Staff Software Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Summary

Solution Engineering is looking for a Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership across cloud-native services and AI-enabled engineering initiatives. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a hands-on engineering environment, enjoys solving complex distributed systems problems, and can guide multiple teams toward secure, scalable, and reliable solutions.
You will help design, build, and operate multi-tenant SaaS services and platform capabilities that create measurable customer and business value. You will partner closely with engineering, product, architecture, security, and field-facing teams to deliver these solutions.
This is a technical leadership role requiring strong engineering depth, sound architectural judgment, mentorship, and the ability to drive execution in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Job Description

What you would do:

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship across multiple engineering teams, fostering a collaborative, innovative, and customer-centric engineering culture.

• Design, build, and operate scalable, secure, multi-tenant, cloud-native SaaS services and platform components.

• Develop microservices, APIs, automation tools, and lifecycle management capabilities for highly available distributed applications and services.

• Build and operate platform capabilities using modern cloud and data technologies such as AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, and Kafka.

• Drive the adoption of AI, agentic coding tools, GenAI capabilities, and advanced automation to accelerate engineering productivity and platform innovation.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, architecture, security, operations, and solution teams to launch new capabilities aligned with Guidewire's AI, cloud, and platform priorities.

• Own technical design, implementation quality, CI/CD pipelines, scalability, availability, observability, service reliability, and data security.

• Champion proactive security, compliance, operational excellence, and reliability improvements across services and platforms.

• Lead complex technical initiatives from concept through delivery, including design reviews, implementation guidance, risk management, and production readiness.

• Support the growth of engineers through coaching, feedback, technical guidance, pair programming, and development opportunities.

What you would need to succeed:

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, ideally with a focus on cloud platforms, data platforms, distributed systems, SaaS, or platform engineering.

• Deep expertise in Java and strong proficiency in designing and building large-scale distributed systems, microservices, and API-driven architectures.

• Strong understanding of distributed systems principles, including consistency, availability, durability, reliability, fault tolerance, scalability, and consensus concepts.

• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, AWS or another public cloud, Docker, infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation, and modern CI/CD practices.

• Experience designing, developing, and operating microservices, cloud-native services, automation frameworks, and production-grade platform components.

• Strong knowledge of algorithms, data structures, performance optimization, concurrency, and system-level tradeoffs.

• Experience building or integrating data platforms, machine learning platforms, or large-scale data processing systems.

• Demonstrated ability to embrace AI, apply AI-assisted engineering practices, and use data-driven insights to improve productivity, innovation, and continuous improvement.

• Excellent technical communication skills, with the ability to explain complex ideas clearly, influence through technical merit, and align stakeholders across teams.

• Proven ability to mentor engineers, lead technical direction, promote engineering excellence, and operate with humility, ownership, and a team-first mindset.

Bonus

• Experience with Large Language Models, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, vector databases, AI agents, agentic workflows, or Model Context Protocol.

• Proficiency in additional languages such as JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, or Go, with a willingness to learn and adapt across technology stacks.

• Experience building SaaS, PaaS, or developer platforms on AWS, GCP, or Azure.

• Experience with TeamCity-based CI/CD pipelines, Argo Workflows, event-driven architecture, or Kafka-based systems on public cloud.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $158,000 - $277,000. Your base pay will depend on your experience, skills, education, training, and location among other factors. All full-time positions or part-time roles working 30 hours or more a week at Guidewire are eligible for benefits that support their health and well-being including health, dental, and vision insurance, paid time off, and a company sponsored retirement plan. In addition, some roles may be eligible for the annual company bonus plan, commissions, and/or long term incentive awards which are contingent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, company and employee performance.

Disability Accommodations and Guidewire's Appeals Process. Guidewire provides accommodations to the hiring process to create a fair opportunity for candidates with disabilities to contend for open positions. Accommodation requests should be directed to Accommodations@guidewire.com. If things do not go as hoped, we invite you to use our appeals process. Guidewire promises to independently review any denied accommodation and any decision not to offer you the position. The appeals process is the same in either case. Within five business days of receiving a notice of denial of an accommodation, or receiving a notice of your non-selection for a vacancy, e-mail Accommodations@guidewire.com to make an appeal. Guidewire will assign a new decision-maker to review the request and/or hiring decision, who will then notify you in writing of a decision within 10 business days.

About Guidewire

Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 540+ insurers in 40 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.

As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record with 1600+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our Marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.

For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com and follow us on Twitter: @Guidewire_PandC.

Guidewire Software, Inc. is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to an inclusive workplace, and believe that a diversity of perspectives, abilities, and cultures is a key to our success. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, marital status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or disability. All offers are contingent upon passing a criminal history and other background checks where it's applicable to the position.