Senior Staff Software Engineer, API

Anthropic; New York (NY); On-site; USD 405,000 - 485,000; Full time

Job summary

Anthropic is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer to lead technical strategy for the Claude Developer Platform team in New York. This role involves driving multi-year strategies, mentoring staff-level engineers, and making architectural decisions impacting multiple teams. Candidates should have 12+ years of experience in engineering, particularly in distributed systems and API architecture. The annual salary ranges from $405,000 to $485,000 USD.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of engineering experience at Staff or Senior Staff level.
• Experience shaping technical strategy for large-scale API platforms.
• Strong product instincts with a focus on API design.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive multi-year technical strategy for the Claude API.
• Lead high-complexity, high-impact engineering initiatives across teams.
• Serve as primary technical decision-maker for major architectural decisions.

Skills

Distributed systems

API architecture

Technical strategy development

Mentoring

Collaboration across org boundaries

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

Python

TypeScript

FastAPI

React

GCP

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure

PostgreSQL

Feature Flagging

Prometheus

Grafana

Datadog

Job description

About The Role

Anthropic is seeking an exceptional Senior Staff Software Engineer to join the Claude Developer Platform team and serve as the senior‑most individual contributor across API Engineering. Since launch, the Claude API has seen rapid growth and adoption by companies of all sizes to build AI applications with our industry‑leading models. The API serves as the primary channel for safely and broadly distributing AI's benefits across all sectors of the economy.

This role sets the technical direction for the systems that make Claude accessible to developers, enterprises, and partners at scale. You will operate at the intersection of technical strategy and execution, partnering closely with Research, Inference, Platform, Infrastructure, and Safeguards to ensure the Claude API is reliable, capable, and positioned to grow with Anthropic's ambitions.

This is a high‑agency role that spans all API Engineering teams: API Core owns the foundational reliability and performance of the Claude API; API Capabilities ships frontier model capabilities—vision, tool use, computer use—directly to developers; API Knowledge builds retrieval and grounding systems that let Claude reason over external data; API Distributability ensures Claude reaches customers wherever they need it, with the enterprise‑ready infrastructure to support it; and API Agents builds the infrastructure for long‑horizon agentic workflows in production.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive multi‑year technical strategy for the Claude API, setting direction across API Core, Capabilities, Knowledge, Distributability, and Agents.
• Identify and personally lead the highest‑complexity, highest‑impact engineering initiatives spanning multiple teams.
• Serve as the primary technical decision‑maker for major architectural decisions with org‑wide scope.
• Partner with Research to evaluate and integrate frontier capabilities; work with Inference and Platform for reliable delivery at scale; collaborate with Infrastructure and Safeguards for reliability, security, and responsible deployment.
• Mentor and develop Staff‑level engineers across the org.
• Drive alignment across Product, GTM, Safety, and beyond while proactively identifying and addressing systemic technical risks.

You May Be a Good Fit If You

• Have 12+ years of engineering experience with a clear track record operating at Staff or Senior Staff level.
• Have demonstrably shaped technical strategy for large‑scale API or distributed systems platforms.
• Drive the highest‑leverage technical outcomes without formal authority—you lead through influence, quality of thinking, and trust.
• Have deep expertise in distributed systems and API architecture, and are effective writing design docs, making architectural calls, and coding in critical paths.
• Are highly effective across org boundaries—you build trust with Research, Inference, Infrastructure, Safeguards, and business stakeholders alike.
• Bring strong product instincts and a craftsperson's approach to API design; you communicate clearly with both technical and non‑technical audiences.

Technical Stack

• Languages: Python, TypeScript
• Frameworks: FastAPI, React
• Infrastructure: GCP, Kubernetes, Cloud Run, AWS, Azure
• Databases: PostgreSQL (AlloyDB), Vector Stores, Firestore
• Tools: Feature Flagging, Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog

Annual Salary

$405,000–$485,000 USD

Logistics

Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience.

Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.

Minimum years of experience: Years of experience required will correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position.

Location Preference

Preference will be given to candidates based in New York or the San Francisco Bay Area as these positions are part of an SF‑ or NY‑based team.

Visa Sponsorship

We sponsor visas; if we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa and retain an immigration lawyer to help with this.