{"id":66556,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cognitiv-staff-software-engineer-backend","title":"Staff Software Engineer, Backend","company":{"id":21658,"name":"Cognitiv","domain":"cognitiv.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/cognitiv","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":63,"computed_at":"2026-10-16T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"staff","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Bellevue, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":200000,"max":270000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":270000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"Azure","optional":false},{"name":"GCP","optional":false},{"name":"Java","optional":false},{"name":"Kotlin","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":true},{"name":"ClickHouse","optional":true},{"name":"Datadog","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-06-26T18:17:45Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-02","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T00:10:58Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":112,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":[],"days_open":111},"description":"Are you ready to revolutionize the advertising industry? \nAt Cognitiv, we are not just another AdTech company-we are industry trailblazers redefining media buying with our Deep Learning Advertising Platform. Since 2015, we have harnessed the power of cutting-edge deep learning technology and data science to transform how brands connect with their customers. Our mission? To bring intelligence to advertising and deliver unparalleled precision, relevance, and impact at scale. \nWith our innovative platform, advertisers enjoy unprecedented flexibility-whether it is activating Dynamic Deals through their preferred DSP, leveraging our managed service DSP, or utilizing our industry-first ContextGPT product. As a part of Cognitiv, you will be at the forefront of AI-driven advertising solutions, driving change and achieving remarkable growth in a rapidly evolving industry.\nNow, we’re growing!\nThe Role\nWe're hiring a Staff Software Engineer (Backend) to lead the technical direction of the systems powering our next-generation, pixel-less ad targeting platform. You'll architect, design, and evolve the backend services that enable ContextGPT to scale across customers, partners, and the broader ad-tech ecosystem while ensuring long-term reliability, performance, and maintainability.\nThis role is accountable for driving the technical strategy behind ContextGPT integrations, enabling scalable growth through new partners, supply sources, and platform capabilities. You'll work across multiple engineering teams, influence architectural decisions, and partner closely with Product, Infrastructure, and external stakeholders to deliver durable solutions that accelerate business growth.\nThis position will be located in Bellevue with a hybrid work schedule of 3 days in office (Mon/Tue/Wed) and 2 days remote optional (Thursday/Friday).\nWhat You’ll Do\nLead the architecture, design, and evolution of backend services and APIs in .NET Core on AWS that power ContextGPT across the ad-tech ecosystem\nDrive the technical strategy for integrating new data centers, supply partners, and third-party platforms while ensuring scalable, resilient system design\nLead complex, cross-team engineering initiatives that improve platform scalability, reliability, and operational excellence\nIdentify architectural bottlenecks and proactively evolve systems to support long-term product and business growth\nPartner with Product, Infrastructure, and Engineering leadership to shape technical roadmaps, evaluate tradeoffs, and prioritize investments\nEstablish engineering best practices around system design, observability, testing, deployment, and operational readiness\nMentor senior engineers through design reviews, technical guidance, and architectural leadership\nImprove developer productivity by driving platform improvements, reusable components, and engineering standards\nServe as a technical leader during production incidents, driving root cause analysis and long-term preventative improvements\nWho you are:\nOwnership, Drive & Agency: You identify systemic problems, create solutions without waiting for direction, and drive cross-functional execution through influence rather than authority, and connect technical decisions to measurable business outcomes.\n Technical leader: Deep expertise in system design, leveraging NET Core (or another strongly typed language such as Java or Kotlin) and AWS (preferred) or Azure/GCP.\nArchitectural thinker: Comfortable making long-term architectural decisions that balance scalability, performance, maintainability, and business objectives across multiple systems.\nCross-functional collaborator: Able to partner effectively with Product, Infrastructure, Engineering leaders, and external partners while aligning multiple stakeholders around technical direction.\nMentor & multiplier: Passionate about growing engineers through coaching, design reviews, and establishing engineering best practices that elevate the entire organization.\nOperational excellence: Strong focus on reliability, observability, testing, automation, and long-term system health.\nResilient & adaptable: Comfortable leading through ambiguity, balancing competing priorities, and making thoughtful technical tradeoffs.\nIn-person collaborator: Excited to work onsite MTW in Bellevue, WA.\n\nBonus Points If You Have:\nExperience designing large-scale distributed systems serving high-throughput production workloads\nDeep experience building platform services or developer infrastructure used across multiple engineering teams\nAdTech or programmatic advertising experience\nExperience leading major partner integrations or platform expansion initiatives\nStartup or high-growth company experience\nExpertise with CI/CD, infrastructure automation, and engineering productivity tooling\nHands-on experience with .NET Core, AWS, RDS, ClickHouse, Datadog, or similar technologies\nWhat Success Looks Like in Your First 30/60/90 Days:\nWhat success looks like in your first 30 days\nDevelop a deep understanding of ContextGPT, platform architecture, key integrations, and the broader ad-tech ecosystem\nBuild strong relationships with engineering leadership, product partners, and external stakeholders\nIdentify architectural risks, scalability constraints, and opportunities for long-term platform improvements\nContribute technical leadership during design discussions and architecture reviews\nWhat success looks like in your first 60 days\nLead the design of a significant integration or platform initiative supporting ContextGPT growth\nInfluence architectural decisions across multiple services and engineering teams\nDeliver measurable improvements to scalability, reliability, or developer productivity\nEstablish credibility as a trusted technical leader and advisor\nWhat success looks like in your first 90 days\nLead a complex engineering initiative spanning multiple systems or teams that delivers measurable business impact\nDrive architectural improvements that enable future ContextGPT growth, new partnerships, or expanded inventory access\nEstablish engineering standards, design patterns, or platform capabilities adopted by other teams\nBe recognized as a trusted technical leader who influences engineering direction beyond your immediate team\nSalary: $200,000 - $270,000 USD Base Salary + Equity\nWhat We Offer\nCompensation is based on experience, skills, and other factors. Base salary is just one part of your total rewards at Cognitiv-you’ll also receive equity and a comprehensive benefits package.\nHighlights include:\nMedical, Dental and Vision plan for US employees & Extended Health Benefits for Canadian employees\n12 weeks paid parental leave + 4 weeks WFH\nUnlimited PTO + Work-From-Anywhere August\nCareer development with clear advancement paths\nEquity for all employees\nHybrid work model & daily team lunch\nHealth & wellness stipend + cell phone reimbursement\n401(k) & RRSP with employer match\nParking (CA, WA, Vancouver offices) & pre-tax commuter benefits\nEmployee Assistance Program\nComprehensive onboarding (Cognitiv University)\n…and more!\nWhat You’ll Find at Cognitiv\nFestiv - We make work fun with cross-team games, events, and creative team bonding.\nResponsiv - You’ll be close to clients and leadership, influencing real outcomes.\nInclusiv - Diversity and individuality are celebrated across all levels.\nInventiv - We reward curiosity and embrace bold ideas.\nTransformativ - We support your growth with training, mentorship, and flexibility.\nCollaborativ - We operate across coasts, connected by purpose and teamwork.\nCognitiv is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all.\nNote on AI Use: Cognitiv may use AI technology to assist with certain administrative aspects of the hiring process, such as note-taking, interview documentation, and reporting. However, every resume and application is reviewed directly by our recruiting team. 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