Staff Software Engineer - Resident Concierge

AppFolio; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 167,200 - 209,000; Full time

Job summary

AppFolio, a cloud-based SaaS company, is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the Resident Concierge subsegment. You will design and build scalable, production-grade systems and mentor engineers in a high-stakes, high-scale environment, applying AI-assisted techniques to deliver innovative experiences for property managers and residents.

The role emphasizes architectural leadership, collaboration with ML teams, and delivering reliable, maintainable software while growing the product and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience developing and scaling web-based applications, preferably in a SaaS environment.
• Experience leading architectural discussions and shaping system design.
• Proven ability to adopt AI tooling and drive value with AI-enabled workflows.
• Strong focus on maintainability, clean architecture, and refactoring when needed.

Responsibilities

• Drive the technical vision and strategy across the Resident Concierge subsegment, influencing the product roadmap.
• Lead design and implementation of complex distributed systems to scale for 10x traffic and engagement.
• Mentor engineers and foster a high-trust, autonomous culture with ownership and continuous learning.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, and ML leaders to bridge AI possibilities with customer value.
• Own the full lifecycle of solutions from discovery to production with accountability.
• Research and apply new technologies to improve system quality and accelerate delivery.
• Apply test-driven development, code reviews, and CI to ensure high-quality software.

Skills

8+ years SaaS experience

Architectural leadership

AI tooling adoption

Problem solving

Refactoring

Curiosity for new tech

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Golang

React

AWS

SOA architectures

Job description

Description

Hi, We’re AppFolio.

We’re innovators, changemakers, and collaborators. We’re more than just a software company; we’re a cloud-based powerhouse that creates products to make our customers’ lives easier. We are an AI-first engineering organization, revolutionizing how people do business. We want your ideas, enthusiasm, and passion to help us keep innovating at the speed of the modern market.

Who we are looking for:

We are looking for a pioneering technical leader to join a young, high-growth, cross-functional product development team, and to help drive the engineering growth and evolution of our Resident Concierge segment. As a Staff Software Engineer, you will help us design and build best-in-class app experiences, transforming sophisticated business needs into robust, production-grade SaaS infrastructure and pages. The ideal candidate will thrive in a highly collaborative environment, applying the latest in generative AI-assisted techniques to build an innovative product for our customers, has a passion for building leading-edge software and is driven to help build a successful SaaS product used by our large and growing audience of property managers and residents, and who wants to hold themselves to the highest standard of technical excellence while mentoring others in a high-stakes, high-scale environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive the technical vision and strategy across the Resident Concierge 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 our 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.

You know you’re the right fit if…

• You have 8+ years of experience developing and scaling web-based applications, preferably in a SaaS environment.
• You have a 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.
• You have experience leading architectural discussions, defining system design, and guiding technical decision‑making.
• You have proactively adopted AI tooling into your daily workflow. You don't just use these tools; you understand how to prompt, iterate, and validate AI‑generated output to maintain the highest standards of excellence.
• You take a pragmatic approach to technology, adopting new tools where they add value, while mastering proven technologies.
• You care about long‑term maintainability, advocate for clean architecture, and drive continuous refactoring and improvement.
• You balance intensity and sustainability—you’ll go the extra mile when needed but also model healthy work‑life balance.
• You have an ability to solve complex problems without a roadmap
• You love to learn about and use new tech, but understand the value of continuing to leverage existing technology when it gets the job done.
• You care about the long‑term maintainability of the codebase and advocate for refactoring and code cleanliness.
• You can identify and resolve code‑smells through sensible refactoring.
• You care about work‑life balance and want your company to care about it, too; you'll put in the extra hour when needed but won't let it become a habit.

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 Golang, React, AWS, or service‑oriented architectures.

Compensation & Benefits

The base salary that we reasonably expect to pay for this role is $167,200 - $209,000.

The actual base salary for this role will be determined by a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s skills, education, experience, etc.

Please note that base pay is one important aspect of a compelling Total Rewards package. The base pay range indicated here does not include any additional benefits or bonuses that you may be eligible for based on your role and/or employment type.

Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits - see here.

About AppFolio

AppFolio is the technology leader powering the future of the real estate industry. Our innovative platform and trusted partnership enable our customers to connect communities, increase operational efficiency, and grow their business. For more information about AppFolio, visit appfolio.com.

Why AppFolio

Grow | We enable a culture of high performance, where delivering results is recognized by opportunities for growth and compelling total rewards. Our challenging and meaningful work drive the growth of our business, and ourselves.

Learn | We partner with you to realize your potential by investing in you from the start. We're cultivating a team of big thinkers through coaching and mentorship with our best-in-class leaders, and giving you the time and tools to develop your skills.

Impact | We are creating a world where living in, investing in, managing, and supporting communities feels magical and effortless, freeing people to thrive. We do this by innovating with purpose while cultivating a culture of impact. We learn as much from each other as we do our customers and our communities.

Connect | We excel at hybrid work by fostering an environment that feels flexible, personal and connected, no matter where we are. We create space to fuel innovation and collaboration, and we come together to celebrate, connect, and succeed.

Paddle as One.

Learn more at appfolio.com/company/careers

Statement of Equal Opportunity

At AppFolio, we value diversity in backgrounds and perspectives and depend on it to drive our innovative culture. That’s why we’re a proud Equal Opportunity Employer, and we believe that our products, our teams, and our business are stronger because of it. This means that no matter what race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or veteran status, you’re always welcome at AppFolio.