Staff DSP Software Engineer

Introduction to Demandbase: 

Demandbase is the leading account-based GTM platform for B2B enterprises to identify and target the right customers, at the right time, with the right message. With a unified view of intent data, AI-powered insights, and prescriptive actions, go-to-market teams can seamlessly align and execute with confidence. Thousands of businesses depend on Demandbase to maximize revenue, minimize waste, and consolidate their data and technology stacks - all in one platform.

As a company, we’re as committed to growing careers as we are to building world-class technology. We invest heavily in people, our culture, and the community around us. We have offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and India, as well as a team in the UK, and allow employees to work remotely. We have also been continuously recognized as one of the best places to work in the San Francisco Bay Area including, “Best Workplaces for Millennials” and “Best Workplaces for Parents”!

We're committed to attracting, developing, retaining, and promoting a diverse workforce. By ensuring that every Demandbase employee is able to bring a diversity of talents to work, we're increasingly capable of living out our mission to transform how B2B goes to market. We encourage people from historically underrepresented backgrounds and all walks of life to apply. Come grow with us at De

About the Role:

As a Senior/Staff Software Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in our engineering team, leveraging your breadth of impact to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams while also demonstrating depth of knowledge in your technical domain, particularly within our high-performance Go-based systems. You will drive projects, influence system designs for our real-time bidding platform, and constantly evaluate emerging technologies to enhance our product offerings. This role requires a keen understanding of the 'why' behind our initiatives, along with the ability to proactively identify and execute on new projects or tasks that align with team goals, especially in the context of a complex, existing codebase where rapid learning and contribution are key.

This position is based in San Francisco, CA. Remote is considered for highly qualified candidates and is on a case-by-case basis.

The base compensation range for this position for candidates in the SF Bay Area is: $165,000 - $247,000. For all other locations, the base compensation range is based on the primary work location of the candidate as our ranges are location specific. Actual compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skillset, years of experience, and depth of experience.

The Team you’ll be joining:

The advertising team at Demandbase is responsible for serving all digital marketing initiatives of our customers. We run our own DSP that handles 1 million Queries per second and the data that comes with that. Our core bidding engine, the "bidder," is a critical, high-performance system written in Go. We rely heavily on technologies like Go, Kafka, Kubernetes, and BigQuery across our stack. An ideal candidate will be comfortable diving deep into our Go codebase and working with related data and infrastructure components.

Key Responsibilities:

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with teams across the organization (product, data science, other engineering teams) to understand their needs, offer technical expertise, and drive collaboration on shared projects related to the bidding platform.
• Depth of Knowledge: Possess and rapidly develop a deep understanding of our current technology stack, particularly the Go-based "bidder" system, its strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Stay abreast of industry trends in AdTech and high-performance computing.
• Influencing System Designs: Provide valuable insights and recommendations for system design improvements within the RTB platform, drawing upon your technical expertise in Go, distributed systems, and real-time processing.
• Understanding the 'Why': Develop a comprehensive understanding of the underlying objectives and business rationale behind our bidding strategies, feature requests, and system architecture.
• Proactive Initiative: Take ownership of identifying opportunities for new projects or tasks that align with team objectives. Proactively seek out areas for improvement within existing systems and processes, proposing and implementing solutions to enhance efficiency, performance, and reliability.
• Core Development: Design, develop, test, deploy, maintain, and improve software for our high-performance, Go-based real-time bidding system.
• Code Excellence: Write clean, efficient, well-tested, and maintainable Go code, following best practices and contributing to a culture of high-quality engineering.
• Troubleshooting & Debugging: Diagnose and resolve complex issues in a distributed, real-time environment, including performance bottlenecks and data integrity.
• Tooling & Automation: Develop and enhance testing tools and scripts to ensure system reliability and facilitate efficient development workflows.
• Mentorship (Staff Level): Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical strategy and architecture discussions.

What We’re Looking For:

• 5-7 years (Senior) / 8-10+ years (Staff) of experience as a Software Engineer.
• Strong proficiency in Go (Golang) and experience building concurrent, high-performance, and scalable backend server components.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and become productive in large, complex existing codebases.
• Solid understanding of software engineering principles, data structures, algorithms, and design patterns.
• Experience with distributed systems, microservices architecture, and APIs (RESTful, gRPC).
• Experience working with large datasets and data processing pipelines (experience with systems like BigQuery is a plus).
• Proficiency in debugging, performance optimization, and system scaling.
• Experience with testing frameworks and methodologies (unit, integration, end-to-end).
• Familiarity with database technologies (SQL and/or NoSQL).
• Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git).
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Even Better If You Have:

• Experience in the advertising or marketing technology industry (e.g., RTB, DSPs, SSPs).
• Experience with Kafka, Aerospike, or similar distributed data stores/messaging systems.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (GCP, AWS) and their services (e.g., GCS, S3, DataProc).
• Knowledge of containerization and orchestration technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Bash, Python).
• Experience with monitoring and observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana).

Why Join Us?

At the core of this role is an opportunity to shape and enhance a high-impact platform used by leading clients. With a focus on innovative solutions, collaborative leadership, and technical excellence, you’ll play a pivotal role in driving our mission forward.

Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, well-being, and financial security. Our employees enjoy up to 100% paid premiums for Medical and Vision coverage, ensuring access to top-tier care for you and your loved ones. In addition, we provide a range of mental wellness resources, including access to Modern Health, to help support your emotional well-being. We believe in a healthy work-life harmony, which is why we offer a flexible PTO policy, 15 paid holidays in 2025—including a three-day break around July 4th and a full week off for Thanksgiving—and No Internal Meetings Fridays to give you uninterrupted time to focus on what matters most. For your financial future, we offer a competitive 401(k) plan, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and other valuable benefits to ensure your financial peace of mind.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Demandbase:

At Demandbase, we believe in creating a workplace culture that values and celebrates diversity in all its forms. We recognize that everyone brings unique experiences, perspectives, and identities to the table, and we are committed to building a community where everyone feels valued, respected, and supported. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated, and we strive to ensure that every individual has an equal opportunity to succeed and grow, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, race, ethnicity, background, marital status, genetic information, education level, veteran status, national origin, or any other protected status. We do not automatically disqualify applicants with criminal records and will consider each applicant on a case-by-case basis.

We recognize that not all candidates will have every skill or qualification listed in this job description. If you feel you have the level of experience to be successful in the role, we encourage you to apply!

We acknowledge that true diversity and inclusion requires ongoing effort, and we are committed to doing the work required to make our workplace a safe and equitable space for all. Join us in building a community where we can learn from each other, celebrate our differences, and work together.

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