Staff Software Engineer

Zencoder is a universal AI platform focused on integrating generative coding workflows into existing developer tools and infrastructure. Connect any CLI to any IDE, starting with Claude Code, Codex, and Zen CLI, while leveraging Zencoder's proprietary enterprise-grade features like multi-repo intelligence. The platform supports on-premise, hybrid, or cloud deployment, with air-gapped and zero-VPC options to maintain enterprise security. Through modular "Zen Agents," Zencoder codifies team practices into shareable, autonomous workflows that continuously code, test, and deploy.

We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join our engineering team. This is a critical role for an experienced, hands-on technical leader with a broad and deep skillset across multiple languages such as JavaScript, Rust, Python, JVM-based (Java/Kotlin) and strong experience building and scaling distributed systems in cloud environments such as AWS or Google Cloud.

As a Staff Engineer, you will help drive the technical direction of aspects of our platform, setting high standards for system design, code quality, best practices and architectural clarity. You will collaborate across product and engineering to simplify complexity, improve reliability, and make deliberate trade-offs that empower our teams to move fast without sacrificing maintainability.

This is a unique opportunity to join an early-stage company led by serial entrepreneur Andrew Filev (founder of a unicorn startup), and shape a product that is redefining how software is built.

• →Act as a technical thought leader, setting a high bar for engineering quality.
• →Be hands-on, writing code for new features, prototyping, refactoring existing code to meet best practices, etc. 
• →Lead design discussions and architecture reviews for high-impact projects.
• →Collaborate with product, design, and research teams to define and evolve user-facing functionality with real developer impact.
• →Evaluate trade-offs thoughtfully across performance, scalability, complexity, and cost and advocate for clear, maintainable solutions.
• →Guide and mentor other engineers, helping them grow while raising the overall technical maturity of the team.
• →Influence engineering culture, driving best practices in testing, observability, security, and cloud design.

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering covering multiple large-scale, production-grade systems.

• Expert in at least one of the following languages: JavaScript, Python, Rust, JVM-based (Java/Kotlin) with proficiency in at least two. 

• Experience building and scaling distributed systems with reliability and performance in mind. This should cover both compute and data layers and include best practices on the observability of such systems.

• Strong background in cloud architecture and infrastructure design in AWS or Google Cloud environments.

• Demonstrated ability to simplify complex systems and reduce unnecessary technical debt while balancing the need to move fast to compete.

• Strong communication skills with a track record of aligning stakeholders, leading cross-functional efforts, and influencing without authority.

• A deep shift‑left mindset throughout the entire SDLC, with early integration of security, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines.

• Deep familiarity with AI assistants, a solid grasp of the evolving AI landscape, and the ability to translate trends and capabilities into practical product improvements.

• Experience with CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types) or a strong interest in building collaborative, real-time systems is beneficial. 

• Curiosity, pragmatism, and a willingness to challenge assumptions.