Staff Software Engineer (Full-stack)

Job Description

We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join our full-stack team at Zendesk. Our team is dedicated to building Employee Service (ES) Tasks a top initiative that enhances Zendesks product offering by enabling organizations to design manage and automate internal service workflows. We will be collaborating closely with other platform teams that are working alongside us to help us accelerate addition to that we are also responsible for developing capabilities around SLAs Macros Placeholders etc.

Location Requirement: This is a hybrid role. Candidates must reside within a commutable distance of our office in San Francisco CA

What youll be doing

• Solve complex large-scale business problems by applying deep technical expertise and systems thinking.

• Design and deliver high-quality scalable and reusable components by driving engineering standards and practices (e.g. code reviews testing strategies CI/CD improvements).

• Collaborate with architects product managers and platform teams to define technical direction and deliver impactful customer-facing features.

• Own services and features end-to-end from design to deployment ensuring stability performance and long-term maintainability.

• Troubleshoot and resolve sophisticated problems across distributed systems with a holistic approach.

• Mentor and coach engineers across varying levels helping raise the bar on technical excellence and delivery.

• Actively shape team ceremonies delivery planning and technical discussions to foster collaboration and execution.

What you bring to the role

Minimum Qualifications:

• 7 years of professional software development experience with a proven track record of technical leadership and decision-making

• Deep understanding of building scalable backend systems and reusable components

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a demonstrable bias toward action.

• Proficient in coding with languages such as Ruby on Rails Java along with frontend technologies like React TypeScript and GraphQL. Deep understanding of distributed computing principles data architecture and scalable system design.

• Experience integrating shared platform components into domain specific product areas.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with relational data stores like MySQL and Aurora and systems like MySQL ElasticSearch Redis.

• Experience with event-driven distributed architecture using Kafka.

• Excellent verbal written and interpersonal communication skills

• Self-motivated with a strong propensity for action results and continuous improvement

• Ability to thrive in high-energy fast paced rapidly changing environments

Tech Stack

• Backend: Ruby on Rails Java MySQL/Aurora

• Frontend: JavaScript TypeScript React GraphQL

• DevOps & Monitoring: DataDog Kubernetes CI/CD

• Cloud: AWS

Why Zendesk

• Lead and grow with a high-impact collaborative engineering team.

• Flexible hybrid work model and strong work-life balance.

• Work on strategic initiatives with executive-level support and company investment.

#LI-JH1

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

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.

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

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.