Staff Software Engineer

Pantera Capital; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 147,000 - 339,000; Full time

Job summary

Zoom in San Jose seeks a Staff Software Engineer for the Zoom Virtual Agent (ZVA) team to enhance AI-powered customer interactions at scale. The role emphasizes improving quality, reliability, and performance of an autonomous agent that resolves inquiries before escalation.

You will design system prompts, build evaluation pipelines, and lead technical direction across time zones, mentoring engineers and delivering measurable customer outcomes. Hybrid work model offered.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree or equivalent practical experience in a technical field.
• 10+ years of software engineering with 3–5 years on AI-powered products, LLM-based systems, or conversational AI agents in production.
• Prompt engineering skills including system prompt design, context management, and prompt chain optimization; DSPy/APO/GEPA experience is a plus.
• Engineering scope with ability to design systems and execute on them.
• Experience deploying and operating LLM-based systems in production at scale.

Responsibilities

• Diagnose and resolve AI agent quality issues across model behavior, prompts, and system architecture; drive fixes end-to-end.
• Design and optimize system prompts, few-shot examples, and prompt chains to improve reliability and resolution rates.
• Build and maintain evaluation pipelines to measure agent quality, detect regressions, and validate improvements.
• Architect scalable, maintainable systems supporting high-performance AI agent operation at scale.
• Collaborate with product managers, model teams, and engineering leadership across US and China time zones.
• Set technical direction for agent quality, mentor engineers, influence roadmap, and drive measurable customer outcomes.

Skills

Prompt engineering

LLM-based systems

Conversational AI agents

System architecture

Production deployment

Technical leadership

Diagnostics of AI agent quality

Education

Advanced degree in CS/Engineering or equivalent

Job description

What you can expect

Zoom is looking for an innovative and skilled Staff Software Engineer to join our Zoom Virtual Agent (ZVA) team. The focus will be on improving the quality, reliability, and performance of Zoom's AI-powered virtual agent - an intelligent system that autonomously resolves customer inquiries before escalating to a human agent.

About the Team

The Zoom Virtual Agent team is committed to transforming customer experience through AI-driven automation. We are passionate about building intelligent, production-grade systems that handle real customer interactions at scale - reducing the need for human escalation and delivering faster, more accurate resolutions. We operate with a startup mentality: fast-moving, high-ownership, and focused on building foundational technology that will define the future of AI-powered customer service.

Responsibilities

• Diagnosing and resolving AI agent quality issues — identifying whether failures stem from model behavior, prompt design, or system architecture, and driving the fix end-to-end.
• Designing and optimizing system prompt architectures, few-shot examples, and prompt chains to improve agent reliability, accuracy, and resolution rates.
• Building and maintaining evaluation pipelines to continuously measure agent quality, detect regressions, and validate improvements before production deployment.
• Architecting scalable, maintainable systems that support high-performance AI agent operation at scale.
• Collaborating with product managers, model teams, and engineering leadership across US and China time zones to align on quality goals and delivery timelines.
• Setting the technical direction for agent quality on the team — mentor engineers, influence the roadmap, and drive measurable improvements in customer-facing outcomes.

What we’re looking for

• Have an advance degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of software engineering experience with rich system architecture knowledge & skills. With at least 3–5 years working directly on AI-powered products, LLM-based systems, or conversational AI agents in production.
• Have track record of diagnosing and improving AI agent quality — with specific examples of identifying failure modes and driving measurable improvements.
• Have prompt engineering skills, including system prompt design, context management, and prompt chain optimization. Having DSPy/APO/GEPA experience is a plus.
• Have engineering scope — experience leading technical direction for a product area or team, with the ability to both design systems and execute on them.
• Have experience deploying and operating LLM-based systems in production at scale — not just research or prototyping.
• Have experience with ML or model training is a plus — candidates who have transitioned from MLE into SWE roles are strongly welcomed.

Salary Range or On Target Earnings:

Minimum:

$146,700.00

Maximum:

$339,300.00

In addition to the base salary and/or OTE listed Zoom has a Total Direct Compensation philosophy that takes into consideration; base salary, bonus and equity value.

Note: Starting pay will be based on a number of factors and commensurate with qualifications & experience.

We also have a location based compensation structure; there may be a different range for candidates in this and other locations

Anticipated Position Close Date:

08/28/26

Ways of Working

Our structured hybrid approach is centered around our offices and remote work environments. The work style of each role, Hybrid, Remote, or In-Person is indicated in the job description/posting.

Benefits

As part of our award-winning workplace culture and commitment to delivering happiness, our benefits program offers a variety of perks, benefits, and options to help employees maintain their physical, mental, emotional, and financial health; support work-life balance; and contribute to their community in meaningful ways. for more information.

About Us

Zoomies help people stay connected so they can get more done together. We set out to build the best collaboration platform for the enterprise, and today help people communicate better with products like Zoom Contact Center, Zoom Phone, Zoom Events, Zoom Apps, Zoom Rooms, and Zoom Webinars. We’re problem-solvers, working at a fast pace to design solutions with our customers and users in mind. Find room to grow with opportunities to stretch your skills and advance your career in a collaborative, growth-focused environment.

Our Commitment

At Zoom, we believe great work happens when people feel supported and empowered. We’re committed to fair hiring practices that ensure every candidate is evaluated based on skills, experience, and potential. If you require an accommodation during the hiring process, let us know—we’re here to support you at every step.

Our interviews are supported by BrightHire, a tool that helps us create a consistent and thoughtful interview experience and may include recordings. Please refer to our candidate privacy statement for more information of how we use your data.