Senior Software Engineer (all teams)

Compa; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Compa is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to take ownership of the software and systems behind its core products in Irvine, California. You will work closely with Product and Design teams to build and improve features, ensuring a smooth user experience.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years of experience, deep proficiency in modern web languages, and a passion for driving technical decisions. The compensation ranges from $165K to $220K, reflecting the critical contribution of this role at a leading AI compensation startup.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience shipping production software on a team.
• Deep proficiency in at least one modern web language or framework.
• Successful end-to-end ownership of complex features or systems.

Responsibilities

• Own production software across Compa's web app and backend systems.
• Lead architecture decisions and write clean, scalable code.
• Drive code review and influence roadmap and technical direction.

Skills

Modern web language or framework proficiency

End-to-end ownership of software systems

Experience with ML and AI integrations

Code review and mentoring

Driving projects autonomously

Tools

Django

Python

React

TypeScript

GraphQL

AWS

Job description

About Compa

Compa is a venture-backed AI startup revolutionizing the future of compensation. In a dynamic job market with hiring challenges, accountability, and the rise of AI, companies need the best data to stay ahead of industry changes, competition, and costs. Compa has developed the premier real‑time compensation data platform, delivering top‑tier compensation intelligence to leading enterprise teams. Compa is a compensation‑intelligence company built to augment enterprise compensation teams in the era of AI. Our customers include the world’s biggest companies: NVIDIA, Stripe, DoorDash, Open AI, TMobile, Moderna, Workday, Ulta, Target, and more.

Locations

Compa headquarters are located in Irvine, California, with growing sites in Denver, Colorado and San Francisco, California. We’re a collaborative, curious, and driven team that values transparency, ownership, and continuous learning and prioritizing in‑person work where possible.

The Role

As a Senior Software Engineer, you’ll have real ownership over the software and systems behind Compa's core products. You’ll work across the stack, partner closely with Product and Design, and ship features that directly impact our customers.

In This Role, You Will

• Own production software across Compa's web app and backend systems, from design to delivery
• Own key ML and AI integrations into our data workflows, including building our own agent harness
• Build new features and improve existing workflows alongside Product and Design
• Lead architecture decisions and write clean, scalable code
• Drive code review and influence roadmap and technical direction
• Solve real problems for enterprise comp teams, from data pipelines to user experience

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience shipping production software on a team
• Deep proficiency in at least one modern web language or framework, and fluency across the stack
• Successful end‑to‑end ownership of complex features or systems (design to production)
• Experience leading technical decisions (trade‑off justification)
• Experience driving projects autonomously through ambiguity (scoping to delivery)
• Experience raising the bar through code review and mentoring

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at early‑stage or high‑growth startups
• Familiarity with compensation, HR tech, or enterprise SaaS
• Experience with data‑driven products or complex user workflows
• Interest or experience in AI systems or ML infrastructure
• Comfortable with ambiguity and fast, iterative work

Tech Stack

You don’t need experience with all of these, but familiarity with any is a plus:

• Backend: Django, Python
• Frontend: React, TypeScript, GraphQL
• Infrastructure: AWS
• Other Tools: vLLM, Linear, Slack, Notion, Metabase

Compensation Range: $165K - $220K