Staff Software Engineer

Symetra; Bellevue (WA); Hybrid; USD 142,000 - 236,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible full-time or hybrid telecomm.

401(k) with company match up to 6%

Paid time away, vacation and holidays

Company matching charitable giving

Symetra Benefits Overview

Job summary

Symetra seeks a Staff Software Engineer to lead the Stop Loss platform, driving architecture, design, and delivery while remaining hands-on. You will mentor engineers, set engineering standards, and advance testing, CI/CD, and reliability across teams.

You will collaborate with Product and Architecture teams to translate business needs into scalable solutions and drive decisions across APIs, data flows, and security, maintaining platform health.

Qualifications

• Deep experience designing and building cloud-native platforms and distributed systems.
• Hands-on technical leader who balances architecture and implementation.
• Translating complex business requirements into scalable software.
• Strong in application architecture, APIs, cloud technologies, security, reliability, and performance.
• Experience working with distributed teams across internal and vendor partners.
• Mentoring engineers and elevating technical capabilities across the org.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on technical leadership for design, development, and delivery of a cloud-native Stop Loss platform.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Architecture teams to translate business capabilities into scalable solutions.
• Drive architecture decisions across APIs, data flows, security, reliability, and scaling.
• Lead technical design discussions, evaluate tradeoffs, and guide teams to maintainable solutions.
• Develop production-quality software while addressing engineering challenges.
• Establish engineering best practices in architecture, code reviews, testing, CI/CD, observability, and reliability.
• Create and maintain architecture decisions, design documents, and implementation plans.
• Mentor engineers and elevate technical capabilities across the organization.

Skills

Cloud-native platforms

Distributed systems

Technical leadership

Mentoring engineers

Hands-on development

Job description

About the role

As a Staff Software Engineer, you will serve as the technical lead for the Stop Loss platform, driving architecture, design, and delivery of scalable solutions while remaining hands‑on with development. You will set technical direction, establish engineering standards, and lead critical practices across testing, CI/CD, and production reliability. This is a highly influential individual contributor role where you will mentor senior engineers and provide technical leadership across teams.

What you will do

• Provide hands‑on technical leadership for the design, development, and delivery of a cloud‑native Stop Loss platform.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Architecture teams to translate business capabilities into scalable technical solutions.
• Drive architecture and technical decisions across applications, APIs, integrations, data flows, security, reliability, and scalability.
• Lead technical design discussions, evaluate tradeoffs, and guide teams toward practical, maintainable solutions.
• Develop production-quality software while staying closely connected to implementation and engineering team challenges.
• Establish and promote engineering best practices in:
• Software architecture and design
• Code quality and code reviews
• Automated testing
• CI/CD and deployment automation
• Observability and monitoring
• Reliability and operational excellence
• Identify and mitigate architectural, technical, integration, and delivery risks before they impact outcomes.
• Collaborate across multiple engineering teams to drive consistency while supporting team autonomy.
• Create and maintain key technical documentation, including architecture decisions, design documents, and implementation plans.
• Partner with engineering leadership to improve planning, dependency management, and delivery predictability.
• Help teams deliver quickly while minimizing technical debt and maintaining long‑term platform health.
• Support production operations and continuously improve platform reliability, observability, and performance.
• Mentor engineers and elevate technical capabilities across the broader organization.

Who You Are

• A highly skilled software engineer with deep experience designing and building cloud‑native platforms and distributed systems.
• A hands‑on technical leader who enjoys both architecture and implementation.
• Experienced translating complex business requirements into scalable, maintainable software solutions.
• Strong in application architecture, APIs, integrations, cloud technologies, security, reliability, scalability, and performance.
• Comfortable making technical decisions and guiding teams through complex tradeoffs.
• Skilled at influencing technical direction across teams and organizational boundaries.
• Proactive in identifying risks, resolving challenges, and driving technical excellence.
• Experienced working with distributed teams, including internal engineers, contractors, and vendor partners.
• Passionate about mentoring engineers and helping others grow their technical capabilities.
• Able to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Committed to building sustainable, high‑quality systems that support long‑term business goals.
• Thrives in fast‑paced environments and enjoys turning ambiguity into clear technical direction.

Why Work at Symetra

"I was referred to Symetra by a family friend who's been with the company for years-and I'm so glad I took their advice. Symetra truly puts its people first. I've always felt supported, not micromanaged, and that trust has helped me grow. I started in an entry‑level position and have worked my way up to Unit Manager by continuously learning and expanding my skills. It's a place that believes in its employees and invests in their success." - Morgan D., Sr. Unit Manager

"Symetra will spoil you.There aren't many companies that will put as much effort into you being a success as Symetra.The culture will challenge you but simultaneously put you at ease.Failure is seen as integral to the learning process so there is less reason to be fearful of it." - Kerry S., Sr. Systems Analyst

What we offer you

Benefits and Perks

• Flexible full‑time or hybrid telecommuting arrangements
• Plan for your future with our 401(k) plan and take advantage of immediate vesting and company matching up to 6%
• Paid time away including vacation and sick time, flex days and ten paid holidays
• Give back to your community and double your impact through our company matching
• Want more details? Check out our Symetra Benefits Overview

Compensation

Salary Range: $141,600 - $236,000 plus eligibility for annual bonus program

Remote Network Minimum Requirements

• Minimum Internet Speed: 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload, in alignment with the FCC's definition of "broadband."
• Internet Type: Fiber, Cable (e.g., Comcast, Spectrum), or DSL.
• Not Permissible: Satellite (e.g., Starlink), cellular broadband (hotspot or otherwise), any other wireless technology, or wired dial‑up.

Identity Verification

Symetra is committed to fair and secure hiring practices. For all roles, candidates will be required (after the initial phone screen) to be on video for all interviews. Symetra will take affirmative steps at key points in the process to verify that a candidate is not seeking employment fraudulently, e.g. through use of a false identity. Failure to comply with verification procedures may result in:

• *Disqualification from the recruitment process
• Withdrawal of a job offer
• *Termination of employment and other criminal and/or civil remedies, if fraud is discovered

We empower inclusion

At Symetra, we aspire to be the most inclusive insurance company in the country. We're building a place where every employee feels valued, respected, and has opportunities to contribute. Inclusion is about recognizing our assumptions, considering multiple perspective, and removing barriers. We accept and celebrate diverse experiences, identities, and perspectives, because lifting each other up fuels thought and builds a stronger, more innovative company. We invite you to learn more about our efforts here.

Creating a world where more people have access to financial freedom

Symetra is a national financial services company dedicated to helping people achieve their financial goals and feel confident about the future. In our daily work, we're guided by the principles of Value, Transparency and Sustainability. This means we provide products and services people need at a competitive price, we communicate clearly and openly so people understand what they're buying, and we design products-and operate our company-to stand the test of time. We're committed to showing up for our communities, lifting up our employees, and standing up for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Join our team and help us create a world where more people have access to financial freedom.

Work Authorization

Employer work visa sponsorship and support are not provided for this role. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at hire and must maintain authorization to work in the United States throughout their employment with our company.