Principal Software Development Engineer, Big Data

About the teamThe Zillow Experimentation Platform (ZEXP) team is pivotal in empowering Zillow Group’s Product, Engineering, and Science teams to innovate with agility and confidence. Our mission is to enable anyone, regardless of their role, to drive impact through self-service experimentation.
We are members of the Platforms for AI team, within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) organization, working with data, machine learning, and experimentation-focused engineers and scientists to build a powerful experimentation platform and scale Zillow’s data-driven culture.
Learn more about what we are doing at https://www.zillow.com/engineering and https://www.zillow.com/ai

About the role

Join our team as a Principal Software Development Engineer, where you will play a central role in defining the technical direction of Zillow’s experimentation platform, enabling experimentation capabilities in disparate systems, and ensuring smooth integration across client applications. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the platform's evolution, align cross-functional teams, and drive innovation and cohesion across Zillow Group's diverse ecosystem

You Will Get To:

• Own and lead the integration of Zillow’s Experimentation Platform across all brands and products, defining and implementing architectural patterns that drive flexibility and scale
• Collaboratively architect and establish experimentation frameworks in client applications across a diverse tech stack
• Lead strategic, cross-functional initiatives that empower product and engineering teams with robust, self-service experimentation capabilities. You’ll balance hands-on technical contributions with strategic oversight, flexing between deep involvement and delegation to junior engineers and partner teams as needed
• Act as a leader in experimentation, crafting long-term technical strategy, proactively identifying challenges and opportunities, and making recommendations that shape the platform's evolution
• Champion a culture of technical excellence by mentoring engineers, driving collaboration, and elevating the standards of engineering practices across the organization
• Play a pivotal role in Zillow’s 2025 vision of Unification of Experimentation, bridging together the online and offline evaluation of models running on our AI platforms that power Zillow’s Housing Super App
   

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, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $186,700.00 - $298,300.00 Annually. This base pay range is specific to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC 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.

Who you are

You are a seasoned engineer with substantial proficiency in architecting, building, and scaling experimentation platforms and frameworks. You excel in complex technical environments and possess a deep passion for guiding technical strategy and influencing architectural patterns that encompass multiple teams, organizations, and technologies

• Proven track record of distilling complex technical challenges with experimentation at scale into actionable solutions and driving alignment on technical decisions across teams
• Deep expertise in the technical requirements for experimentation within client applications, including architectural patterns, instrumentation and telemetry, triggering strategies, and SDK development 
• A clear and persuasive communicator with demonstrated capability to explain complex technical topics clearly and effectively to both technical and non-technical partners
• Outstanding collaboration and mentorship skills, fostering an inclusive culture of technical excellence while guiding teams to deliver impactful solutions
• Demonstrated ability to partner with cross-functional leaders, including Staff Engineers, Applied Scientists, and Product Managers, to drive technical and strategic alignment
• Technical expertise in one or more of the following stacks: React/NextJS, iOS, Android, Node, Java, Go, Python

Nice to Have

• Experience designing and building highly scalable and reliable data pipelines, particularly in the context of experimentation and telemetry data
• Experience with Databricks (for data and/or ML use cases)
   

Get to know us

Zillow is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people.

As the most-visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates help movers find and win their home through digital solutions, first class partners, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences. Millions of people visit Zillow Group sites every month to start their home search, and now they can rely on Zillow to help make it easier to move. The work we do helps people get home and no matter what job you're in, you will play a critical role in making home a reality for more and more people.

Our efforts to streamline the real estate transaction are supported by a deep-rooted culture of innovation, our passion to redefine the employee experience, a fundamental commitment to Equity and Belonging, and world-class benefits. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverages as well as parental leave, family benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off. We’re also setting the standard for work experiences of the future, where our employees are supported in doing their best work and living a flexible, well-balanced life. But don’t just take our word for it. Read recent reviews on Glassdoor and recent recognition from multiple organizations, including: the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equity Index, and TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable state and local law.

Applicants who receive job offers from Zillow Group will be asked to sign a Proprietary Rights Agreement which includes confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, customer and employee non-solicitation, and non-competition provisions. If you are contacted for a role at Zillow Group and wish to review a copy of the Proprietary Rights Agreement prior to receiving an offer, you may request a copy from your Recruiter.