Is Dropbox fully remote, or will I ever need to go to an office?

Remote is the primary way of working, but Dropbox keeps on-demand Studios and workspaces you can use at no cost, and teams typically gather in person for offsites of 2 to 3 days per quarter, with roughly 5 to 10% travel being typical. In-person time is intentional and community-focused rather than a return-to-office requirement.

What does async by default look like day to day?

You work a nonlinear schedule of your own design, anchored by core collaboration hours that overlap across time zones, and written asynchronous communication is preferred over meetings to protect focus time. Dropbox also publishes free 4-week courses on its careers site teaching best practices for thriving in distributed work.

How does Dropbox set pay for remote roles?

Pay is geo-based: salary ranges are published in job postings, segmented into three US zones plus country-level ranges for Canada, Poland, and Mexico. The zip code of your remote work location determines which metropolitan pay range applies.

Which benefits stand out for remote employees?

Highlights include a 401(k) match of dollar for dollar up to $6,000 per calendar year, which Dropbox states in its SEC filings, plus a quarterly perks allowance usable for childcare, wellness, ergonomics, and learning. There is also a cell phone and internet allowance, access to the Peloton Corporate Wellness Program, and paid parental and family leave with adoption and surrogacy support. Dropbox publishes an amount for the 401(k) match only, and says further benefit details are available on request.

Do employees actually like the Virtual First model?

Recent internal surveys on the careers site report that 87% of employees are happy with the current balance of in-person and virtual experiences and 90% feel they have colleagues they can trust. It suits people who value autonomy, strong written communication, and deliberate rather than constant in-person contact.

Infrastructure Software Engineer, Metadata (Remote) at Dropbox

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Job Description

Role Description

As a Software Engineer on the Metadata team, you’ll build and operate the large-scale distributed databases that every Dropbox service depends on. Metadata systems are mission-critical, in the live path for all user operations and must meet stringent requirements for latency, durability, and transactional consistency.

You’ll design and evolve the core infrastructure that manages Dropbox’s databases at scale, enabling fast, reliable access to data for millions of users and hundreds of internal services. This work spans distributed systems, replication, caching, and transactional database systems.

You’ll collaborate closely with engineers across Infrastructure and Product teams to ensure the metadata layer meets business needs and continues to scale with Dropbox’s growth. This is an opportunity to leverage your expertise in distributed systems and grow into broader technical leadership.

Our Engineering Career Framework is viewable by anyone outside the company and describes what’s expected for our engineers at each of our career levels. Check out our blog post on this topic and more here.

Responsibilities

Design and maintain distributed database systems providing low-latency, strongly consistent data access
Implement and optimize replication, consensus, and caching mechanisms to meet availability and performance goals
Operate production systems, including participating in the on-call rotation, ensuring high availability and data durability
Collaborate with infrastructure and product teams to assess current and future use cases and requirements, supporting the development of a mid- to long-term roadmap that reflects these needs
Contribute to system design reviews, postmortems, and reliability improvements
Write high-quality, efficient code in Go and Rust for performance-critical systems

On-call work may be necessary occasionally to help address bugs, outages, or other operational issues, with the goal of maintaining a stable and high-quality experience for our customers.

Requirements

BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or related technical field involving coding (e.g., physics or mathematics), or equivalent technical experience
5+ years of professional software development experience
Experience designing and implementing software using distributed systems fundamentals: replication, consistency, partitioning, and fault tolerance
Experience building databases, storage systems, or large scale data infrastructure
Proficient in programming and debugging across a range of languages such as Python, Go, Rust, C/C++, or Java
Familiarity with consensus and coordination systems (e.g. Raft, Paxos, ZooKeeper, etc)
Strong debugging and performance analysis skills

Preferred Qualifications

Familiarity with Semaphores and Mutexes
Experience building distributed databases or storage systems
Practical experience with and deep understanding of data structures used in storage systems (e.g. LSM trees, B-trees, Hash Indexes)

Durable Skills

AI fluency means using these tools to amplify human judgment, not replace it. We believe people with these skills will thrive as work and technology continue to evolve:

Awareness: Understand yourself and others.
Judgment: Evaluate information and make decisions in complex situations.
Adaptability: Learn, adjust, and stay effective through change.
Connection: Communicate, collaborate, and build trust.

To learn more about why these skills matter and what the data shows about thriving through change, read this blog post from our Chief People Officer, Melanie Rosenwasser.

Compensation

Poland Pay Range

272 000 zł—368 000 zł PLN

Benefits & Perks

Health & Wellness

Health Insurance

Dropbox offers medical coverage; its US careers page links to Anthem and Kaiser plan information.

Dental Insurance

Dropbox offers dental coverage as part of its employee benefits.

Vision Insurance

Dropbox provides vision coverage as part of its medical, dental, and vision benefits.

Mental Health Benefits

Dropbox offers mental-health support through Modern Health, including coaching and therapy options.

Life Insurance

Dropbox provides life insurance with AD&D coverage included.

Disability Insurance

Disability coverage is included in the benefits package.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Pre-tax flexible spending accounts are available for healthcare and dependent care expenses.

Health Savings Account (HSA)

A health savings account is available to employees.

Pet Insurance

Dropbox offers pet insurance coverage for employee pets.

Gender Affirming Care

Health coverage includes transgender healthcare benefits supporting gender-affirming treatments.

Fitness Stipend

Dropbox provides free access to the Peloton Corporate Wellness Program plus a gym and wellness reimbursement.

Wellness Programs

A quarterly perks allowance covers wellness, caregiver support, productivity, ergonomics, learning, and groceries.

Employee Assistance Program

Dropbox provides an Employee Assistance Program with confidential counseling and support resources.

Financial

401(k) / Retirement Plan

Dropbox offers a 401(k) retirement plan with a Mega Backdoor Roth after-tax contribution option.

401(k) Match

Dropbox matches employee 401(k) contributions dollar for dollar, up to $6,000 per calendar year.

Equity / RSUs

Employee restricted stock units generally vest quarterly over four years.

Performance Bonus

All regular employees are eligible for a corporate bonus program or sales incentive (target included in OTE).

Time Off

Unlimited PTO

Dropbox offers an unlimited PTO policy for vacation and personal time.

Unlimited Sick Days

Dropbox provides unlimited sick leave separate from vacation PTO.

Paid Holidays

Dropbox provides paid holidays in addition to PTO.

Military Leave

Dropbox provides dedicated paid military leave for employees serving in the armed forces.

Remote & Equipment

Company Equipment

Dropbox provides a custom work station and company phone for employees.

Company Offsites / Retreats

Dropbox prioritizes quarterly in-person collaboration for team building, brainstorming, or planning.

Coworking Allowance

Dropbox provides access to On-Demand workspaces and Studios at no cost to employees.

Family & Care

Parental Leave

Dropbox supports families with paid parental and family leave, assistance for adoption and surrogacy, and access to resources for both child and adult back-up care.

Adoption Leave

Dropbox provides adoption and surrogacy assistance alongside paid parental and family leave.

Fertility Benefits

Assistance for adoption and surrogacy for growing families.

Childcare Support

Access to back-up care for both children and adults, plus assistance for adoption and surrogacy.

Professional Growth

Learning & Development Budget

Dropbox provides a continuing education stipend, tuition reimbursement, online course subscriptions, Dropbox-sponsored tech talks, and Lunch and Learns; learning is also an eligible category under the quarterly perks allowance.

Mentorship Program

Dropbox runs a structured mentorship program for employees plus apprenticeship programs.

Defined Career Pathways

Dropbox publishes an Engineering Career Framework describing level expectations and growth.

Culture & Perks

Charity Matching

Dropbox matches employee charitable donations.

Employee Product Discount

Employees receive exclusive discounts with partnered companies and on Dropbox products.

Employee Resource Groups

Dropbox supports Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and a Dropbox Neighborhood community program for connection across the global workforce.

Employee Recognition Awards

Dropbox runs a formal employee awards program to honor work and contributions, supported by quarterly engagement surveys.

Job Description

Role Description

Responsibilities

Requirements

Preferred Qualifications

Durable Skills

Compensation

Compensation

Benefits & Perks

Health & Wellness

Financial

Time Off

Remote & Equipment

Family & Care

Professional Growth

Culture & Perks

Tech Stack

JavaScript & Libraries

Frameworks

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dropbox fully remote, or will I ever need to go to an office?

What does async by default look like day to day?

How does Dropbox set pay for remote roles?

Which benefits stand out for remote employees?

Do employees actually like the Virtual First model?

Interested in this role?

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