

$133K - $166K/yr

As a Senior Systems Engineer , you will leverage your experience to ensure our hypersonic propulsion and vehicle systems are designed, verified, and qualified to meet mission-critical customer ...

As Senior Control Systems Engineer, youll be responsible for leading the development, specification ... Contribute to the development and refinement of a distributed system architecture to access ...

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Showing results 1-20

Senior Distributed Systems Engineer information

See Boulder, CO salary details

$58.4K

$130.2K

$183.7K

How much do senior distributed systems engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 7, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior distributed systems engineer in Boulder, CO is $130,177.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $109,100.00 and $149,200.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the difference between Senior Distributed Systems Engineer vs Cloud Solutions Architect?

AspectSenior Distributed Systems EngineerCloud Solutions Architect
CredentialsBachelor's/Master's in CS or related, experience with distributed systemsBachelor's/Master's in CS, IT, or related, cloud certifications (AWS, Azure)
Work EnvironmentDesigning, developing, and maintaining distributed systems in tech companiesDesigning cloud infrastructure solutions for clients or internal teams
Industry UsageTech, finance, e-commerce, and enterprise sectorsIT consulting, cloud service providers, enterprise IT departments

The Senior Distributed Systems Engineer focuses on building and optimizing distributed computing systems, while the Cloud Solutions Architect designs cloud infrastructure solutions. Both roles require technical expertise and often overlap in cloud environments, but their primary responsibilities differ in scope and focus.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior distributed systems engineer?

A Senior Distributed Systems Engineer requires deep expertise in computer science fundamentals, scalable system architecture, and proficiency in programming languages such as Java, Go, or Python, often supported by a relevant degree and significant experience in distributed systems. Familiarity with tools like Kubernetes, Docker, Kafka, and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) is typically expected, along with knowledge of monitoring and CI/CD pipelines. Strong problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills help in tackling complex engineering challenges and collaborating across teams. These skills are crucial for designing robust, scalable, and reliable systems that support organizational growth and high availability.

How much do senior distributed systems engineers make?

Senior distributed systems engineers typically earn between $120,000 and $180,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and company size. They often have expertise in cloud platforms, programming languages, and system architecture, which can influence compensation levels.

What are some common challenges senior distributed systems engineers face when designing scalable systems?

Senior Distributed Systems Engineers often encounter challenges such as managing data consistency, ensuring fault tolerance, and minimizing latency across multiple nodes. Balancing trade-offs between availability and partition tolerance (as outlined by the CAP theorem) is a frequent consideration. Additionally, coordinating between development and operations teams to maintain system reliability and efficiently resolve issues that arise in production environments is crucial. Strong communication skills and a deep understanding of distributed architectures help address these complexities effectively.

What is a senior distributed systems engineer?

Senior Distributed Systems Engineers are experienced professionals who design, build, and maintain large-scale computing systems that run across multiple machines or locations. They focus on ensuring reliability, scalability, and performance of distributed applications, often dealing with challenges like data consistency, fault tolerance, and network latency. These engineers typically have deep expertise in distributed computing principles, programming languages, and cloud infrastructure. They also mentor junior team members and help architect robust solutions for complex technical problems.
What are popular job titles related to Senior Distributed Systems Engineer jobs in Boulder, CO? For Senior Distributed Systems Engineer jobs in Boulder, CO, the most frequently searched job titles are:
Infographic showing various Senior Distributed Systems Engineer job openings in Boulder, CO as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 84% Full Time, 11% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 89% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $130,177 per year, or $62.6 per hour.

Distributed Systems Software Engineer, GovCloud - Senior/Lead

Salesforce, Inc.

Denver, CO • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement

Re-posted 27 days ago


Salesforce rating

8.1

Company rating: 8.1 out of 10

Based on 58 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

113th of 242 rated software companies


Job description

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.

Job Category

Software Engineering

Job Details

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn't a buzzword - it's a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You're in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

Applications for this position will be accepted on an ongoing basis.

Must be a U.S. Citizen operating on U.S. Soil with ability to meet customer and government screening standards applicable to this role, including a Criminal Justice Information Services screening with fingerprint scan. Due to the citizenship requirement for this role, which supports U.S. federal, state, and/or local government customers, citizenship will be verified through two of the following REAL ID Act documents: U.S. Passport, Passport Card, REAL Driver's License, Global Entry Card, U.S. Government CAC/PIV.

Distributed Systems Software Engineer - GovCloud (Senior/Lead)


Our Public Cloud engineering teams are responsible for innovating and maintaining a large scale distributed systems engineering platform that ships hundreds of features to production for tens of millions of users across all industries every day. Our users count on our platform to be highly reliable, lightning fast, supremely secure, and to preserve all of their customizations and integrations every time we ship. You will need deep experience with concurrency, large scale systems, proficiency with solving real-world data management challenges, a strong understanding of how to craft solutions that are highly available, and a proven ability to design, develop, and optimize the core back-end systems. This role requires advanced prompt engineering skills - the ability to write precise, structured prompts and cultivate the system context that makes AI outputs reliable, secure, and production-ready.
Your Impact:

  • Deliver cloud infrastructure automation tools, frameworks, workflows, and validation platforms on our public cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, Azure, or Alibaba

  • Designing, developing, debugging, and operating resilient distributed systems that run across thousands of compute nodes in multiple data centers

  • Build and ship high-quality, production-grade software using modern engineering practices, with AI as a core part of your development workflow by pushing the boundaries of AI development tools (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude, OpenAI API) to deliver secure, optimized, and high-quality code.

  • Using and contributing to open source technology (Spinnaker, Zookeeper, etc.)

  • Developing Infrastructure-as-Code using Terraform

  • Writing microservices on containerization frameworks such as Kubernetes, Docker, Mesos

  • Design and orchestrate complex systems where AI agents integrate seamlessly into human workflows, driving efficiency and innovation at scale.

  • Contribute to building and maintaining the shared system context, an explicit repository of system designs, constraints, and standards that enables AI to operate accurately and reliably.

  • Critically evaluate code (Human or AI-generated) for correctness, quality, security, and performance

  • Resolving complex technical issues and drive innovations that improve system availability, resilience, and performance

  • Eat, sleep, and breathe services. You have experience balancing live-site management, feature delivery, and retirement of technical debt

  • Participate in the team's on-call rotation to address complex problems in real-time and keep services operational and highly available

Required Skills:

  • A related technical degree required

  • 5+ years backend software development experience

  • Deep knowledge of programming in Java, Golang, Python, or Ruby

  • Experience owning and operating multiple instances of a critical service

  • Experience with Agile development methodology and Test Driven Development

  • Experience with critical infrastructure services including, monitoring, alerting, logging, and reporting applications

  • Experience with distributed database system and relational databases like postgres is a plus.

  • A demonstrated, genuine AI-first approach to engineering. Using AI to move faster, build fluency across the stack, and contribute well beyond your core specialty.

  • Experience using AI tools (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Cursor, etc.) in development workflows

  • Advanced prompt engineering skills and the ability to write precise, structured prompts and cultivate the system context that makes AI outputs reliable, secure, and production-ready.

Benefits & Perks
Check out our benefits site which explains our various benefits, including wellbeing reimbursement, generous parental leave, adoption assistance, fertility benefits, and more.
Salesforce Information
Check out our Salesforce Engineering Site.

Unleash Your Potential

When you join Salesforce, you'll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance andbe your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you cando your best. Together, we'll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future - but to redefine what's possible - for yourself, for AI, and the world.

Accommodations

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form.

Please note that Salesforce uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help our recruiters assess and evaluate candidates' resumes and qualifications throughout the recruiting process. Humans will always make any candidate selection and hiring decisions. Please see our Candidate Privacy Statement for more information about how we use your personal data and your rights, including with regard to use of AI tools and opt out options.

Posting Statement

Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that's inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications - without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.

In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions. The typical base salary range for this position is $148,500 - $260,100 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $178,900 - $285,800 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.

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