Staff Software Architect - AI & SaaS Systems Leader

Appfolio; Santa Barbara (CA); Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

AppFolio is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the architectural evolution of our Leasing Engineering Domain. You will own the system design for our next-generation agentic AI products, shaping scalable SaaS infrastructure and delivering reliable, production-grade solutions.

In this hands-on, full-stack leadership role, you will coach engineers, collaborate with ML, Product, and UX, and translate strategic vision into tangible, scalable results while embracing a hybrid work model.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience developing and scaling web-based applications.
• Experience leading architectural discussions and decisions.
• Experience integrating AI/ML into production-grade apps.
• Ability to operate in high-ambiguity environments with pragmatic innovation.

Responsibilities

• Drive technical vision and strategy across Leasing teams and architecture.
• Lead design and implementation of distributed systems powering agentic AI.
• Raise engineering quality through hands-on design and coding leadership.
• Coach engineers and foster a high-trust, autonomous culture.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, and ML to align AI value with customer needs.
• Own full lifecycle of solutions from discovery to production.
• Research and apply new technologies to improve quality and delivery speed.

Skills

Web applications

Distributed systems

AI/ML integration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Ruby on Rails

React

AWS

Service-oriented architectures

Job description

AppFolio is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the architectural evolution of our Leasing Engineering Domain. You will own the system design for our next-generation agentic AI products, shaping scalable SaaS infrastructure and delivering reliable, production-grade solutions.

In this hands-on, full-stack leadership role, you will coach engineers, collaborate with ML, Product, and UX, and translate strategic vision into tangible, scalable results while embracing a hybrid work model.