Staff Software Engineer, Privacy & Safety Regulations

Etsy, Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 178,000 - 267,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity package

Annual performance bonus

Competitive benefits

Job summary

Etsy, Inc. is seeking a Staff-level engineer to lead architecture and delivery for large-scale privacy platforms. You will partner with Legal, Product, Security, and Trust & Safety to translate complex compliance requirements into practical, durable engineering solutions.

The role emphasizes cross-team collaboration, mentorship, and scalable systems. The position is based near Etsy's Brooklyn location with hybrid work options.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering with architecture and delivery leadership for complex systems.
• Experience leading privacy or security-focused platforms is valued.
• Proficiency in backend development and large-scale systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical design and scale of privacy platforms across the marketplace.
• Build and optimize consent, data access/deletion, classification, and Safe-by-Design workflows.
• Collaborate with Legal and Product to translate compliance requirements into APIs and data models.
• Create patterns and docs to make privacy-preserving features easy for developers.
• Contribute to production code and drive architectural quality through reviews.
• Monitor privacy metrics and automate operational toil through self-service tooling.
• Mentor engineers and align teams on technical direction.

Skills

Staff-level engineering leadership

Architecture & system design

Backend & distributed systems

Technical leadership

Privacy & security fundamentals

Cross-functional collaboration

Production languages (PHP, Python,Java

Tools

PHP

Python

Java

Go

Job description

Company Description

Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. We build, power, and evolve the tools and technologies that connect millions of entrepreneurs with millions of buyers around the world. As an Etsy employee, you will tackle unique, meaningful, and large-scale problems alongside passionate coworkers, all the while making a rewarding impact and Keeping Commerce Human. We believe exceptional companies are built by exceptional teams, and we're intentional about it. That means hiring great people, setting them up for success from day one, and giving them real reasons to grow their careers here. We invest in development that goes beyond promotions, and we foster the trust and relationships that help people do their best work together.

What's the role?

This is a full-time position reporting to the Engineering Manager, Privacy & Safety Regulations. Privacy & Safety Regulations team builds the systems, platforms, and engineering practices that help Etsy process and access personal data according to customer expectations. We partner with Product, Engineering, Privacy Legal, Security, Trust & Safety, Marketing Technology, and other teams to make the privacy-preserving path the easiest path to follow. Some of our team values are: We work together to form an effective, high-functioning, and fun team. We source ideas and collaborate with other teams. We prioritize speed to learning, building space in our timelines to clean up and iterate. We prioritize equitable treatment, inclusivity, and diversity.

Team values

• We work together to form an effective, high-functioning, and fun team.
• We source ideas and collaborate with other teams.
• We prioritize speed to learning, building space in our timelines to clean up and iterate.
• We prioritize equitable treatment, inclusivity, and diversity.

A strong fit for a Staff-level engineer

This role is a strong fit for a Staff-level engineer who enjoys architecture, platform thinking, and cross-functional leadership. We are open to candidates whose background is primarily in software engineering, security engineering, privacy engineering, or a closely related technical discipline. We are seeking Staff-level engineers who possess foundational knowledge of security and/or privacy, strong systems judgment, and the ability to translate broad requirements into practical, durable engineering solutions. Legal or regulatory experience is welcome. Our product work is mostly in PHP and MySQL. We are proud to have an engineering culture that encourages career growth and learning. You can learn more about our philosophies, tools, and some of the challenges we've been solving on our Engineering blog.

What does the day-to-day look like?

• Architecture & Strategy: Lead the technical design and scale of marketplace-wide privacy platforms, ensuring high reliability, observability, and performance.
• Core Privacy Systems: Build and optimize systems for consent/preference management, data access/deletion requests, classification, and Safety by Design workflows.
• Legal & Product Collaboration: Partner with Legal to translate sophisticated compliance requirements into practical APIs, data models, and implementation plans.
• Developer Enablement: Create paved paths, reusable patterns, and documentation that make building privacy-preserving features default and effortless for developers.
• Hands-On Delivery & Standards: Contribute to production code, evaluate build-vs-buy decisions, and drive technical quality through architecture and code reviews.
• System Health & Operations: Mitigate architectural risks, supervise privacy metrics, join support rotations, and automate operational toil using self-service tooling.
• Mentorship & Alignment: Guide and pair with engineers to resolve technical ambiguity and drive execution across teams.

Of course, this is just a sample of the kinds of work this role will require! You should assume that your role will encompass other tasks, too, and that your job duties and responsibilities may change from time to time at Etsy's discretion, or otherwise applicable with local law.

Qualities that will help you thrive in this role are:

• Experience & Leadership: 7+ years of software engineering experience (or Staff-level equivalent) leading architecture and delivery for complex, ambiguous systems.
• Backend & System Design: Strong hands-on expertise building reliable backend platforms, APIs, and distributed systems within large codebases.
• Tech Stack & Code Quality: Proficiency in at least one production language (PHP, Python, Java, Go, etc.) with a focus on clean, testable, and maintainable software.
• Cloud & Operations: Experience with cloud infrastructure (ideally GCP), CI/CD, service observability, and production incident response.
• Communication & Influence: Ability to explain complex technical tradeoffs clearly and build cross-functional alignment across product, legal, and engineering teams.
• Policy & Compliance Translation: Collaborative approach to working with legal, compliance, security, and risk partners to turn policy requirements into scalable engineering controls.
• Privacy & Security Domain: Foundational knowledge of privacy-by-design, data minimization, access controls, data pipelines, metadata systems, PII discovery, classification, and lineage.

Compensation & Benefits

In addition to salary, you'll be eligible for an equity package, an annual performance bonus, and our competitive benefits that support you and your family. Base salary is determined by your location, skills, and experience. Etsy uses two geographic pay zones to reflect the labor markets where we compete for talent: one called Geo-1, covering the New York City metropolitan area, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle metropolitan area, and one called Geo-2, covering all other U.S. locations. Salary ranges for this role vary by zone and are listed below.

Location

We prioritize candidates based within commutable distance of Etsy's Brooklyn Office. Depending on proximity, we ask team members to come in once or twice per week. Remote candidates outside commutable distance may be considered on a case-by-case basis, with the expectation of occasional travel to the office. Learn more details about our work modes and workplace safety policies here.

Salary Range:

• Geo-1: 197,000.00 - 267,000.00 USD Annual
• Geo-2: 178,000.00 - 240,000.00 USD Annual

Our Promise

At Etsy, we believe that a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace furthers relevance, resilience, and longevity. We encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply. Etsy is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion or creed, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, citizenship or immigration status, marital or familial status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. If, due to a disability, you need an accommodation during any part of the interview or hiring process, please let your recruiter know and we will work with you to meet your needs. While Etsy supports visa sponsorship, sponsorship opportunities may be limited to certain roles and skills.

Company Information

Etsy, Inc., founded in 2005, is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. Our mission is to keep commerce human, and we're committed to using the power of business to strengthen communities and empower people. We connect millions of buyers and sellers from nearly every country in the world. Buyers come to Etsy to be inspired and delighted by items that are crafted and curated by creative entrepreneurs. For sellers, we offer a range of tools and services that address key business needs.