Senior / Staff Engineer

daydream Labs, Inc

$180K — $280K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Significant experience in building and operating production software systems
  • Strong engineering judgment with architectural decision-making
  • Experience in managing systems from design through maintenance
  • Ability to lead by influence and technical expertise, not through people management
  • Familiarity with AI-enabled or data-intensive systems is preferred

Responsibilities

  • Act as the technical lead for day-to-day engineering execution
  • Collaborate with the CTO to prioritize engineering tasks
  • Design and refine core system architecture
  • Review code and set standards for quality and maintainability
  • Identify technical risks and propose scalable solutions
  • Mentor engineers through guidance and example
  • Enhance engineering workflows for speed and quality

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, vision, HSA and FSA options
  • Monthly commuter reimbursement for in-office days
  • Lunch reimbursement on in-office days; dinner covered for late shifts
  • Annual stipend for gym, fitness classes, therapy, and other wellness expenses
  • Annual stipend for books, courses, and educational growth
  • Two company retreats per year for team bonding and collaboration
  • Regular team dinners and outings to foster relationships
  • Dog-friendly office environment
Full Job Description
How you'll make an impact

As a Senior/Staff Engineer at sunbeam, you'll provide technical leadership across the product while remaining deeply hands-on.

You'll partner closely with the CTO to shape system architecture, guide execution, and raise the quality bar across the engineering organization. This is not a people-management role; you'll lead through design decisions, code quality, and consistent delivery of scalable systems.

In this role, you will:
  • Act as the technical lead for day-to-day engineering execution across the team
  • Partner with the CTO to organize, prioritize, and sequence engineering work
  • Design and evolve core system architecture, guiding implementation decisions
  • Review pull requests and set standards for code quality, reliability, and maintainability
  • Identify technical risks early and propose pragmatic, scalable solutions
  • Mentor engineers through technical guidance, feedback, and example
  • Improve engineering workflows to increase speed without sacrificing quality
  • Work primarily across backend systems, data pipelines, and AI-enabled services, using Python, TypeScript, and C#, deployed on Google Cloud


Minimum Qualifications
  • Significant experience building and operating production software systems
  • Strong engineering judgment and comfort with making architectural tradeoffs
  • Experience owning systems end-to-end, from design through long-term maintenance
  • Ability to lead through influence, code, and technical decision-making rather than people management


Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in a Staff or Senior Engineer role at a high-growth company
  • Background in building distributed systems or complex backend platforms
  • Familiarity with AI-enabled or data-intensive systems
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • A consistently high bar for code quality, reliability, and technical excellence


Position Location

This role is based in San Francisco and requires in-person collaboration five (5) days per week. We offer paid relocation for candidates outside the San Francisco Bay Area.

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $180,000-$280,000 depending on experience, along with meaningful equity.

What you'll love
  • Health coverage includes medical, dental, and vision with HSA and FSA options, plus One Medical, Talkspace, and Teladoc
  • Commuter benefit includes a monthly reimbursement to support your commute to the office
  • Meals on us include lunch reimbursement on in-office days, with dinner covered when you're working late
  • Personal well-being includes an annual stipend for gym, fitness classes, therapy, and wellness expenses
  • Learning and development includes an annual stipend for books, courses, and classes to support your growth
  • Team retreats include two company retreats per year to connect, collaborate, and reset
  • Monthly team time includes regular dinners and outings to spend time together
  • Dog-friendly office (we have corgis)

Similar Jobs

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Senior / Staff Engineer jobs: