Staff Software Engineer

Commerce.com; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 186,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Commerce is seeking a senior software leader to guide the design and evolution of scalable, distributed systems across our AI‑driven commerce platform. You will drive architectural decisions and mentor engineers.

Based in the US with a hybrid model (Austin area preferred), you’ll shape the tech roadmap, collaborate with cross‑functional teams, and deliver reliable, high‑performing software at scale. This role combines hands-on coding with strategic leadership and strong communication across

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering delivering production systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS, Software Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• Expertise in back-end development across two or more server-side languages and large-scale distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and evolution of scalable, high‑performance distributed systems.
• Drive cross‑domain architectural discussions and long‑term technical roadmap.
• Coach engineers, conduct in-depth code reviews, and promote engineering excellence.
• Collaborate with product, design, and stakeholders to translate requirements into robust solutions.

Skills

Backend development

Distributed systems

Cloud platforms (AWS/GCP)

Observability tooling

Leadership & mentorship

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Software Engineering or related field

Tools

Sentry

Kibana

Datadog

Job description

Welcome to the Agentic Commerce Era At Commerce, our mission is to empower businesses to innovate, grow, and thrive with our open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem. As the parent company of BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift, we connect the tools and systems that power growth, enabling businesses to unlock the full potential of their data, deliver seamless and personalized experiences across every channel, and adapt swiftly to an ever-changing market. We believe in harnessing AI responsibly to unlock new possibilities, and we’re looking for individuals who use it intentionally to solve problems, accelerate outcomes, and expand what’s possible in their role. Our purpose is to help businesses confidently solve complex commerce challenges so they can build smarter, adapt faster, and grow on their own terms. If you want to be part of a team of bold builders, sharp thinkers, and technical trailblazers who shape the future of commerce, this is the place for you.

What You’ll Do

Technical Direction & Architecture

• Lead the design, development, and evolution of scalable, reliable, high-performance distributed systems
• Drive architectural discussions that span multiple domains across the platform, and participate in cross-domain architectural working groups
• Contribute to the definition and execution of our long‑term technical roadmap
• Ensure technical decisions align with goals of performance, scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability

AI & Emerging Technology

• Drive initiatives to integrate AI technologies, including machine learning models and GenAI solutions, into existing and future products
• Evaluate emerging AI infrastructure and development practices, and advocate for adoption where they deliver clear customer or engineering value
• Stay abreast of advancements in distributed systems, cloud technologies, and artificial intelligence, and share that knowledge across teams

Engineering Excellence

• Build and maintain high-performance, reliable, and secure software systems
• Lead by example in writing testable, maintainable code that meets high quality standards
• Participate in and lead in‑depth code reviews, advocating for best practices that improve software quality and reliability
• Identify and address performance bottlenecks, scalability challenges, and system reliability issues
• Build tools and frameworks that enable faster, safer delivery of value by other engineers

Collaboration & Mentorship

• Collaborate effectively with software engineers, product managers, designers, and stakeholders across global teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers at all levels
• Promote a culture of knowledge sharing, continuous improvement, and mentorship across teams

Who You Are

• Minimum of 10 years of professional software engineering experience delivering production systems
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience), plus 10+ years of professional software development experience with demonstrated leadership in technical direction and architecture
• Expertise in back‑end development with two or more server‑side languages (e.g., PHP, Go, Scala, Java, Python, Ruby)
• Proven experience in architecting, building, and maintaining large‑scale distributed systems
• Strong understanding of distributed systems concepts, including consensus, consistency, and fault tolerance
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or similar) and microservices architecture
• Solid experience with SQL, in‑memory storage, and other data storage solutions
• Experience operating and monitoring services in production, including familiarity with observability tooling (e.g., Sentry, Kibana, Datadog)
• Solid grasp of software design principles, testing strategies, and modern development practices
• Strong problem‑solving and debugging skills
• Excellent communication skills and able to articulate design decisions and rationale across technical and non‑technical audiences
• Proven track record of technical leadership and mentorship
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and driving clarity across complex initiatives
• Passionate about learning, teaching, and promoting engineering excellence

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building product solutions with LLMs and GenAI technologies
• Familiarity with modern AI infrastructure, such as vector databases, model orchestration tools, inference frameworks, and cloud‑native ML workflows
• Experience with SaaS or multi‑tenant platforms operating at significant scale

Work Where You Thrive

• For candidates based in the Austin or Atlanta metro area, the position follows a hybrid work model with three days per week in the office, balancing focused individual work with meaningful in‑person collaboration.

#LI‑REMOTE #LI‑GC1 (Pay Transparency Range: $186,000.00 - $280,000.00)

The national base salary range for this role is posted above in this job post. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as relevant experience, skills, qualifications and geographic location. We also consider internal equity to help ensure fair and consistent pay practices across our teams. Where applicable, this role may also be eligible for variable compensation (such as bonus or commission), equity, and benefits in accordance with local policies. Details will be shared during the hiring process. We are committed to equitable and transparent pay practices that align to market data, internal equity, and individual contribution.

Inclusion and Belonging

At Commerce, we believe that celebrating the unique histories, perspectives and abilities of every employee makes a difference for our company, our customers and our community. We are an equal opportunity employer and the inclusive atmosphere we build together will make room for every person to contribute, grow and thrive. We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates. If you require accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.

Learn more about the Commerce team, culture and benefits at https://www.commerce.com/careers/

We’re a group of clever, committed, curious people, unleashing talent in all we do. We believe in the power of togetherness, striving at the edge of what’s possible, impacting the lives of billions of people for the better. In all we do, We Do Extraordinary-and that’s no small feat! Our people are our power. It’s only through dedication, collaboration, and inspiration that we can do Extraordinaire. We’re natural problem‑solvers, champions of empowering businesses, and hungry learners—but we also play nerf wars in the office, support each other, and hang out outside of work.