Staff Systems Engineer Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Illinois

ABOUT PINTEREST:

Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.

Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible.

At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.

Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here.

ABOUT THE JOB:

The IT Collaboration and Productivity Engineering team builds and runs the collaboration and productivity platforms that power how Pinployees communicate, share information, and get work done. We own core SaaS platforms such as Google Workspace, O365, Gemini, Jira, Confluence, Slack, and other collaboration, productivity, and AI tools, and partner closely with Security, People, Legal, and Engineering to design secure, reliable, and intuitive experiences.

As a Staff Collaboration Systems Engineer primarily focused on Google Workspace, you will be the technical lead for our Workspace environment and a key owner for other collaboration platforms (including O365, Highspot, Gemini, and AI-powered collaboration tools) — shaping their long‑term architecture, driving major cross‑functional initiatives, and mentoring others in building robust, automation‑driven solutions.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Own the Google Workspace platform end‑to‑end – act as the primary technical authority for Gmail, Calendar, Drive/Shared Drives, Docs/Sheets/Slides, Groups, Chat/Spaces, Meet, and related services, including tenant configuration, routing, directory/OU design, and policy governance.
• Design and evolve the collaboration architecture – define standards, guardrails, and best practices for domains, org structure, resource hierarchy, external sharing, retention, and data protection to support a global, hybrid workforce.
• Lead incident response and complex troubleshooting for high‑impact Workspace issues, driving root‑cause analysis, long‑term fixes, and learning‑oriented postmortems in partnership with IT Operations, Security, and vendors.
• Build automation and integrations using scripting (e.g., Apps Script, Python, or similar) and Google Workspace APIs/SDKs to streamline user and group lifecycle, license management, configuration as code, and health/usage monitoring.
• Integrate Google Workspace with identity, security, and IT workflows (e.g., SSO/IdP, MDM, DLP, e‑discovery/archival, logging, ITSM) in close collaboration with Security and other infrastructure teams.
• Use AI as a force multiplier for your work — for example, using AI assistants to draft scripts, configuration templates, documentation, or runbooks — while validating outputs through tests, dry‑runs, and peer review, and maintaining full ownership of the final results.
• Lead cross‑functional projects such as Workspace migrations, domain consolidations, tool rationalization, and new collaboration patterns (e.g., shared drives strategy, calendar/resource strategy, Chat/Spaces usage) from design through rollout.
• Mentor and uplevel other engineers by reviewing designs and implementations, sharing best practices, and providing clear guidance aligned to Role Expectations Guides (REGs), leveling criteria, and Pinterest competencies.
• Represent the team with stakeholders across the company, translating business needs into durable technical solutions, communicating trade‑offs, and ensuring decisions reflect “Act as one” and “Create belonging” for our global workforce.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 8+ years of experience in IT systems or collaboration/platform engineering, including significant hands-on ownership of Google Workspace in a medium-to-large environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Deep Google Workspace experience running large or complex environments (ideally multi-domain or multi-org), across Gmail, Calendar, Drive/Shared Drives, Groups, Chat/Spaces, and Meet.
• Strong systems design and troubleshooting skills, including debugging issues that span clients, network, identity, and backend services.
• Solid scripting and automation skills (e.g., Google Apps Script, GAM, Python), and experience using Google Workspace APIs/SDKs to automate lifecycle, configuration, and reporting.
• Experience implementing and operating security, privacy, and compliance controls such as DLP, retention/legal hold, e-discovery, external sharing policies, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, and access reviews.
• Experience integrating Google Workspace with identity (SSO/SCIM), MDM/endpoint tools, logging/observability, and ticketing/ITSM systems.
• Proven use of AI tools to speed up engineering or operations work (e.g., generating code, runbooks, or summaries), with a clear approach to validating outputs, reducing bias, and protecting reliability and security.
• Track record of operating at a staff-level scope: leading large, complex initiatives, shaping cross-team roadmaps, and owning impactful outcomes.
• Ability to lead and mentor other engineers, give clear technical direction, and partner effectively with managers, product owners, and stakeholders.
• Comfort working across diverse teams and locations, consistently modeling Pinterest’s values: putting Pinners and Pinployees first, aiming for high quality, acting as one team, and approaching challenges with a “win or learn” mindset.

IN-OFFICE REQUIREMENT STATEMENT

• We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
• This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times every 6-months and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country, with a preference for candidates based on the West Coast.

RELOCATION STATEMENT:

• This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

COMPENSATION

• Salary Range: $158,765 — $326,870 USD

At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.

Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here.

OUR COMMITMENT TO INCLUSION:

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.