Staff Software Engineer - Investor/Owner

AppFolio; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 167,200 - 209,000; Full time

Job summary

AppFolio is seeking a pioneering technical leader to join a high‑growth product development team in Chicago. The role focuses on driving the technical strategy and enhancing architectural decisions to support rapid growth in their Investor segment.

Ideal candidates will have 8+ years of SaaS experience, strong leadership capabilities, and a passion for adopting new technologies. Compensation ranges from $167,200 to $209,000 based on experience.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience developing and scaling web-based applications, preferably in a SaaS environment.
• Track record of leading high-stakes projects from initial ambiguity to successful launch.
• Experience leading architectural discussions and guiding technical decisions.

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical vision and strategy across the Owner subsegment.
• Lead the design and implementation of complex, distributed systems.
• Coach engineers and foster a high-trust, autonomous culture.

Skills

Web-based applications development

SaaS experience

Technical decision-making

AI tooling adoption

Problem-solving

Clean architecture advocacy

Education

Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science or related technical discipline

Tools

Ruby on Rails

Golang

React

AWS

Job description

Job Description

We are a cloud‑based technology company specializing in SaaS solutions for the real estate industry. We are an AI‑first engineering organization that builds products to help property managers and owners. We seek a pioneering technical leader to join a high‑growth product development team and help drive the engineering growth of our Investor segment.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive the technical vision and strategy across the Owner subsegment, influencing the product roadmap and making key architectural decisions that align with business goals.
• Lead the design and implementation of complex, distributed systems that power next‑generation products, preparing our systems for a 10x increase in traffic and engagement.
• Act as a force multiplier by coaching engineers and fostering a high‑trust, autonomous culture where continuous learning and ownership are the norms.
• Collaborate as a peer with Product, Design, and Machine Learning leaders to bridge the gap between what’s possible in AI and what’s valuable for our customers.
• Operate in a highly autonomous team that owns the full lifecycle of solutions you build, from discovery to development to production.
• Proactively research, share, and apply new technologies and patterns that improve system quality and accelerate delivery.
• Use test‑driven development, code reviews, and continuous integration to deliver high‑quality software and rapidly fix bugs as they come up.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience developing and scaling web‑based applications, preferably in a SaaS environment.
• Track record of leading high‑stakes projects from initial ambiguity to successful launch, aligning stakeholders, making tough technical trade‑offs, and ensuring long‑term system health.
• Experience leading architectural discussions, defining system design, and guiding technical decision‑making.
• Proactively adopted AI tooling into the daily workflow and understands how to prompt, iterate, and validate AI‑generated output to maintain high standards of excellence.
• Pragmatic approach to technology, adopting new tools where they add value while mastering proven technologies.
• Concern for long‑term maintainability, advocating clean architecture, continuous refactoring and improvement.
• Balance intensity and sustainability; go the extra mile when needed but model a healthy work‑life balance.
• Ability to solve complex problems without a roadmap.
• Love learning about new tech while leveraging existing technology when it gets the job done.

Nice to Have

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science or related technical discipline.
• Experience with technologies in our stack such as Ruby on Rails, Golang, React, AWS, or service‑oriented architectures.

Compensation & Benefits

The base salary for this role is expected to be $167,200 – $209,000. The actual base salary will be determined by a variety of factors including skills, education, and experience. This range is part of a larger total rewards package that may include additional benefits and bonuses. Regular full‑time employees are eligible for benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer

At AppFolio, we value diversity in backgrounds and perspectives and depend on it to drive our innovative culture. We are a proud Equal Opportunity Employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, disability, or veteran status.