Staff Software Engineer, Ads Infrastructure

Staff Software Engineer, Ads Infrastructure

📍 San Francisco, CA | Remote (U.S.)

About Discord

With over 200 million users each month, Discord is at the heart of gaming communities worldwide. Over 90% of our users play games, collectively spending 1.5 billion hours on thousands of unique titles every month. As we expand our platform, we are focused on making it easier for people to connect, hang out, and have fun—before, during, and after their gaming experiences.

About the Role

The Ads Delivery team is responsible for building the infrastructure that powers Discord’s advertising platform. This team plays a crucial role in shaping Discord’s next major revenue stream by optimizing ad delivery and maximizing efficiency through auction-based marketplaces.

As a Staff Software Engineer on this team, you will design and maintain scalable systems that process high-volume data, optimize ad placement, and ensure seamless ad experiences for millions of users. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to solve complex technical challenges, enhance our real-time infrastructure, and contribute to the evolution of our ad-serving platform.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable infrastructure for ad delivery, ensuring an optimal user experience while meeting advertiser goals.
• Develop optimization models for ad ranking, budget pacing, and frequency capping, leveraging mathematical and distributed system expertise.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Data Platform, Serving Infrastructure, and Product, to develop high-performance ad solutions.
• Build and enhance an auction-based ad marketplace, ensuring efficient ad placements through market dynamics.
• Utilize large-scale datasets to validate ad-serving algorithms and optimize ad performance.
• Lead technical initiatives, guiding junior engineers and fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years of experience in backend software engineering, with expertise in Python, Rust, or Elixir.
• Strong experience in large-scale system design, including database architecture, data caching, and distributed computing.
• Proficiency in cloud environments and observability tools like Datadog.
• 2+ years of technical leadership experience, leading teams or projects in a high-scale environment.
• Hands-on experience with event streaming platforms (Kafka, PubSub).
• A data-driven approach, with a strong ability to validate infrastructure and algorithms.
• Empathy for users, with a passion for continuous improvement based on feedback.

Why Join Discord?

• Be at the forefront of Discord’s ads business, shaping a key revenue stream.
• Work on high-impact, large-scale distributed systems that serve millions of users.
• Join a gaming-first company that values connection, creativity, and fun.

💰 Compensation: $223,000 - $245,000 (Base Salary) + Equity + Benefits

🚀 Ready to make an impact? Apply now and help us shape the future of gaming!