Senior Staff Engineer - Systems

Freshworks; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Freshworks in Hyderabad is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer to anchor the technical direction of our multi-tier SaaS platform. You will shape architectures, drive scalable APIs, microservices, and high-performance web-layer features that empower large enterprise customers.

You will mentor engineers, uphold clean code and robust systems thinking, partner with Product, Design, QA, and Operations to translate business vision into reliable software, and lead production reliability initiatives in a

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or related field.
• 12–15 years of hands-on software and systems engineering experience in modern distributed SaaS.
• Proven ownership of end-to-end architecture and technical strategy.

Responsibilities

• Own and execute architectural roadmap for engineering domain.
• Write clean, high-performance code and build scalable APIs/core features.
• Identify bottlenecks and debt; drive refactoring with business delivery intact.
• Lead production incidents, RCA, and preventive measures for reliability.
• Set engineering standards via code reviews, automated tests, and CI/CD.
• Mentor engineers and develop talent across teams.
• Ensure designs and practices align with security and compliance standards.

Skills

Backend expertise

Distributed systems

CS fundamentals

SaaS & Linux

DevOps & CI/CD

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/SE

Job description

Impact You Can Create

As a Senior Staff Engineer, you will serve as a core technical anchor, driving the architectural evolution of Freshworks' multi-tier SaaS platform. In this role, you will:

• Scale Platform Capabilities: Architect and deliver resilient APIs, microservices, and web-layer platform features that support complex enterprise customer scenarios while drastically improving deployment velocity, system reliability, and low-latency performance.
• Elevate Engineering Discipline: Act as a technical role model and mentor to young, ambitious engineers-fostering a culture rooted in clean coding standards, robust systems thinking, and long-term product ownership.
• Bridge Business & Technology: Partner closely with cross-functional leaders across Architecture, Product Management, Design, QA, Operations, and Customer Success to turn high-level business visions into seamlessly integrated, high-performing software solutions.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Architecture & Roadmap Execution: Own and deliver the technical roadmap for your engineering domain; design, document, and execute scalable, cost-efficient, and low-latency platform solutions.
• Hands-on Development: Write clean, maintainable, and high-performance code, building APIs and core platform features that scale seamlessly alongside Freshworks' global growth.
• System Health & Tech Debt Management: Identify critical architectural bottlenecks and technical debt; design and drive practical, iterative refactoring plans without compromising business delivery.
• Operational Excellence & Production Leadership: Take ownership of complex production issues in distributed SaaS environments, driving deep-dive root-cause analyses (RCA) and implementing permanent preventive safeguards.
• Quality & Process Standardization: Establish rigorous engineering standards through code reviews, automated testing, and CI/CD pipeline integration to continuously raise the quality bar.
• Mentorship & Talent Development: Coach and develop engineers across functions, elevating their problem-solving capabilities, systems thinking, and operational discipline.
• Security & Compliance: Ensure all platform designs and team practices strictly align with Freshworks information security standards and regulatory compliance protocols.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience: 12 to 15 years of hands-on software engineering and systems/platform engineering experience within modern distributed SaaS environments.
• Architectural Ownership: Proven track record of owning end-to-end architecture and technical strategy for large-scale products or core platform infrastructure.
• Production Scale: Demonstrated history of building, shipping, and maintaining high-availability, low-latency, and high-throughput systems operating under assertive deployment schedules.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Extensive experience collaborating with and influencing multi-disciplinary teams (Product, QA, Ops, Design) to drive consensus and alignment.

Skills

• Core Backend Expertise: Expert-level mastery in Java (Spring/Spring Boot) or Python for high-scale backend services development.
• Distributed Systems Architecture: Deep proficiency in multi-tier application architecture, microservices design, RESTful APIs, messaging queues, and database layer optimization.
• CS Fundamentals: Exceptional command of data structures, algorithms, advanced Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) concepts, and design patterns.
• SaaS Troubleshooting & Linux: Advanced knowledge of Linux internals, production debugging, log analysis, and system telemetry in distributed Cloud/SaaS setups.
• Engineering Quality & DevOps: Strong experience with CI/CD automation, unit/integration testing frameworks, and writing clean, maintainable code with minimal abstraction.
• Soft Skills & Technical Leadership: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical trade-offs to both technical panels and executive stakeholders.

At Freshworks, we have fostered an environment that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion, welcoming colleagues of all backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnicities. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer environment that boosts the goals of our employees, communities, and business. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.