Senior Staff Software Engineer

About the role

We are seeking a strong hands-on Senior Staff Software Engineer to help design, build, and modernize core backend services and distributed systems, with additional experience in system architecture and data modeling. In this role, you will work closely with engineering teams to modernize key components and improve scalability, reliability, and developer experience. This position is ideal for a senior engineer who enjoys staying close to the code and has experience shaping backend architecture and data models in complex systems.

You should bring strong hands-on Java engineering experience, a solid understanding of distributed systems and cloud-native design, and practical experience with data modeling and modern data platforms. You will help shape the technical direction of shared engineering capabilities while remaining directly involved in implementation and technical problem-solving.

This role is based in San Ramon, CA, with a hybrid schedule of 2-3 days a week in the office.

Responsibilities

• Core Systems Engineering & Architecture
  • Actively contribute to the design, development, and modernization of core backend systems and shared services, staying close to the code and technical implementation.
  • Build a strong understanding of the existing system architecture and identify opportunities to improve scalability, reliability, maintainability, and developer experience.
  • Apply sound architectural patterns, engineering standards, and pragmatic guardrails to support a consistent and sustainable technical foundation.
  • Contribute backend and data architecture expertise to support middleware integration, operational workflows, and data-driven product capabilities.
  • Design and evolve practical data models and schemas for transactional and analytical use cases across relational and modern data platforms.
  • Apply data modeling best practices, including normalization and dimensional modeling, to support scalable and flexible engineering capabilities.
• Engineering Enablement & Collaboration
  • Partner with engineering teams to improve developer experience across shared systems and services, reduce friction points, and increase adoption through practical solutions and clear technical guidance.
  • Support application teams as they integrate with and build on shared backend services and common engineering capabilities, incorporating feedback into ongoing improvements.
  • Develop documentation, reference implementations, and integration guidance to help teams move faster and build consistently.
• Technical Leadership & Delivery
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver reliable, secure, and maintainable backend services and shared system capabilities.
  • Provide practical technical guidance for backend enhancements, integrations, migrations, and new engineering initiatives.
  • Mentor engineers, contribute to design reviews, and help raise engineering and architectural quality across teams.

Requirements

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including hands-on experience leading the design and evolution of complex backend or distributed systems.
• Deep, hands-on experience with Java-based backend systems (core Java, concurrency, distributed systems, microservices).
• Proficiency with Spring Framework and modern Java libraries.
• Strong experience designing and implementing data models for relational and analytical data platforms, such as PostgreSQL, data warehouses, or similar systems.
• Strong understanding of modern cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native patterns.
• Demonstrated experience building and evolving large-scale backend systems, distributed systems, or core shared services.
• Strong knowledge of API design, streaming, event-driven architecture, and integration patterns.
• Ability to communicate technical designs clearly and make sound architectural trade-offs in collaboration with engineering teams.
• Ability to provide practical technical leadership, influence design decisions, and mentor engineers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using modern developer productivity or AI-assisted engineering tools is a plus.
• Experience with modern data technologies, including graph databases or related data platforms, is a plus.
• Experience with cloud data platforms such as Snowflake is a plus.

Pay

The anticipated annual salary range for this position is $166,500 - $250,000. The salary range reflects a good-faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on a candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Additionally, candidates may be eligible for a performance-based bonus.

Benefits

• Opportunity to become a PTC shareholder through our employee share purchase program (ESPP), which allows for the purchase of discounted PTC stock.
• Eligibility for participation in equity programs (for certain roles).
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Paid time off and sick leave.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• 401(k) contributions and employer match.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Life insurance and disability coverage.
• Generous commuter subsidy (for office-assigned employees).