Staff Software Engineer

Job Description

Join our Agent Workspace Messaging team and help millions of users connect with the support they need every day. As a Staff Software Engineer youll work on meaningful problems that directly impact customer experiences while collaborating with a talented diverse team across multiple time zones.

Were building the next generation of messaging technology that powers seamless customer engagement. This role offers the opportunity to shape our growing engineering presence in Pune while working on large-scale distributed systems that serve millions of daily users.

What makes this role special: As a Staff Software Engineer at Zendesk youll be a hands-on technologist who leads application development initiatives and contributes to the design and implementation of projects. Youll participate in technical discussions beyond your immediate team and excel at finding simple solutions to complex problems. Were looking for someone who cares about not only the technical aspects of large systems but how they enable other developers to succeed.

Note: This is a hybrid role combining remote and on-site work requiring 3 days in the office and relocation to Pune.

What Youll Do

• Build impactful products: Work on our next-generation messaging platform backend contributing to a system that handles millions of conversations daily.

• Lead technical initiatives: Guide the design and delivery of new capabilities with a full-stack mindset taking ownership of projects from conception to launch.

• Collaborate across teams: Partner with Product Managers Designers and Engineers across different geographies to influence product direction and identify technical solutions.

• Solve complex challenges: Anticipate scaling challenges and proactively address architecture improvements with a focus on performance security and reliability.

• Mentor and grow others: Support engineers at all levels through design reviews pairing and feedback while promoting best practices across teams.

• Shape our culture: Contribute to building a strong engineering culture in India through recruiting knowledge sharing and technical leadership.

What Were Looking For

Core Experience:

• 8 years of software engineering experience in at least one major programming web technology (Java Python Ruby or Python)

• Experience building distributed backend systems and designing APIs ideally in a SaaS environment.

• Track record of leading complex projects across multiple teams

• Hands-on experience with cloud technologies (AWS Kubernetes Docker CI/CD)

• Understanding of system performance security and reliability principles

Leadership & Collaboration:

• Experience mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction

• Strong communication skills in distributed team environments

• Ability to balance short-term needs with long-term technical goals

• Experience collaborating across different time zones and cultures

Bonus Points:

• Frontend experience with JavaScript/TypeScript and React

• Experience with event-driven architecture (Kafka GraphQL gRPC)

• Background in customer engagement or messaging domains

• Active participation in tech communities (open source blogs conferences)

• Experience in fast-growing or scaling organizations

Our Tech Stack

We work with modern well-supported technologies:

• Backend: Java Ruby Python

• Frontend: React TypeScript

• Data & APIs: Kafka GraphQL gRPC

• Infrastructure: AWS (RDS S3 EKS) Kubernetes Spinnaker

Dont worry if you havent used every technology listed we value learning agility and will support your growth into new areas.

Wed love to hear from you especially if youre passionate about building user-facing experiences at scale and excited about mentoring the next generation of engineers.

Please note that Zendesk can only hire candidates who are physically located and plan to work from Karnataka or Maharashtra. Please refer to the location posted on the requisition for where this role is based.

Hybrid: In this role our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection collaboration learning and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working enables us to purposefully come together in person at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world to connect collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer and were proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity equity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race color religion national origin age sex gender gender identity gender expression sexual orientation marital status medical condition ancestry disability military or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application complete any pre-employment testing or otherwise participate in the employee selection process please send an e-mail to with your specific accommodation request.