Senior Principal Software Development Engineer

About the team

Are you looking for an opportunity to help millions of customers navigate one of the biggest life decisions they'll ever make? Zillow's mission is to give people the power to unlock life's next chapter. We work with Designers, Engineers, Data Scientists, and Researchers to solve complex engineering problems and build products that transform the real estate industry.

Finding your dream home is only the first step in the home-buying process! On the Zillow Mortgages team, we are building products to educate and empower people throughout the home financing process. Getting a mortgage is the most time consuming and arduous part of buying a home - we believe we can radically improve the experience for homebuyers. Our vision is to make behind-the-scenes complexity of mortgages look simple and bring efficient experiences to consumers’ fingertips while prioritizing a scalable operational infrastructure, and significant business impact. And, we need your help to do it!

About the role

As a Senior Principal Engineer at Zillow, you will play a pivotal role at the intersection of technical strategy and leadership. This role combines deep technical expertise with strategic insight, requiring you to drive architectural coherence across teams and foster alignment with our broader business objectives. You will set long-term technical visions, shifting architectural momentum when necessary, and guiding teams toward shared, impactful outcomes. Your work will influence and shape both software architecture and organizational structure, reflecting the understanding that at this senior level, technical strategy and people leadership are inseparable concerns.

You'll navigate ambiguity to define clear paths forward, leveraging your judgment and deep experience to create elegant solutions that scale effectively. This role demands exceptional communication skills – you'll be responsible for articulating complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences, ranging from engineers and product teams to senior executives, ensuring alignment and coherence across all stakeholders.

We are seeking someone curious and knowledgeable about AI, who understands its evolving impact on technology and business. Whether you're deeply hands-on with cutting-edge AI tools or thoughtfully engaged and knowledgeable enough to support strategic architectural coherence, your ability to navigate and integrate AI into broader technical strategies is critical.

This role calls for a close partnership with the VP of Engineering, emphasizing trust, philosophical alignment, mutual understanding, and complementary working styles. Success in this position hinges on a deeply collaborative relationship, built on mutual confidence, alignment, and clear, influential communication. You will mentor senior staff, shape technical direction through influence rather than direct authority, and be proactive in defining and breaking down complex, novel problems that span multiple teams and organizational boundaries.

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 $220,200.00 - $351,800.00 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 technical leader who has the ability to set an inspiring vision and strategy, collaborate with partners, mentor other technical leaders, and improve the architecture and technical excellence of an organization.

• 10+ years of experience building and shipping production grade software or services

• Strong understanding of software design patterns and principles

• Experience setting architecture vision and strategy for an organization

• Experience in developing highly available services at internet scale

• Ability to collaborate across teams and leaders, indirectly influence others in a positive way, and navigate difficult conversations and decisions

• Strong communication skills to interact with audiences that include customers, peers and executive leadership

• Have experience and passion for mentoring and guiding engineers, helping develop and grow technical leaders

• Inspiring leader who can create and communicate a vision or plan

• A strategic thinker with a customer focus and product understanding.

• Someone who can help make tough trade-off decisions with the long term view of our customers in mind.

• 5+ years of experience building distributed services

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.