Software Engineer - React, AWS

# Staff Software Engineer

## About the Role

Babylist is hiring Staff Software Engineers to join an 85-person engineering organization building a $1B+ GMV marketplace for new and expecting families. The engineering team builds systems across registry, commerce, health, advertising, platform, and infrastructure that serve millions of people each year.

As a Staff Software Engineer, you will set technical direction across pods and own complex, ambiguous problems from design through production. You will work closely with product, design, and data, while helping define how AI-assisted engineering is practiced across the organization. The role spans revenue and growth, consumer product and registry experiences, and platform and infrastructure.

## Key Responsibilities

* Own complex, ambiguous business and technical problems across pod boundaries from design through production.

* Take end-to-end accountability for outcomes with minimal handoffs.

* Use AI tools as force multipliers and help establish standards for high-quality AI-assisted engineering.

* Make architectural decisions spanning services and teams while balancing speed, quality, and long-term maintainability.

* Work directly with product, design, and data as a technical partner and contributor to product and architecture decisions.

* Mentor engineers, including senior engineers, through code reviews, design feedback, and direct guidance.

* Improve engineering processes and ways of working when organizational gaps are identified.

* Set technical direction and influence engineering decisions beyond a single team or pod.

* Help shape how AI is incorporated into engineering workflows across the organization.

## Required Qualifications

* 10+ years of experience building and shipping production software systems at scale.

* Experience operating as a Staff Software Engineer or in a role with equivalent cross-team technical ownership and influence.

* Deep backend engineering fundamentals and strong system-design capabilities.

* Production experience with Ruby on Rails, **or** production experience with Python/Django or Node.js with the ability to ramp up on Rails quickly.

* Experience owning outcomes across teams and working on ambiguous, cross-team problems.

* Experience making architectural and technical decisions across services and teams.

* Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical decisions to engineers and executives.

* Experience using AI in engineering work and helping others adopt effective AI-assisted development practices.

## Preferred Qualifications

* The original job description does not identify additional qualifications as preferred, pluses, or nice-to-haves.

## Skills & Competencies

* Staff-level technical leadership

* Backend software engineering

* System design and architecture

* Production software development

* Ruby on Rails

* Python/Django or Node.js

* AI-assisted software development

* Cross-team ownership

* Technical decision-making

* Product and architecture judgment

* Cross-functional collaboration

* Communication with technical and executive audiences

* Mentorship and engineering development

* Code review and design feedback

* Process improvement

* Working effectively with ambiguity

* Balancing speed, quality, and maintainability

## Education & Experience

**Education:**

* No specific education requirement is stated.

**Experience:**

* 10+ years building and shipping production systems at scale.

* Deep backend and system-design experience.

* Production experience with Ruby on Rails, or Python/Django or Node.js with willingness to ramp up on Rails.

* Experience with cross-team technical ownership and ambiguous problem solving.

* Experience establishing effective AI-assisted engineering practices.

## Work Arrangement & Schedule

* **Work Arrangement:** Remote-first

* **Location:** Team members are based across the U.S. and Canada.

* **Employment Type:** Not explicitly stated in the provided job description.

* **Schedule:** No specific weekly hours or shift schedule are provided.

* **Team Gatherings:** The company comes together twice a year.

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