Staff Software Engineer

Join our Agent Workspace Messaging team and help millions of users connect with the support they need every day. As a Staff Software Engineer, you'll work on meaningful problems that directly impact customer experiences while collaborating with a talented, diverse team across multiple time zones.

We're building the next generation of messaging technology that powers seamless customer engagement. This role offers the opportunity to shape our growing engineering presence in Pune while working on large-scale distributed systems that serve millions of daily users.

What makes this role special: As a Staff Software Engineer at Zendesk, you'll be a hands-on technologist who leads application development initiatives and contributes to the design and implementation of projects. You'll participate in technical discussions beyond your immediate team and excel at finding simple solutions to complex problems. We're looking for someone who cares about not only the technical aspects of large systems, but how they enable other developers to succeed.
Note: This is a hybrid role, combining remote and on-site work, requiring 3 days in the office, and relocation to Pune.

What You'll Do

• Build impactful products: Work on our next-generation messaging platform backend, contributing to a system that handles millions of conversations daily.

• Lead technical initiatives: Guide the design and delivery of new capabilities with a full-stack mindset, taking ownership of projects from conception to launch.

• Collaborate across teams: Partner with Product Managers, Designers, and Engineers across different geographies to influence product direction and identify technical solutions.

• Solve complex challenges: Anticipate scaling challenges and proactively address architecture improvements with a focus on performance, security, and reliability.

• Mentor and grow others: Support engineers at all levels through design reviews, pairing, and feedback while promoting best practices across teams.

• Shape our culture: Contribute to building a strong engineering culture in India through recruiting, knowledge sharing, and technical leadership.

What We're Looking For

Core Experience:

• 8+ years of software engineering experience in at least one major programming web technology (Java, Python, Ruby, or Python)

• Experience building distributed backend systems and designing APIs, ideally in a SaaS environment.

• Track record of leading complex projects across multiple teams

• Hands-on experience with cloud technologies (AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, CI/CD)

• Understanding of system performance, security, and reliability principles

Leadership & Collaboration:

• Experience mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction

• Strong communication skills in distributed team environments

• Ability to balance short-term needs with long-term technical goals

• Experience collaborating across different time zones and cultures

Bonus Points:

• Frontend experience with JavaScript/TypeScript and React

• Experience with event-driven architecture (Kafka, GraphQL, gRPC)

• Background in customer engagement or messaging domains

• Active participation in tech communities (open source, blogs, conferences)

• Experience in fast-growing or scaling organizations

Our Tech Stack

We work with modern, well-supported technologies:

• Backend: Java, Ruby, Python

• Frontend: React, TypeScript

• Data & APIs: Kafka, GraphQL, gRPC

• Infrastructure: AWS (RDS, S3, EKS), Kubernetes, Spinnaker

Don't worry if you haven't used every technology listed, we value learning agility and will support your growth into new areas.

We'd love to hear from you, especially if you're passionate about building user-facing experiences at scale and excited about mentoring the next generation of engineers.

Please note that Zendesk can only hire candidates who are physically located and plan to work from Karnataka or Maharashtra. Please refer to the location posted on the requisition for where this role is based.

Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here .

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.