Staff Software Engineer

REA Group; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Birthday leave and purchasing extra-le

Flexible parental leave

Because We Care volunteering leave

Hackdays for ideas

Job summary

REA Group in Australia is seeking a Staff Engineer to shape AdTech architecture for high-scale advertising across web and app. You will lead design, delivery, and strategic decisions, partnering with product, engineering, and commercial teams.

You will mentor engineers, own critical systems end-to-end, write robust code, and stay ahead of industry advancements. This role offers hybrid work from Melbourne or Sydney and a culture that values impact, collaboration, and continuous learning.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience in high-scale systems.
• AdTech or digital advertising experience is a bonus.
• Expert in API development including REST/GraphQL and distributed event-driven architectures.
• Strong cloud experience (AWS and/or GCP) and production system ownership.
• Proficient in modern software practices: TDD, microservices, and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and evolution of REA’s AdTech architecture and platforms.
• Partner with Engineers, Product, Sales and Ad Operations to drive technical discovery and solutions.
• Write robust backend code, APIs, data pipelines, and event-driven components across the stack.
• Prototype and validate ideas quickly, guiding teams through uncertainty.
• Mentor engineers and raise the bar for engineering quality, practices and health.

Skills

API development

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Microservices

TDD

CI/CD

Leadership

Mentoring

Observability

Databases

Tools

REST

GraphQL

Job description

• Shape the future of digital advertising at REA by solving high-scale AdTech challenges that reach millions of property seekers while inspiring the engineers around you.
• Permanent role based in Melbourne or Sydney

We’re REA

With bold and ambitious goals, REA Group is changing the way the world experiences property. No matter where you’re at on your property journey, we’re here to help with every step - whether that’s finding or financing your next home.

Our people are the key to our success. At the heart of everything we do, is a thriving culture centred around high performance and care. We are purpose driven and collaborative, which drives innovation and our ability to make a real impact. As such, we’re proud to have been named in Australia’s “Top 5” Best Workplaces two years in a row, as well as being recognised as a Best Workplace for Women.

Where the team fits in

The Staff Engineer role sits within the AdTech team, a key part of the New Homes & Audience Solutions business unit within the Audience Solutions and Content tribe. The Audience Solutions & Content tribe connects consumers along their property journey with a range of relevant products and services — including finance, utilities, home services, automotive, and innovative advertising and lead generation tools.

Our AdTech team is at the heart of the technology powering our on portal advertising products — responsible for the systems, integrations, and platforms that enable REA to deliver high-quality, targeted advertising experiences across web and app at scale. As a fast-growing business, Audience Solutions and Content operates as a cross-functional unit spanning Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Legal.

As a Staff Engineer in this space, you will play a pivotal role in shaping our AdTech architecture and technical strategy, working at the intersection of engineering excellence and commercial impact.

What the role is all about

• You will be a key technical leader driving the design, delivery, and evolution of REA’s advertising technology ecosystem — bringing strong engineering principles and strategic thinking, with a curiosity and openness to immerse yourself in a complex and specialised domain.
• You will lead technical discovery in partnership with Engineers, Product, Sales, Ad Operations and AdTech Specialists— exploring ideas, validating assumptions through experimentation, and defining the solutions the team builds.
• You will be expected to write a lot of well-designed code, implementing robust backend solutions including APIs, data pipelines, and event-driven systems, with the versatility to contribute across the full stack.
• You will take on complex research and proof of concept work — rapidly prototyping solutions, assessing feasibility, and providing recommendations that help the team navigate uncertainty and move forward with confidence.
• You will be a key technical ally of the Engineering Manager, supporting them in designing solutions for the hardest problems the team faces, while driving technical design decisions and levelling up the capability of those around you.
• You will coach and mentor engineers and AdTech Specialists through pairing, code reviews, and direct guidance — fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning.
• You will continually grow your technical competency by staying across developments in the AdTech industry and the broader engineering community, and contribute positively to team culture, morale, and recruitment.

How will you support your team

• Writing, testing, and documenting code according to REA Engineering standards and practices.
• Leading or significantly contributing to strategically important AdTech initiatives, across ad serving, programmatic infrastructure, identity, and audience platforms.
• Solving deep, complex technical problems in ways that enable other team members to learn and extend — including owning the most challenging performance, integration, and architecture challenges in the squad.
• Coaching and mentoring engineers through code reviews, pairing, and direct guidance to foster a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning.
• Supporting the Engineering Manager in setting technical direction, engineering practices, and upskilling the team’s capabilities.
• Connecting with engineers across the organisation to align solution architecture with broader tech strategy. Contributing to the wider REA engineering community through tech guilds and engineering standards.
• Working with stakeholders to design high-quality solutions that balance options, effort, and quality — while maintaining existing products and supporting production systems, including the Day Pager Escalation roster.
• Supporting production systems, including being part of the Day Pager roster.

Who we’re looking for

• 10+ yearsof experience in software engineering, with a strong background in complex, high-scale systems
• Experience in AdTech, digital advertising, or media technology is highly regarded but not essential.
• Expert skillsin API development (REST and GraphQL), distributed event-driven systems architectures, and cloud infrastructure (AWS and/or GCP). A proven track record of building and operating scalable, reliable systems in production.
• Expert skillsin modern software development practices: test-driven development (TDD), micro-services architecture, and continuous delivery — withadvanced back-end skillsand genuine full stack capability.
• Advanced skillsin designing high-performance systems at scale, developing long-term architecture strategies, and working with modern databases (relational, NoSQL, BigQuery), message queues, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Deeply embodies the“you build it, you run it”philosophy — taking full ownership of services from design through to production, proactively improving system health, reliability, and performance, and proven experience leading the resolution of high-impact operational incidents.
• Excellent communicationskills, with the ability to articulate technicalsolutionsand strategy to both non-technical leaders and fellow engineers.
• Leadership and mentoring skills with a passion for developing talent and building inclusive, high-performing teams.
• Experience leading teams to produce high-quality solutions, with a track record of setting high standards for engineering quality, testing, observability, and monitoring.

The REA experience

The physical, mental, emotional and financial health of our people is something we’ll never stop caring about. This is a place to learn and grow.

Perks & Benefits include:

• A hybrid and flexible approach to working
• Flexible leave options including, birthday leave and purchase additional leave
• Flexible parental leave offering for primary and secondary carers
• Our Because We Care program offers employees volunteering leave, community grants, matched payroll giving and our Community Café donates 100% of revenue to charity
• Hackdays so you can bring your big ideas to life

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We are committed to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity, equity and inclusion. We believe teams with diverse ideas and experiences are more creative, more effective and fuel disruptive thinking. If you’ve got the skills, dedication and enthusiasm to learn but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch.

Join our Talent Neighbourhood

Keen to be part of REA but didn’t find a perfect match with this opportunity? Perhaps the timing isn’t right? You should join our Talent Neighbourhood!

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