Staff Software Engineer - Leasing
About The Position
AppFolio is seeking a pioneering technical leader to drive the architectural evolution of its Leasing Engineering Domain and lead the technical direction for next-generation agentic AI products. The role focuses on using intelligent automation to simplify customer operations and shaping autonomous systems in a high-ambiguity environment. This is a hands-on, full-stack leadership position serving as the final owner of system architecture. The engineer will apply deep distributed-systems expertise to complex, non-deterministic workflows and high-scale data orchestration, translating AI capabilities into reliable, production-grade SaaS infrastructure. The role makes foundational technical decisions that shape how systems reason, act, and scale. The Staff Software Engineer will work across Machine Learning Engineering, Product, and UX, turning strategic vision into scalable products while managing evolving technical challenges and cross-team dependencies. The role calls for a culture of engineering excellence and pragmatic innovation, and ownership of solutions throughout discovery, development, and production. The base salary range is $167,200–$229,900. Actual base salary depends on factors including skills, education, and experience. Base pay does not include other benefits or bonuses that may be available based on role or employment type. Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits.
Requirements
- At least 8 years of experience developing and scaling web-based applications, preferably in a SaaS environment.
- Track record of leading high-stakes projects from ambiguity through launch, aligning stakeholders, making technical trade-offs, and ensuring long-term system health.
- Experience leading architectural discussions, defining system design, and guiding technical decisions.
- Practical experience integrating AI/ML technologies into production-grade applications and making non-deterministic systems reliable.
- Pragmatic approach to technology, adopting new tools where valuable while mastering proven technologies.
- Commitment to long-term maintainability, clean architecture, continuous refactoring, and improvement.
- Ability to balance intensity and sustainability, going the extra mile when needed while modeling healthy work-life balance.
Nice To Haves
- Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science or a related technical discipline.
- Experience with technologies such as Ruby on Rails, React, AWS, or service-oriented architectures.
Responsibilities
- Drive technical vision and strategy across the Leasing teams, influence the product roadmap, and make architectural decisions aligned with business goals.
- Lead the design and implementation of complex distributed systems powering agentic AI, balancing innovation with reliability and security.
- Provide hands-on leadership in design and code, raise engineering quality, and establish standards and patterns that help the team deliver confidently.
- Coach engineers and foster a high-trust, autonomous culture emphasizing continuous learning and ownership.
- Collaborate as a peer with Product, Design, and Machine Learning leaders to connect AI capabilities with customer value.
- Own the full lifecycle of solutions, from discovery through development and production.
- Research, share, and apply technologies and patterns that improve system quality and accelerate delivery.
Benefits
- Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits; specific benefits are not detailed in the posting.
- The posting describes compelling total rewards and notes that role-dependent benefits or bonuses may supplement base pay.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
