Staff Software Engineer

NextGenEnergyJobs; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office 4 days a week

Health plans with subsidies

HSA with company contribution

401(k) with employer match

Paid vacation & holidays

Job summary

Alarm.com seeks a Staff Software Engineer to act as a technical multiplier across SPX and Device Platform. This hands-on leader drives end-to-end, cross‑team initiatives, writes code, shapes architecture, and creates reusable patterns used across the organization.

The role requires deep backend judgment, ability to navigate ambiguity, and proactive problem solving. You will influence architects and managers while advancing AI-assisted development and scalable cloud platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience required.
• 10+ years of backend software engineering with Staff-level impact.
• Proven track record leading large multi-engineer initiatives end-to-end.
• Experience defining reusable platform patterns adopted by others.
• Strong architectural judgment on service boundaries and maintainability.
• Deep proficiency in backend platform engineering and distributed systems.
• Experience with microservices and domain-aligned architectures.
• Proven ability to anticipate and drive medium-term technical solutions.
• Active participation in engineering leadership initiatives with influence.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical multiplier across SPX and Device Platform domains.
• Own technically complex, high-visibility initiatives end-to-end.
• Shape architectural direction and build reusable frameworks.
• Lead cross-team design reviews and contribute to engineering leadership initiatives.

Skills

Backend system design

Architectural leadership

AI-assisted development

Cross-team collaboration

Distributed systems

.NET/C#

SQL Server

Event-driven architectures

Observability

Domain-driven design

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Kafka

RESTful APIs

gRPC

SQL Server

Job description

This role sits at the intersection of two strategically important areas of Alarm.com's engineering organization: Strategic Partner eXcellence (SPX) and Device Platform.

Key Responsibilities

• We are hiring a Staff Software Engineer to serve as a technical multiplier across the SPX and Device Platform domains.
• At Alarm.com, the Staff SE carries a distinct mandate: to make the engineers and systems around them measurably better. This is not primarily a project execution role. The Staff SE owns technically complex, high‑visibility initiatives end‑to‑end, shapes architectural direction across domain boundaries, builds reusable frameworks and patterns that other teams depend on, and helps the organization move faster with more consistency and less rework.
• Projects spearheaded by a Staff SE carry feature‑team‑level scope — visible work spanning the organization, often requiring cross‑team collaboration and sustained technical leadership. The Staff SE anticipates medium‑term technical problems 12+ months out and works proactively to prevent them from becoming delivery or reliability issues. They are active participants in engineering leadership initiatives — tech councils, working groups, cross‑team design forums — not passive consumers of information.
• Success in this role requires deep technical judgment in backend and platform engineering, the ability to operate across ambiguity and cross‑team dependencies, and the credibility to influence technical direction alongside architects, engineering managers, and senior engineers across the department. This is a hands‑on role — the Staff SE writes code, leads designs, and drives delivery — but their highest‑leverage contribution is the clarity, reusability, and quality they bring to systems and teams beyond their immediate scope.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of backend software engineering experience, with a demonstrated track record of operating at Staff‑level scope and impact.
• Proven experience leading large, multi‑engineer technical initiatives end‑to‑end — from architecture through delivery — with a high degree of autonomy and accountability for outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to define and evolve reusable platform patterns, shared libraries, or integration frameworks that are actually adopted and used by other engineers — not just built.
• Strong architectural judgment: ability to reason about service boundaries, domain ownership, failure modes, versioning, and long‑term maintainability — not just immediate implementation choices.
• Deep proficiency in backend platform engineering: RESTful and/or gRPC APIs, distributed systems, event‑driven architectures (Kafka or equivalent), and shared platform design.
• Experience operating in environments moving from tightly coupled systems toward domain‑aligned, independently deployable services.
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate medium‑term technical problems and drive toward solutions proactively — not just respond to issues as they surface.
• Active participation in engineering leadership initiatives — tech councils, working groups, cross‑team design reviews — with a track record of influencing other experienced engineers, not just consuming information.
• Credibility working alongside architects and engineering managers on technically complex, cross‑team initiatives — influencing direction without needing to be the final decision‑maker.
• Clear, positive buy‑in toward AI‑assisted development as an expected part of modern engineering work; this is not optional for this role.
• Practical familiarity with AI‑assisted development workflows — including the ability to use AI effectively for implementation, debugging, and documentation while maintaining validation rigor and architectural discipline.
• Strong experience with .NET/C# and SQL Server; this is the foundation of Alarm.com’s backend stack, though equivalent depth in similar ecosystems may translate well.
• Experience building or evolving partner‑facing APIs, external integration platforms, or shared internal platform capabilities consumed by multiple teams.
• Hands‑on experience with Kafka or similar event streaming infrastructure — including schema design, consumer patterns, and operational considerations at scale.
• Experience with device‑oriented systems, IoT platforms, device lifecycle management, or integration‑heavy backend architectures — including transport protocols, device provisioning flows, and the challenges of connecting physical hardware to cloud platforms at scale.
• Experience with microservice or domain‑aligned architecture patterns, including domain analysis, service boundary definition, and incremental migration from monolithic systems.
• Experience with observability practices, incident management, and production operations at scale — including defining monitoring frameworks and support models for externally consumed systems.
• Experience using AI‑assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code) in a structured, disciplined workflow — including multi‑file refactors, spec‑driven development, and test‑driven AI usage.
• Familiarity with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) or other patterns for integrating AI agents with REST APIs and platform services.
• Experience contributing to or leading department‑wide technical standards, architecture decision records, or engineering working groups.

Benefits

• Collaborate with outstanding people: We hire only the best. Our standards are high and our employees enjoy working alongside other high achievers.
• Make an immediate impact: New employees can expect to be given real responsibility for bringing new technologies to the marketplace. You are empowered to perform as soon as you join the Alarm.com team!
• Gain well‑rounded experience: Alarm.com offers a diverse and dynamic environment where you will get the chance to work directly with executives and develop expertise across multiple areas of the business.
• Community and Camaraderie: One of our core values is to "Keep It Fun," which to us means fostering a strong sense of community. Our culture is built on collaboration and connection, where we celebrate our successes and believe that a positive, engaging environment is key to doing our best work.
• Alarm.com values working together and collaborating in person. Our employees work from the office 4 days a week.
• Our total rewards package is designed to support you holistically—in your health, your finances, and your life outside of work. The package includes medical plans with company subsidies, a Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution, and a 401(k) with an employer match. We encourage a healthy work‑life balance with paid vacation that increases with tenure, paid holidays, wellness time, and paid maternity and bonding leave. To complete the package, we also provide company‑paid disability and life insurance, all within a collaborative and casual work environment.