Staff Software Engineer

Staff Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA | Hybrid, at least three days onsite | Full-time

Base salary: $290,000–$340,000, plus performance bonus and equity

Epic Placements is partnering with an early-stage AI company building software that helps investment and lending teams turn complex documents and financial information into useful analysis and better-informed decisions.

The business is growing, and the company is expanding its small engineering team. This is a hands-on opportunity to own substantial parts of the product, work directly with customers, and improve the way the broader team designs and ships software.

The opportunity

You’ll work in a flat engineering organization where ownership extends from understanding the problem through architecture, implementation, launch, and iteration. The team uses coding agents extensively for development and code review, while engineers remain responsible for technical design, quality, and sound decisions.

At the Staff level, your impact should extend beyond your own output. You’ll help other experienced engineers improve their designs, navigate technical tradeoffs, and deliver better software.

What you’ll do

• Own significant product areas across frontend, backend, and data workflows.
• Work with product, sales, customer success, and customers to understand needs and translate them into practical solutions.
• Write technical design documents and lead thoughtful reviews before implementation.
• Use AI coding agents to develop and review software, with rigorous validation of the results.
• Make architectural decisions that balance delivery speed, reliability, maintainability, and customer needs.
• Contribute across the team through design feedback, code review, and technical leadership.
• Stay hands-on through implementation, database changes, troubleshooting, and production improvements.

What you’ll bring

• Typically eight or more years of software engineering experience, with increasing responsibility and demonstrated technical leadership.
• Experience owning a meaningful product area or substantial engineering initiative from design through production.
• The ability and willingness to work across the full stack.
• A practical, established workflow using AI coding agents for development and review.
• Evidence that your technical contributions improved the work of other experienced engineers.
• Strong engineering fundamentals and a degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering.
• Clear communication with technical colleagues and nontechnical stakeholders.
• A specific interest in joining a small, fast-moving company and helping build products for complex customer workflows.

Exceptional candidates with roughly seven years of experience and unusually strong progression may also be considered.

Helpful experience

The current environment includes TypeScript, Next.js, Python, AWS, Supabase, and Vercel. Familiarity is useful, but experience with these exact technologies is not required.

Additional relevant experience includes relational databases, asynchronous processing, secure enterprise applications, and production AI systems. Strong Staff engineers do not need to have previously shipped AI features if they bring the engineering depth and agent-based development workflow this team needs.

Experience across both established technology companies and startups can be particularly valuable. Financial-services experience is not required.

Location and compensation

This role is based in San Francisco and requires at least three office days each week, generally Monday through Wednesday. The team expects meaningful in-person collaboration. Candidates willing to relocate may be considered.

The listed base salary range is $290,000–$340,000, with performance bonus and equity in addition to base pay. Compensation depends on experience and scope. Relocation support and visa-transfer support may be available, subject to confirmation for the individual candidate.

Interview process

The process includes a hiring-manager conversation, an agent-focused system-design interview, a technical onsite, and a CEO conversation. An initial recruiting screen may also be included. Some technical stages may be combined for exceptional candidates.

The onsite includes coding, a discussion of a substantial technical problem you have worked on, and system design.

Interested?

Connect with Epic Placements to learn more. Be ready to discuss a product or major engineering initiative you personally owned, how you use coding agents, and an example of your impact on other experienced engineers.