Principal Software Development Engineer, Big Data

About the team

The Agentic AI team at Zillow is at the forefront of transforming the real estate industry by helping millions of people use AI technologies to find their next home. We aim to redefine the home shopping and transaction experience by providing an always-on, multimodal assistant that integrates deep user and home insights, along with sophisticated reasoning.

The Agentic AI team iterates quickly and solves problems at the forefront of AI product development. This role requires an entrepreneurial approach and a driven curiosity about the constantly evolving field of LLMs and AI-powered assistants and co-pilots.

About the role

We’re seeking a Principal SDE (big data) on the Agentic AI team, to lead implementation of multi-agent system infrastructure across Zillow. You will enable the Agentic AI team, and teams across Zillow, to implement innovative agentic experiences, using shared assets and infrastructure, at scale and low latency. You will enable fast interaction and quick scaling to production.  

We are seeking a collaborative, customer-focused, and product-minded engineer, and expert in prototyping and scaled infrastructure to invent collaboratively with multiple stakeholders.

• Apply a growth-mindset and first principles to ambiguous customer problems to rapidly iterate on novel solutions and ways of working.
• Collaborate closely with applied scientists, engineering, design and research to understand, scope, design, prototype, implement and iterate on internal and external facing systems supporting and implementing next generation AI applications.
• Lead efforts to deploy machine learning powered customer applications into production.
• Cultivate connections with other teams for critical dependencies and infrastructure.
• Contribute to carrying and growing our team culture of rapid innovation and creative frugality.
   

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, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, 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, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, 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

• Proven track record shipping business-critical front-end and back-end systems with high availability, low latency, and robust fault-tolerance.
• Deep experience with big data streaming for analytics and logging at massive scale.
• Experience developing platforms optimized for ease of adoption and operations.
• Expert proficiency with scaled backed services (for example, Python & FastAPI) with multiple internal consumers.
• The communication skills to influence, collaborate with, and educate ICs and leadership within our team and across the organization.
• Experience prototyping, developing, and implementing new products and features with new technologies and diverse data.
• Experience making effective decisions and managing ambiguous project work.
• Comfortable prototyping and presenting new and abstract ideas in design review and soliciting feedback.
• Experience with pioneering products and technology
• The tenacity to embrace and tackle challenging problems.
• Practiced technical ability and passion for both owning implementation and contributing technical/thought leadership for a team of world-class scientists engineers.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, or a related field.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience with Agentic applications, generative AI or large language models (LLMs) and related technologies (LangGraph, MCP, knowledge retrieval solutions, for example).
• Expert proficiency with web development (HTML, CSS, and frameworks, for example, React/TS)
• Experience with regulated, private or sensitive data, document understanding, user interest modeling, or reinforcement learning.
• Experience collaborating with science, engineering, design, research and product partners in a team with a startup culture.
• Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph. D.) or equivalent experience in Computer Science

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.