Sr. Staff Software Engineer, Merchants

Pinterest; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 245,000 - 429,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Hybrid work model

Salary disclosed

Job summary

Pinterest is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer to lead high-impact engineering at the intersection of commerce platforms, catalogs, and AI-native experiences. You will apply ML, GenAI, and AI-assisted workflows to improve metadata, tooling, and efficiency, partnering with senior engineers and leaders to deliver measurable impact.

You’ll mentor engineers, shape technical strategy, and collaborate with product, data science, and engineering to deliver scalable systems.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including senior staff level.
• Strong track record in commerce, marketplaces, or ads.
• Deep experience in systems and API design, data-heavy systems.
• Experience building or partnering on ML/GenAI-adjacent systems.
• Catalog, integrations, or merchant platform experience is a plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to influence technical direction.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end technical delivery for cross-team initiatives—from problem framing and strategy through architecture, implementation, rollout, and iteration.
• Shape catalog and integration systems for scale, reliability, and quality across partners, formats, and signals.
• Build and evolve ML-, GenAI-, and AI-assisted merchant experiences with validation and guardrails.
• Contribute to merchant onboarding and activation systems spanning teams for better approval rates and value.
• Partner on organic attribution and data-driven pathways from organic success to paid products.
• Drive technical decisions balancing revenue, catalog health, engagement, and Torso success.
• Mentor senior engineers and raise the bar for design and production readiness.
• Use AI to accelerate work while maintaining judgment and validation.

Skills

Software engineering

Systems design

API design

GenAI experience

Cross-team leadership

ML experience

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Job description

About Pinterest:

Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.

Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible.

At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.

Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here.

Our Merchants organization focuses on onboarding and activation, catalog quality and health, merchant presence (including creator/UGC and trust signals), and ads upsell—helping merchants build healthy catalogs, reach the right audiences, and unlock clear paths to growth.

In this role, you’ll lead high-impact engineering at the intersection of commerce platforms, catalog systems, and AI-native experiences. This includes applying ML, AI-assisted workflows, and GenAI where appropriate to improve metadata quality, merchant tooling, and operational efficiency. You’ll partner closely with Engineering Managers, Product Managers, Data Scientists, and other senior engineers to deliver systems with measurable business and user impact.

What you’ll do:

• Own end-to-end technical delivery for cross-team initiatives—from problem framing and technical strategy through architecture, implementation, rollout, and iteration.

• Shape catalog and integration systems for scale, reliability, and quality, ensuring merchant data is deep, broad, fresh, and actionable across partners, formats, and key signals such as inventory and pricing where relevant.

• Build and evolve ML-, GenAI-, and AI-assisted merchant experiences with strong validation and guardrails—for example, metadata enrichment, gap-filling, and internal tools that improve catalog health without compromising trust.

• Contribute to merchant onboarding and activation systems that span teams, creating streamlined flows, signals, and decisioning pathways that improve approval rates, merchant quality, and time to value.

• Partner where appropriate on organic attribution, merchant insights, and data-driven pathways from organic success to paid products, ensuring strategy is measurable rather than anecdotal.

• Drive technical decisions using clear tradeoffs across revenue, conversion, catalog health, engagement, and Torso success.

• Mentor senior engineers and raise the bar for technical design, engineering quality, and production readiness across the organization.

• Use AI to accelerate your own work—across exploration, drafting, analysis, and synthesis—while maintaining strong judgment, rigorous validation, and accountability for outcomes.

What we’re looking for:

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including meaningful time as a Staff, Senior Staff, or equivalent-level IC building and operating complex production systems.

• Strong track record in commerce, marketplaces, ads, or other adjacent large-scale domains, including leadership on cross-team technical initiatives.

• Deep experience in systems design, API design, and data-intensive systems, with the ability to navigate tradeoffs in performance, reliability, and scalability.

• Experience building or partnering on ML-, AI-, or GenAI-adjacent systems, with a pragmatic understanding of where these technologies add value and how to deploy them responsibly.

• Catalog, integrations, or merchant platform experience is a strong plus.

• Experience with growth, measurement, funnel optimization, or organic-to-paid ecosystems is a plus.

• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence technical direction without directly owning every implementation detail.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field—or equivalent practical experience.

Relocation Statement:

• This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

In-Office Requirement Statement:

• We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.

• This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times/month, and therefore needs to be in a commutable distance from one of the following offices: San Francisco or Palo Alto.

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At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.

Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here.

US based applicants only

$245,402—$429,454 USD

Our Commitment to Inclusion:

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.

By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.