Staff Software Engineer

Zencoder

WorldwideremotePosted 22 days ago

Skill Required

Software-EngineerBackend-EngineeringDistributed-SystemsCloud-ArchitectureStaff-Software-DeveloperStaff-Software-EngineeringSoftware EngineerSoftware Developersoftware engineeringSystem DesignObservabilityCD pipelinesGCPPrototypingEngineeringJavaScriptsecuritybuildingTestNGKotlindesignCI/CDCloudDesign PatternsJavaAWSandCICDAIFulltime

Key highlights

10+ years of software engineering experience.
Expertise in JavaScript or JVM‑based languages (Java/Kotlin).
Proven experience building and scaling distributed systems on AWS or Google Cloud.
Equity‑based compensation aligning personal success with company growth.
Global, fully remote work flexibility.
Individual Contributors are the highest‑status role at Zencoder.

Role overview

Zencoder.ai builds and orchestrates AI agents that perform real work such as code, research, and operations. The company is transitioning from developer tooling to a collaborative platform where people and agents work together on knowledge‑work tasks. The role is a Staff Software Engineer position, a critical, hands‑on technical leader role that will drive technical direction, set high standards for system design and code quality, and collaborate across product and engineering to simplify complexity, improve reliability, and enable fast, maintainable development.

Responsibilities

Act as a technical thought leader, setting a high bar for engineering quality.
Be hands‑on, writing code for new features, prototyping, refactoring existing code to meet best practices, etc.
Lead design discussions and architecture reviews for high‑impact projects.
Collaborate with product, design, and research teams to define and evolve user‑facing functionality with real developer impact.
Evaluate trade‑offs thoughtfully across performance, scalability, complexity, and cost and advocate for clear, maintainable solutions.
Guide and mentor other engineers, helping them grow while raising the overall technical maturity of the team.
Influence engineering culture, driving best practices in testing, observability, security, and cloud design.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in software engineering covering multiple large‑scale, production‑grade systems.
Expert in at least one of the following languages: JavaScript, JVM‑based (Java/Kotlin).
Experience building and scaling distributed systems with reliability and performance in mind, covering both compute and data layers and including best practices on observability.
Strong background in cloud architecture and infrastructure design in AWS or Google Cloud environments.
Demonstrated ability to simplify complex systems and reduce unnecessary technical debt while balancing the need to move fast to compete.
Strong communication skills with a track record of aligning stakeholders, leading cross‑functional efforts, and influencing without authority.
A deep shift‑left mindset throughout the entire SDLC, with early integration of security, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines.
Deep familiarity with AI assistants, a solid grasp of the evolving AI landscape, and the ability to translate trends and capabilities into practical product improvements.
Curiosity, pragmatism, and a willingness to challenge assumptions.

Nice to have

Experience or a strong interest in building collaborative, real‑time systems is beneficial.

Benefits

Shape the future of software creation with tools that influence every industry.
Massive impact and real ownership: full visibility into how work moves the product and company forward.
Individual Contributors are the highest‑status role; culture celebrates those who lead by doing.
Work alongside a high‑caliber team and learn directly from founder Andrew Filev, a unicorn startup founder.
Global & flexible work: remote from anywhere you’re happiest and most productive.
Aligned incentives through an equity plan that rewards personal impact as the company grows.
Commitment to diversity and inclusion as an equal‑opportunity employer.