Senior C++ Engineer

DuckDuckGo; Lisboa; On-site; EUR 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid parental leave

Co-working allowances

Office setup

Job summary

DuckDuckGo in Lisbon is seeking a Senior C++/Chromium Engineer to lead privacy-focused projects from proposal through postmortem. You will translate vague problems into clear plans and build them in a large modern C++ codebase, often collaborating asynchronously with design and product to ship features that protect user privacy.

This role requires 7+ years of software engineering experience, advanced C++ (C++23+), memory management, concurrency, and performance profiling, plus experience

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering experience.
• Advanced modern C++ expertise (C++23 or newer), including memory management, concurrency, and performance profiling.
• Experience driving technical work end-to-end on large-scale C++ codebases.
• Experience shipping software to a large consumer audience.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex projects from proposal through postmortem.
• Turn vague problems into clear plans and build them in a large C++ codebase.
• Collaborate with design and product, mostly asynchronously, to build features for privacy.

Skills

Leadership

Problem solving

Metrics orientation

C++23+ experience

Large-scale codebases

Build systems & profilers

Shipping to consumers

CS fundamentals

Tools

Chromium

GDB/Perf tools

Job description

Our culture of trust, inclusivity, and empowered project management underpins everything we do, where each team member takes full ownership of their projects, from scoping and execution to postmortem. If you're seeking end-to-end ownership of your work, you've come to the right place!

Implement tracker blocking that stops hidden trackers on every site without slowing page loads.

As a Senior C++/Chromium Engineer, you'll lead complex projects from proposal through post-mortem. You'll turn vague problems into clear plans, build them in a large modern C++ codebase, and use metrics to show they worked. Some days that means low-level systems work. Others, it means architecture decisions the whole team builds on. You'll collaborate with design and product, mostly asynchronously, to build features people use to protect their privacy.

About You

• Ability to lead and collaborate on high-impact, complex projects from proposal through post-mortem
• Skills to wrangle vague problems, propose innovative solutions, and execute them with a strong focus on metrics
• 7+ years of software engineering experience
• Advanced modern C++ expertise (C++23 or newer), including memory management, concurrency, and performance profiling
• Experience driving technical work end‑to‑end on large-scale C++ codebases
• Comfort with large build systems, debuggers, and profilers
• Experience shipping software to a large consumer audience
• Solid computer science foundation (algorithms and data structures)

Compensation This role is paid on a regional pay scale, in local currency, and stock options:

United States: $190,500 USD annually

United Kingdom: £134,600 GBP annually

Canada: C$253,500 CAD annually

Europe/Rest of World: €157,350 EUR annually

In Spain, pay is expected to transition to the EUR scale on January 1, 2027, and in other Europe/Rest of World countries on February 1, 2027.

Compensation is transparent across the organization, and all team members within the same professional level and global region receive the same compensation.

Eligibility for company-sponsored health benefits is limited to team members based in the United States. This program does not extend to team members located in other countries, such as Canada or the UK.

Our Team Member Support Guide explains how we prioritize your wellbeing including

• paid parental leave, office setup,
• and
• co‑working allowances.

Hiring Process

Hiring works best when it's a two-way street. Learn how we help you get to know DuckDuckGo, envision your future role here, and find out more about how we hire.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

DuckDuckGo provides equal work opportunities to all team members and applicants, and it prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by our policies or federal, state, or local laws.

We want to ensure that our hiring process is accessible. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process because of a medical condition or disability, please send an email to [e-mail] to let us know the nature of your request.

Please Note That

• You’ll be required to attend meetings on camera via video conferencing
• Expect to travel at least two times a year: once for our all-hands meetup and again for a team retreat (each around 4-5 days). While extenuating circumstances may impact attendance, everyone is strongly encouraged to attend.
• While we offer a flexible work arrangement with no core hours, expect an average full-time commitment of 40 hours per week.
• A successful candidate must pass a background check as a condition of joining the team.

By applying for this role, you confirm that all information submitted is accurate and complete. You further acknowledge that providing false or fraudulent information during the application process is cause for denial of an offer, revocation of any existing offer, or other adverse action, up to and including termination after the start of your commencement of work.

Disclosure Statement: Use of AI in Hiring Process As part of our commitment to enhancing our recruitment process, we utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to assist in reviewing and summarizing job applications and test projects, including those tools integrated into our recruitment vendor platforms. We use AI to flag potentially fraudulent applications, analyze and summarize applicants' experience, interviews, and project performance, and help streamline our selection process.

Data Privacy: All information provided in your application will be handled in accordance with our Recruiting Privacy Policy. We ensure that your personal information is protected and used solely for recruitment purposes.

Human Oversight and Accountability: The AI technology is designed to support our hiring team by providing insights and summaries of applications and evaluations of test projects against scoring rubrics. All final evaluations and hiring decisions, however, will be made by our hiring team, who will consider the AI's input alongside other factors.

Transparency: We believe in transparency regarding our hiring practices. If you have any questions about how AI is used in our recruitment process, please feel free to reach out to us.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge and consent to the use of AI technology in our review process. If you would like to request an alternative selection process, please contact us as at [e-mail]. Thank you for your interest in joining DuckDuckGo!

Senior C++ Engineer • Lisbon, Portuguese Republic, PT