Senior Software Engineer II

Compass; Madison (NJ); On-site; USD 176,000 - 196,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonuses & RSUs

Health benefits

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Job summary

Compass is building a scalable backend platform to power a real estate ecosystem for agents and clients. The team focuses on high-throughput services, data pipelines, and AI-enabled automation to streamline workflows across buyer and seller experiences.

We seek Backend Senior Engineers with 5+ years of experience in distributed systems, proficient in Go or Java, with knowledge of Python and data architectures. You will own design, delivery, and mentorship within a cloud-native stack.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of professional software development experience, architecting and delivering complex backend systems autonomously (3+ years fast-tracked execution also ok).

Responsibilities

• Architect & Scale Backend Systems: Design, build, and maintain high-performance, distributed, event-driven microservices and cloud infrastructure designed to scale with high throughput.
• Drive Technical Delivery: Independently define, decompose, and lead the delivery of complex backend systems, database schemas, and robust API contracts.
• Incorporate Intelligent Automation & Pipelines: Build modern backend patterns, integrating AI models, streaming data pipelines, and telemetry systems to automate workflows.
• Champion Engineering Excellence: Perform rigorous code and design reviews, write automated unit and integration tests, and improve system performance and reliability.
• System & Domain Ownership: Own service reliability, produce architectural docs and runbooks, manage lifecycle ownership.
• Collaborate & Mentor: Partner with product managers and frontend teams to deliver seamless API integrations and mentor peers.

Skills

Go

Java

Python

REST APIs

Event-driven

CI/CD

Agile

Communication

Education

BS in Computer Science or equivalent

Tools

Kafka

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

At Compass, our mission is to help everyone find their place in the world. Founded in 2012, we’re revolutionizing the real estate industry with our end-to-end platform that empowers residential real estate agents to deliver exceptional service to seller and buyer clients.

As one of the fastest-growing technology companies in a massive industry, we're on a mission to build an exceptional engineering team and a transformative operating platform that will redefine real estate. We are building a high-caliber talent pool of Backend Senior Engineers to lead technical initiatives and scale foundational systems across several key domain areas.

Our Key Focus Areas & Disciplines

Based on your background, technical strengths, and interests, you will have the opportunity to align with one of our core backend-driven disciplines:

• Agent Client Tools – Buy Side: Building scalable backend services, business logic, and API workflows that power client-facing tools, guiding buyers through every step of their transaction journey from initial home search to close.
• CRM – Comms: Architecting and scaling high-throughput communication engines (email, SMS, push notifications) that drive real-time, event-driven, and personalized interaction between agents and clients at scale.
• CRM – Contacts: Designing high-performance backend data models, relationship graphs, and contact-management APIs that serve as the high-availability single source of truth for millions of client records.

What You Will Do

• Architect & Scale Backend Systems: Design, build, and maintain high-performance, distributed, event-driven microservices and cloud infrastructure designed to scale cleanly with high throughput.
• Drive Technical Delivery: Independently define, decompose, and lead the delivery of complex backend systems, database schemas, and robust API contracts.
• Incorporate Intelligent Automation & Pipelines: Build modern backend patterns, integrating AI models, streaming data pipelines, and telemetry systems to automate workflows.
• Champion Engineering Excellence: Perform rigorous code and design reviews, write comprehensive automated unit and integration test suites, and continuously improve system performance and reliability.
• System & Domain Ownership: Act as a subject matter expert for your domain, producing clear architectural documentation (specs, runbooks, schemas) and maintaining ownership of service reliability across the full lifecycle.
• Collaborate & Mentor: Partner with product managers and frontend engineering teams to deliver seamless API integrations, resolve systemic bottlenecks, and actively mentor peers.

What We Look For

• Education & Experience:
  • BS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 5+ years of professional software development experience, with a proven track record of architecting and delivering complex backend systems autonomously (candidates with 3+ years of fast-tracked execution are also encouraged to apply).
• Backend Expertise:
  • Strong proficiency in core backend languages such as Go or Java.
  • Experience with Python is a major plus (highly valued for data pipelines and AI/LLM integrations).
  • Deep understanding of RESTful/gRPC API design, microservices patterns, and data architecture (SQL/NoSQL).
  • Experience with event-driven architectures and message brokers like Kafka is highly preferred.
• System Architecture & Cloud: Hands-on experience designing, deploying, and operating cloud-native microservices on major cloud providers (AWS preferred, GCP, or Azure).
• Modern SDLC Practices: Strong familiarity with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and Agile methodologies.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written technical communication skills, with a strong sense of empathy for engineering peers and real estate end-users.

Compensation: The base pay range for this position is $176,000-$196,100; however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Bonuses and restricted stock units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a full range of benefits. Base pay is based on market location. Minimum wage for the position will always be met.

Perks that You Need to Know About:

Participation in our incentive programs (which may include eligible cash, equity, or commissions). Plus paid vacation, holidays, sick time, parental leave, and recharge leave; medical, tele‑health, dental and vision benefits; 401(k) plan; flexible spending accounts (FSAs); commuter program; life and disability insurance; Maven (a support system for new parents); Carrot (fertility benefits); UrbanSitter (caregiver referral network); Employee Assistance Program; and pet insurance.

Do your best work, be your authentic self.

At Compass, we believe that everyone deserves to find their place in the world — a place where they feel like they belong, where they can be their authentic selves, where they can thrive. Our collaborative, energetic culture is grounded in our Compass Entrepreneurship Principlesand our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, growth and mobility. As an equal opportunity employer, we offer competitive compensation packages, robust benefits and professional growth opportunities aimed at helping to improve our employees' lives and careers.

Notice for California Applicants

Los Angeles County Fair Chance Notice