Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer, Player Experience

Discord; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 196,000 - 220,500; Full time

Job summary

Discord is hiring a Software Engineer in San Francisco to enhance user connections through gaming. You'll design, build, and maintain features that improve interactions across desktop and mobile platforms.

The ideal candidate has over 5 years of experience in software engineering and is skilled in React/TS and Python. You will collaborate with developers and partners to ensure a rich gaming experience. Join us in our mission to make gaming better with great friends!

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer.
• Experience with React/TS, Python or other modern programming languages.
• Track record of shipping incremental and delightful features.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain features for user connections on the platform.
• Engage with developers and game studios to address player challenges.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on user experience enhancements.

Skills

React/TS

Python

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Project leadership

Job description

Discord is used by over 200 million people every month for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does on our platform: play video games. Over 90% of our users play games, spending a combined 1.5 billion hours playing thousands of unique titles on Discord each month. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games.

People come to Discord before, during, and after gaming, and we want to make that experience even better. Working directly with our developer partners and communities, we are building brand new ways for users on Discord to connect, engage and have a great time while gaming. We believe that gaming is better when playing with friends, and aim to provide the features and tooling for developers to help us enrich those experiences. This is also reflected in how we work! Our engineering culture values collaboration and building great teams. Come and join us!

What You'll Be Doing

• Design, build, and maintain features that help users connect and make friends through gaming on our platform, across desktop and mobile.
• Engage with developers, game studios and other partners to find opportunities and address challenges towards providing a more rich experience for players while gaming and engaging with online communities.
• Collaborate with Engineers, Designers, Product Owners, and Data Scientists to build engaging, fun, and trusted experiences, while experimenting and iterating on ideas that enhance user interactions.
• Partner with our Content, Marketing and ML teams to improve ranking and discovery systems, enabling users to find meaningful connections and relevant content.
• Build innovative features that help users discover new friendships and deepen existing ones, creating a trusted and welcoming environment.

What you should have

• You have 5+ years of experience as a software engineer.
• You have experience with React/TS, Python or other modern programming languages.
• You have a track‑record of shipping incremental + delightful features that improve the overall user experience.
• You are comfortable switching between different technical stacks and learning new ones.
• You enjoy collaborating with product, design and other stakeholders. We don’t operate in silos, and you’ll be working closely with cross‑functional peers. You should be able to express opinions and stay aligned.
• You take a holistic approach to problem solving. You believe in solving a problem from first principles rather than simply shipping a solution. You learn from your mistakes and work through obstacles with the rest of the team.
• You have experience leading projects, gathering requirements, supporting partners and mentoring others. You believe in ‘lead by example’ with regards to ownership, autonomy, quality and impact, and no problem is “not my problem”.
• You are a Discord user and want to make the product better!

Bonus Points

• Experience working on a mobile native stack (iOS / Obj‑C / Swift), Android (Java, Kotlin)
• Experience working on developer platform or tooling

The US base salary range for this full‑time position is $196,000 to $220,500 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job‑related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.

Why Discord?

Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We’re a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank. Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!

Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.