Staff Software Engineer

Relativity; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 174,000 - 262,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Home office stipend

Equity program

Parental leave

Job summary

Relativity is a leading legal data intelligence company seeking an experienced senior engineer to design and operate distributed cloud-native systems at scale. You’ll mentor engineers, shape architecture, and drive cross-team alignment across frontend, backend, and data layers to deliver AI-powered legal data solutions.

The role emphasizes architecture, security, reliability, and collaboration in a hybrid work environment, with a strong focus on scalable platforms and high-stakes data processing.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience designing, building and operating cloud-native distributed systems.
• Demonstrated technical leadership across multiple teams or domains.
• Strong background in architecture, security, and reliability at scale.
• Ability to define technical direction and drive cross-team alignment.
• Experience translating business goals into technical strategy.
• Proven ability to influence without formal authority.
• Strong mentorship and technical communication skills.
• Insert 1-2 team or role specific items if applicable*

Responsibilities

• Drive design of distributed, scalable, secure full-stack cloud services that process petabytes of data weekly, owning architecture and implementation.
• Resolve complex, cross-organizational technical problems through deep technical expertise and hands-on implementation.
• Provide technical direction across frontend, backend, and data layers, collaborating with teams and principal engineers.
• Collaborate closely with teams to solve complex technical and business problems and build AI-powered legal data solutions at scale.
• Drive engineering standards across teams, including performance, scalability, reliability, and security, via reviews and patterns.
• Align technical execution with product strategy and delivery commitments, removing friction.
• Mentor senior and lead engineers, shaping technical decision-making and culture.
• Insert 2-3 team or role specific items if applicable*

Skills

Cloud architecture

Distributed systems

Technical leadership

Cross-team collaboration

Mentoring

Security & reliability

AI-powered data solutions

Tools

GitHub Copilot

Cursor

Claude Code

Job description

Posting Type

Hybrid/Remote

Job Overview

Who We Are

Relativity is a leading legal data intelligence company building technology that helps users organize data, discover the truth, and act on it with confidence. Our AIpowered, cloud platform, RelativityOne, transforms massive volumes of complex information into actionable insights for litigation, investigations, regulatory inquiries, data breach responses, and other highstakes legal work where accuracy and trust are crucial.

The world's largest law firms, corporations and government agencies rely on Relativity's legal AI software to securely surface and manage the most relevant and impactful information in their matters. Beyond our commercial impact, we're deeply committed to expanding access to technology for academic institutions through Relativity Academic and supporting pro bono legal work through Justice for Change.

What We Do

At Relativity, engineers don't just write code- they harness AI tools to architect, optimize, and deliver scalable software faster and shape the future of legal technology. They shape how industries uncover critical insights, ensure compliance, advance access to justice and continuously evolve our platform using the latest technologies, including cloud-native architectures, AI capabilities, and modern developer tooling. Our AI powers privacy programs, identifies confidential information, and detects language indicating misconduct. We're reimagining how legal professionals uncover truth at scale, and engineering is at the heart of that transformation.

If you're passionate about solving hard problems, designing for scale, and building tools that matter-while working in a culture that values transparency, innovation, and shared success- Relativity offers the opportunity to make a measurable difference in the marketplace.

Job Description and Requirements

What You’ll Do

• Drive design of distributed, scalable, secure full-stack cloud services that process petabytes of data weekly, owning architecture and implementation while influencing execution across engineering.

• Resolve complex, cross-organizational technical problems through deep technical expertise, collaboration, and hands-on implementation.

• Provide technical direction across frontend, backend, and data layers, collaborating with teams, peers, and principal engineers on system design and architecture.

• Collaborate closely with teams to solve complex technical and business problems and build AI-powered legal data solutions that operate at massive scale.

• Drive engineering standards across multiple teams, including performance, scalability, reliability, and security, through design and code reviews, patterns, best practices, documented standards, and coaching.

• Align technical execution with product strategy and delivery commitments, identifying and removing technical and operational friction.

• Mentor senior and lead engineers, shaping technical decision-making and technical culture.

• *Insert 2-3 team or role specific items if applicable*

What We’re Looking For

Required

• 10+ years of experience designing, building and operating complex cloud-native distributed systems.

• Demonstrated technical leadership across multiple teams or domains.

• Strong background in architecture, security, and reliability at scale.

• Ability to define technical direction and drive cross-team alignment.

• Experience translating business goals into technical strategy.

• Proven ability to influence without formal authority.

• Strong mentorship and technical communication skills.

• *Insert 1-2 team or role specific items if applicable*

Preferred

• Experience shaping data platforms or UI standards.

• Experience working in global or highly distributed organizations.

• Track record of driving organization-wide technical improvements.

• Familiarity with AI-development tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor or Claude Code.

• Experience in regulated or large-scale environments.

• *Insert up to 3 team or role specific items if applicable*

Why We Could Be A Great Fit

• Impactful Mission: Organize Data, Discover the Truth and Act on It - Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and leading law firms managing high-stakes matters on our platform.

• Growth Path: Engineers gain exposure across the stack, from distributed systems to AI-enabled workflows, accelerating career growth.

• Engineering Culture: Continuous delivery, strong observability, and end-to-end ownership.

• Inclusive Environment: Diverse backgrounds and perspectives make us stronger.

• Community Impact: Volunteer opportunities and company-sponsored charitable programs.

• Compensation & Benefits: Competitive salary, health and retirement programs, wellness resources, discretionary time off (DTO), parental leave for primary and secondary caregivers, two annual company breaks, home office stipend, and an equity program.

Relativity is committed to competitive, fair, and equitable compensation practices.

The expected salary range for this role is between following values: $174,000 and $262,000.

The final offered salary will be based on several factors, including but not limited to the candidate's depth of experience, skill set, qualifications, and internal pay equity. Hiring at the top end of the range would not be typical, to allow for future meaningful salary growth in this position.

Required Skills:

Algorithms, Automation, Debugging, Distributed Systems, Performance Tuning, Problem Solving, Project Management, Software Development, System Designs, Technical Leadership