Staff Software Engineer, Product

Valence • New York, NY

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Valence has built the only AI native coaching platform for enterprise, offering personalized, expert, and human-like guidance and support to any leader or employee. We’re not just talking about the future of work — we’re building it now, with the most innovative Fortune 500 companies across healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and technology. Our focus is on the problems that actually decide whether AI changes how organizations operate — the ones with no playbook, no obvious answers, and no guarantee of success. If you want to be part of the small group that defines how AI transforms the future at a global scale, this is your chance. And this isn’t for everyone. We’re not looking for people who want predictability or incremental progress. We only want those who are restless at the edge of what’s possible, who get bored when things feel “done,” and who are driven to redefine what AI can mean for leaders, companies, and the world. Because at Valence, the work worth doing is the kind that redefines work itself.

As a Principal Software Engineer, Product, you will be instrumental in architecting, building, and scaling both backend systems and user-facing experiences that power our LLM-driven coaching platform. You will ship features end-to-end - from designing resilient APIs and integrating models to delivering polished interfaces in the browser - while collaborating closely with cross-functional partners in product, design, and infrastructure. This is a ground-floor opportunity to shape a category-defining product used by enterprise customers worldwide.

Requirements

• Strong full stack experience: you have shipped production-grade systems involving both backend and frontend components, and you’re comfortable owning APIs and user experiences end-to-end.
• Technical breadth/ Engineering skills: deep proficiency with Python (Django preferred) or similar languages for backend; strong JavaScript skills and familiarity with modern frameworks (e.g., React, Vue).
• Frontend craftsmanship/ UX obsessed: experience building responsive, high-performance UI with attention to usability and scale.
• Enterprise-grade thinking: you build for scale, performance, security, and maintainability in large, distributed environments.
• Builder at Heart: you’ve architected and shipped production-grade, user-facing systems. You balance polish with speed, knowing when to prioritize craftsmanship and when to push scrappy experiments to learn fast.
• Versatility and pragmatism: you balance sound architectural decisions with a willingness to prototype and iterate quickly when needed.
• Customer-Centered & Product-Focused: you care as much about usability, accessibility, and adoption as you do about code quality. You think beyond “does it work” to “does it work for the user, at scale, and in enterprise environments.”
• Startup fluent: you thrive in ambiguity, value momentum over perfection, and enjoy wearing multiple hats.
• Candidates must be comfortable working with colleagues in different time zones (UK), and have valid travel documents without work authorization restrictions in the US.

Responsibilities

• Full stack architecture, development, and optimization of features spanning backend, AI/model integration, and frontend interfaces.
• Designing for scale, performance, and security in enterprise environments.
• Debugging across the stack - from model behavior and backend services to UI logic and client performance.
• Collaborating with product, design, and operations to deliver delightful, resilient user experiences.
• Helping evolve the engineering culture, tooling, hiring, and technical roadmap as the team grows.
• Build and extend critical backend services: architect APIs, integrate LLMs and related services, and optimize server-side systems for performance and reliability.
• Develop polished frontend experiences: craft intuitive UI flows, ensure accessibility and responsiveness, and manage data flow between frontend and backend.
• Own end-to-end delivery: from scoping requirements, writing tests, deploying code, to monitoring and observability in production.
• Collaborate deeply: work across product, design, data, and infrastructure to solve real user problems and accelerate delivery.
• Drive best practices: help shape engineering standards, CI/CD automation, observability, and performance benchmarking.
• Mentor and grow: support team members through code reviews, technical discussions, and institution of scalable practices.

Benefits

• Competitive salary including base + bonuses
• Comprehensive health coverage (medical, dental, vision) from day one
• Generous PTO, company-wide R&R shutdowns, and paid parental leave
• Retirement plan support for US and global employees
• Meaningful ownership in a venture-backed company at a growth inflection point
• Financial upside that comes with scaling fast
• Top-up grants as we scale and you deliver exceptional performance — your compensation grows alongside your impact

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed