Staff Software Engineer, Lyft Business

Lyft; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 176,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

Lyft is seeking a Staff Software Engineer for the Lyft Business Team to own large-scale, distributed systems spanning rider and enterprise integrations. You will define strategic roadmaps, drive cross-functional alignment, and elevate engineering excellence across teams.

You will shape long-term architecture, translate business goals into concrete projects, mentor engineers, and lead technical reviews while ensuring platform reliability, observability, and performance at scale.

Qualifications

• BS/MS or equivalent in Computer Engineering, CS, or related field.
• 8+ years of software engineering with leadership and system ownership.
• Deep expertise in fault-tolerant, large-scale distributed systems.
• Experience driving technical roadmaps and cross-team dependencies.
• Knowledge of distributed databases (SQL/NoSQL).
• Experience with public clouds and modern container orchestration.

Responsibilities

• Shape long-term architecture and ownership of complex systems.
• Translate business goals into actionable projects and manage cross-team dependencies.
• Improve observability, performance, and reduce tech debt.
• Establish deployment, alerting, and on-call best practices.
• Drive alignment across product, design, operations; resolve bottlenecks.
• Mentor engineers, lead cross-team reviews, and participate in interviews.

Skills

Distributed systems

Technical leadership

Cross-team coordination

Mentoring

Communication

Observability

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or related

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

cri-o

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

At Lyft, our purpose is to serve and connect. We aim to achieve this by cultivating a work environment where all team members belong and have the opportunity to thrive.

The Lyft Business organization builds the platform that lets organizations move the people they depend on employees, clients, and customers. From the foundational mechanics of a company funding and provisioning a ride to the tailored workflows that get an employee to a client meeting or home after a late shift, we sweat the small stuff to make Lyft the transportation solution businesses build their programs on.

As a Staff Software Engineer on the Lyft Business Team, you will act as a critical technical leader, taking holistic ownership of complex systems that span the rider experience, the administrator experience, and the enterprise integrations behind them — defining strategic roadmaps, driving cross-functional alignment, and driving engineering excellence to improve how organizations move their people.

Responsibilities:

• Shape the long-term architecture for systems, taking accountability for both short-term functionality and long-term health
• Translate high-level business goals into actionable engineering projects. Own the technical roadmap from conception to delivery, managing cross-team dependencies and mitigating risks
• Champion improvements in system, observability, performance, and tech debt reduction, extending your influence beyond your immediate team
• Establish best practices for deployment, alerting, and on-call health. Take holistic ownership of the platform's stability, tracking down issues root causes and building preventive safeguards for your immediate scope and beyond.
• Drive alignment across product, design, and operations. Proactively resolve bottlenecks and make decisive trade-offs to protect system architecture from competing organizational priorities
• Mentor and level up the engineers around you. Delegate stretch opportunities, lead cross-team reviews, and foster a culture of strong technical excellence
• Serve as a dependable, high-bar interviewer and active participant in Lyft’s broader internal engineering community

Experience:

• BS/MS or equivalent in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of software engineering industry experience, with a proven track record of technical leadership and system ownership.
• Deep expertise in designing, debugging, and running fault-tolerant, highly available, large-scale distributed systems.
• Demonstrated experience driving technical roadmaps, managing cross-team dependencies, and influencing system architecture at an organizational level.
• Solid knowledge of distributed systems, relational databases, and NoSQL databases.
• Experience working with public cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Microsoft Azure) and modern container orchestration technologies (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, cri-o).
• Ability to communicate complex technical trade-offs effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work with a low-ego, highly collaborative, and cross-functional mindset while actively lifting up the engineers around you.

Benefits:

• Great medical, dental, and vision insurance options with additional programs available when enrolled
• Mental health benefits
• Family building benefits
• Child care and pet benefits
• 401(k) plan with company match to help save for your future
• In addition to 12 observed holidays, salaried team members have discretionary paid time off, hourly team members have 15 days paid time off
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave. Biological, adoptive, and foster parents are all eligible
• Subsidized commuter benefits
• Monthly Lyft credits and complimentary Lyft Pink membership

Lyft is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace that fosters belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

Lyft highly values having employees working in-office to foster a collaborative work environment and company culture. This role will be in-office on a hybrid schedule — Team Members will be expected to work in the office 3 days per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Lyft considers working in the office at least 3 days per week to be an essential function of this hybrid role. Your recruiter can share more information about the various in-office perks Lyft offers. Additionally, hybrid roles have the flexibility to work from anywhere for up to 4 weeks per year. #Hybrid

The expected base pay range for this position in the San Francisco area is $176,000 - $220,000, not inclusive of potential equity offering, bonus or benefits. Salary ranges are dependent on a variety of factors, including qualifications, experience and geographic location. Your recruiter can share more information about the salary range specific to your working location and other factors during the hiring process.