Staff Software Engineer, User Targeting

Braze•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Braze, we have found our people. We’re a genuinely approachable, exceptionally kind, and intensely passionate crew. We seek to ignite that passion by setting high standards, championing teamwork, and creating work-life harmony as we collectively navigate rapid growth on a global scale while striving for greater equity and opportunity – inside and outside our organization. To flourish here, you must be prepared to set a high bar for yourself and those around you. There is always a way to contribute: Acting with autonomy, having accountability and being open to new perspectives are essential to our continued success. Our deep curiosity to learn and our eagerness to share diverse passions with others gives us balance and injects a one-of-a-kind vibrancy into our culture. If you are driven to solve exhilarating challenges and have a bias toward action in the face of change, you will be empowered to make a real impact here, with a sharp and passionate team at your back. If Braze sounds like a place where you can thrive, we can’t wait to meet you. WHAT YOU’LL DO We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join the User Targeting team as a hands-on technical leader. The team is responsible for how our customers segment and target their users. Every message Braze sends goes through our pipelines, which process billions of users per day. We are a fast-paced team working close to customers in a core and high-impact area of our product. You will create and own complex systems end to end, from the segmentation engine and data pipelines through the APIs and the dashboard experience customers use every day, at the scale demanded by some of the biggest brands in the world. You will have a say in what the team builds as well as how it gets built. Architecture, performance, and cost are constant considerations, but your success will be measured by the value you unlock for customers. The team extensively integrates AI into its daily workflow, leveraging agentic tools to navigate our large Ruby monolith, create proof of concepts, and transition quickly and safely from an ask to a working solution. AI has been used across all stages of product delivery, fundamentally enhancing the team’s ability to deliver high-quality results more efficiently.

Requirements

Extensive Software Engineering experience: 7+ years of professional experience, including hands-on work in full-stack development or back-end services, particularly with high-scale, high-throughput systems
Product Ownership at Scale: proven track record of delivering customer-facing products on high-scale data systems, from problem definition through launch and adoption. You can point to what customers or the business gained, not only what the system did
Systems at Scale: proven track record of building foundational data-driven systems at scale: whether streaming, real-time pipelines, or large-scale data platforms
Technical Leadership: skilled at driving architectural direction, scoping large efforts, and effectively managing technical debt. Known for precise communication of complex technical concepts and a willingness to drive major technical initiatives
Strong Fundamentals: deep understanding of software design, data structures, and algorithms
Self-Starter: great communication and organizational skills, with a history of thriving in team environments

Nice To Haves

familiarity with Ruby, Ruby on Rails, TypeScript, React, Sidekiq, and SQL/NoSQL databases
previous experience with MongoDB, ClickHouse, Snowflake, or other data lake solutions
experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes), and cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure)
experience with distributed systems, API design, monitoring, and best practices
Passionate about customer experience

Responsibilities

Architect & Build: conceive, design, and implement large-scale systems and services that handle massive data volumes and complex workloads in real time. This includes extending our ClickHouse pipeline to support new filters and attributes
Own the Product: partner with product to define what gets built and why, then keep improving it after launch as you learn how customers actually use it
Own Core Systems: take ownership of the complex backend systems behind Braze segmentation, continuously improving their performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness
Mentor & Influence: lead by example and mentor engineers on best practices in software design, coding, and operations
Collaborate Cross-Functionally: work closely with other engineering teams, product managers, and stakeholders to ensure segmentation systems are effectively integrated and aligned with business objectives
Innovate & Optimize: continuously identify opportunities to improve our systems, research new technologies, and advocate for their adoption where appropriate
Maintain & Evolve: support and refine operational procedures (alerts, on-call rotation, troubleshooting playbooks) to maximize system stability and quality

Benefits

equity grants of restricted stock (RSUs)
Competitive compensation that may include equity
Retirement and Employee Stock Purchase Plans
Flexible paid time off
Comprehensive benefit plans covering medical, dental, vision, life, and disability
Family services that include fertility benefits and equal paid parental leave
Professional development supported by formal career pathing, learning platforms, and a yearly learning stipend
A curated in-office employee experience, designed to foster community, team connections, and innovation
Opportunities to give back to your community, including an annual company-wide Volunteer Week and donation matching
Employee Resource Groups that provide supportive communities within Braze
Collaborative, transparent, and fun culture recognized as a Great Place to Work®