Staff Software Engineer, Job Seeker Apps

ZipRecruiter; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 255,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Exceptional benefits

Flexible vacation

Job summary

ZipRecruiter is seeking a highly autonomous Staff/Senior Software Engineer for the Job Seeker Apps team in Austin, TX. You will influence product direction with product and decision science, own core systems that move job seeker data and intent into our marketplace, and lead engineering efforts across data, backend, and full-stack domains.

You will work with Product Management to translate user problems into scalable solutions, mentor engineers, and drive AI-driven experiences for job seekers

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software development experience.
• Strong computer science fundamentals including OOP, data structures and algorithms.
• Experience partnering with product managers to translate user problems into engineering solutions.

Responsibilities

• Perform end-to-end systems engineering across data, backend, and full-stack areas.
• Collaborate with Product and Decision Science to influence product direction.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and alignment across teams.
• Measure impact of new features with data-driven methods.
• Architect AI integrations and ensure safe, scalable deployment.

Skills

8+ yrs exp

CS fundamentals

PM collaboration

Curiosity

Education

BS/MS/PhD in related field

Job description

Staff Software Engineer, Job Seeker Apps

Austin, TX

We offer a hybrid work environment. Most US-based positions can also be performed remotely (any exceptions will be noted in the Minimum Qualifications below.)

Our Mission:

To actively connect people to their next great opportunity.

Who We Are:

ZipRecruiter is a leading online employment marketplace. Powered by AI-driven smart matching technology, the company actively connects millions of all-sized businesses and job seekers through innovative mobile, web, and email services, as well as through partnerships with the best job boards on the web. ZipRecruiter has the #1 rated job search app on iOS & Android.

About the Team:

The Job Seeker Apps team builds the primary interfaces and proactive communication systems that guide millions of users through their job search journey. Our team focuses on transforming the job search experience from passive searching to proactive opportunity. Here’s how we do that:

• Supporting Job Seekers Everywhere: We build interfaces and platforms to reach job seekers wherever they are. Our team owns ZipRecruiter’s mobile apps and ZipRecruiter’s interfaces to third party AI and agentic systems. We are responsible for growing these channels so job seekers can continue their job search wherever works for them.
• Proactive Messaging and Communication: We build the critical systems for composing and sending the right information (emails, push notifications) to job seekers at the optimal time. Our goal is to transform ZipRecruiter into a personal recruiter, optimizing content, volume, and scheduling to ensure job seekers find satisfying opportunities while meeting employer hiring needs.
• Capturing Job Seeker Wants and Offers:We help job seekers succeed in our marketplace by helping them express what they want out of their next opportunity, and what they offer to their potential employer, through experiences like the profile page and apply flow.
• Guiding the Logged-In Experience: We own the tools and systems that guide a user's job search, including the logged-in homepage. We deliver personalized content, new job recommendations based on user history, and proactive guidance on the current state of their search to help them secure their next great role.

About the Job:

We are seeking a highly autonomous and versatile Staff/Senior Software Engineer to join our Job Seeker Apps team. In this role, you’ll support engineering leadership, driving systems thinking and end-to-end development. You’ll work closely with the teams behind job seeker profiles and our AI agent experiences, building the core systems that carry a job seeker’s information and intent into our marketplace. This is a high-impact position where you will actively collaborate with Product and Decision Science teams to shape user-facing features and AI-driven workflows.

What You’ll Do:

• End-to-End Systems Engineering: Operate across multiple problem spaces—from data engineering to backend infrastructure and full-stack integration.
• Cross-Functional Product Strategy: Partner closely with Product Management and Decision Science to inject engineering perspectives early in the product development lifecycle.
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Act as a technical anchor, up-leveling an engineering team, guiding ICs, and keeping Engineering Managers aligned on technical execution.
• Impact Measurement: Design and implement creative, data-driven methods to measure the real-world success of newly shipped user-facing features.
• AI Integration: Architect how ZipRecruiter is presented in AI assistants and agentic systems, with the measurement and guardrails to run those integrations safely at scale.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 8+ years of professional software development experience
• Strong computer science fundamentals, including object-oriented programming, data structures, and algorithms
• A track record of building user-facing products with measurable impact
• Experience working with Product Managers to turn user problems into engineering solutions
• Deep curiosity about the product you work on and the problems it solves

Bonus Points for Experience With Any Of:

• Client-side development using ReactJS, TypeScript, or other modern languages and frameworks
• A data lake stack: parquet on object storage, a data catalog such as AWS Glue, an open table format such as Apache Iceberg or Delta Lake, a data processing framework like Apache Spark or Flink
• BS/MS/PhD in Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, related technical field or equivalent practical experience

As part of our team you’ll enjoy:

• Competitive compensation
• Exceptional benefits package
• Flexible Vacation & Paid Time Off
• Employer-matched 401(k) plan

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $195,000 - $255,000. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location, and the range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location, role-related knowledge and skills, depth of experience, relevant education or training, and additional role-related considerations.

Depending on the position offered, equity, bonuses, commission, or other forms of compensation may also be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and other benefits.

ZipRecruiter is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or genetics.