Principal Software Development Engineer, Full Stack

About the role

As a Principal Software Development Engineer, you will be the technical leader for a critical area of Zillow Rentals' internal tooling and data-product ecosystem. You will deliver high-impact business value by identifying and solving complex problems that span teams, systems, and stakeholder groups.

This is a leadership-first individual contributor role. You will set technical direction, shape cross-team architecture, and influence how teams build, operate, and evolve internal products. You will partner with engineering and business leaders to translate ambiguous opportunities into durable strategies, foundational capabilities, and sequenced investments that advance Zillow Rentals' longer-term goals through world class internal tools.

You will get to

• Architect and drive the end-to-end design of complex, high-scale web applications and services, spanning modern user interfaces, APIs, data stores, and cloud infrastructure.

• Lead technical direction and decision-making for multi-team initiatives, establishing engineering standards and best practices for full-stack development, testing, and operations.

• Collaborate with product management, UX, and cross-functional partners to translate business objectives into actionable engineering plans and technical roadmaps.

• Mentor and coach senior and staff engineers, fostering a culture of learning, inclusion, and technical excellence across teams.

• Guide technical reviews and design forums, providing clear feedback on architecture, implementation approaches, and risk mitigation for critical projects.

• Anticipate and resolve systemic technical challenges, making high-impact decisions on service boundaries, data models, and integration strategies.

• Champion engineering excellence in code quality, automated testing, CI/CD, observability, and incident response.

• Evaluate and introduce new technologies, frameworks, and architectures that improve developer experience, scalability, and operational excellence.

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

In California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $191,300.00 - $305,700.00 annually. This base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations. In Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia the standard base pay range for this role is $181,800.00 - $290,400.00 annually. The base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.

In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. Employees in this role will not be paid below the salary threshold for exempt employees in the state where they reside.

Who you are

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating production web applications, with significant experience across both front-end and back-end components.

• Demonstrated track record leading the technical design and delivery of complex, high-scale systems or platforms involving multiple teams and services.

• Experience mentoring senior engineers and influencing engineering practices and standards across teams in an agile, product-focused environment.

• Or an equivalent combination of education and experience.