Senior Software Engineer

Zefr; California; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible PTO

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Company-paid life insurance

Paid parental leave

401(k) with company match

Professional development opportunities

10+ paid holidays off

Hybrid work: 2 days in Marina del Rey,

In-office lunches and free food

Events (in-person & virtual)

Job summary

Zefr is a leader in AI-powered content classifications. We are hiring a Senior Software Engineer to own the design, implementation, and operation of microservices running in Kubernetes and cloud environments.

You will build production systems at scale and use AI fluently for coding, research, and problem-solving. Success means a self-starter who guides ambiguous problems from design to production, operates what you build, and raises engineering standards through collaboration and clear

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Hands-on experience designing, building, running, and operating microservices in Kubernetes and cloud environments
• Proficiency using AI for coding and research as a daily productivity multiplier
• Strong foundation in distributed systems, API design, data structures, algorithms, and software design
• Thorough testing and code review standards
• Self-starter who identifies problems, proposes solutions, and drives them to completion with minimal direction
• Strong collaboration skills and strong verbal and written communication skills
• Big plus: experience with LLMs, MCP (Model Context Protocol), agent-gateway, and agentic infrastructure

Responsibilities

• Own the design and implementation of microservices, and run and operate them in Kubernetes and other cloud-scalable, highly available environments.
• Design systems for scale, reliability, and high availability, and take accountability for the operational health of owned services, including observability, alerting, and incident response.
• Use AI tools for coding and research as a daily part of the engineering workflow, and help the team adopt effective AI-assisted development practices.
• Collaborate with product, ML, and infrastructure teams to translate requirements into robust technical designs.
• Contribute to architectural decisions, design reviews, and engineering standards across the platform.
• Mentor other engineers and communicate technical direction clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Skills

Cloud-native architecture

Distributed systems

Python

Kubernetes

GitHub Actions

AWS/GCP/Azure

API design

Collaboration & communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Terraform

ArgoCD

AWS

GCP

Azure

PostgreSQL

Snowflake

ElasticSearch

Apache Kafka

Pandas

Dask

Job description

What we do:

Zefr is the leader in AI-powered content classifications for brands and advertisers. Zefr’s platform is purpose built for multi-modal content understanding on open platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Meta and Snap, with pre-bid activation and verification solutions. Our products safeguard media and AI investments, while maximizing performance and efficacy on those channels.

Headquartered in Los Angeles with global offices across New York, Chicago, London, Toronto, Singapore, and more, Zefr is redefining what trust and transparency means for social media in the age of AI.

What you’ll do:

We are hiring a Senior Software Engineer to own the design, implementation, and operation of microservices running in Kubernetes and other cloud-scalable, highly available environments. In this role you will build and run the production systems that power Zefr’s platform at scale, and you will use AI fluently — for coding, research, and problem-solving — as a core part of how you work. Success in this position looks like a self-starter who takes ambiguous problems from design through production, operates what they build, and raises the engineering bar for the team through strong collaboration and clear communication.

• Own the design and implementation of microservices, and run and operate them in Kubernetes and other cloud-scalable, highly available environments.

• Design systems for scale, reliability, and high availability, and take accountability for the operational health of owned services, including observability, alerting, and incident response.

• Use AI tools for coding and research as a daily part of the engineering workflow, and help the team adopt effective AI-assisted development practices.

• Collaborate with product, ML, and infrastructure teams to translate requirements into robust technical designs.

• Contribute to architectural decisions, design reviews, and engineering standards across the platform.

• Mentor other engineers and communicate technical direction clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Languages: Python Data stores: Snowflake, Elastic Search, PostgreSQL Data processing: Apache Kafka, Dask, Pandas DevOps: Github Actions, Docker, Terraform, Kubernetes, ArgoCD, AWS/GCP

What we’re looking for:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field with 5+ years of professional software engineering experience

• Deep hands-on experience designing, building, running, and operating microservices in Kubernetes and cloud environments (GCP, AWS, or Azure)

• Proficiency using AI for coding and research as a daily productivity multiplier (e.g., Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor)

• Strong foundation in distributed systems, API design, data structures, algorithms, and software design

• Thorough testing and code review standards/practices

• Self-starter who identifies problems, proposes solutions, and drives them to completion with minimal direction

• Strong collaboration skills and strong verbal and written communication skills

• Big plus: proficiency with LLMs, MCP (Model Context Protocol), agent-gateway, and agentic infrastructure

Benefits (for US based employees):

• Flexible PTO

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with FSA options

• Company-paid life insurance

• Paid parental leave

• 401(k) with company match

• Professional development opportunities

• 10+ paid holidays off

• Summer Fridays (we leave early)

• Hybrid work: 2 days in our Marina del Rey office, 3 days remote

• In-office lunches and lots of free food

• Optional in-person and virtual events (we like to celebrate!)

Compensation (for US based employees):

The anticipated salary for this position is between $180K and $200K. Within the range, individual pay is determined by factors such as job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. If your compensation expectations fall outside of this range, it may still be worth having a conversation.

Zefr is an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, skills, and perspectives because we know this only makes us better. We strongly encourage women, persons of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, persons with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply even if you do not meet 100% of the qualifications.