Staff Software Engineer $200,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
This role is for Platform Architects who establish the technical foundations upon which other teams deliver. Your work centers on platform-level products where the API designs, architectural standards, and documentation you create determine how entire teams operate and develop.
Examples of products you may contribute to:
- TimeBack: Educational platform supporting Alpha School's 2-hour learning model (99th percentile test results)
- Incept: Content generation platform producing personalized educational materials for multiple learning applications
- Crossover: AI-powered hiring platform handling tens of thousands of applicants each month
- This role emphasizes design: 50% drafting specifications, API contracts, and technical decisions; 30% building complex platform features; 20% reviewing code and guiding teammates. You hold technical authority over architectural choices. Once aligned with the team, your specifications become binding.
You'll work with a small team of capable engineers, exercise high ownership, and encounter no bureaucracy. What you design, you implement and maintain.
What you will be doing
- Drafting specifications prior to any implementation
- Designing APIs that maintain backward compatibility and support future extensibility
- Authoring Important Technical Decisions (ITDs) complete with reasoning
- Implementing complex platform features
- Conducting PR reviews to ensure architectural alignment
What you will NOT be doing
- Extensive team leadership or managing people
- Building simple application-level products
- Attending endless meetings
- Practicing pure architecture without hands-on implementation
Candidate requirements
- A minimum of 5 years of professional software development experience
- At least 2 years designing systems in which other teams relied on your APIs or architectural decisions
- Proven track record of authoring technical specifications or technical decisions implemented by others
- Experience integrating AI tools into your development workflow
Applying for a role? Here’s what to expect.
Crossover's skill assessment process combines innovative AI power with decades of human research, to take the guesswork, human bias, and pointless filters out of recruiting high-performing teams.
Chat-style
screening interview.
Cognitive 
aptitude test.
Prove real-world 
job skills.
Interview with the hiring manager.
Accept job offer.
Pass
proctored test.
Frequently asked questions
Reviews
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The Olympics of work
It’s super hard to qualify—extreme quality standards ensure every single team member is at the top of their game.
Premium pay for premium talent
Over 50% of new hires double or triple their previous pay. Why? Because that’s what the best person in the world is worth.
Shortlist by skills, not bias
We don’t care where you went to school, what color your hair is, or whether we can pronounce your name. Just prove you’ve got the skills.
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