Staff Software Engineer

Arkose Labs is on a mission to create an online environment where all consumers are protected from spam and abuse. As a Fast Company 2025 Best Workplace for Innovators, we provide a proactive fraud deterrence platform, Arkose Titan, designed to neutralize modern attacks powered by Agentic AI and LLMs. By combining proprietary intelligence with dynamic friction, we undermine attacker ROI to protect global giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Roblox. Headquartered in San Mateo, CA, we maintain a global presence across APAC, Central and South America, and EMEA. About the Role We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join our Client Integrations team and provide technical leadership with impact across multiple teams within Arkose Labs. You'll drive complex technical initiatives, influence engineering culture, and shape technical direction whilst mentoring engineers at all levels. Your focus will be on leading architectural decisions for our client-side JavaScript systems and backend services, ensuring they're performant and scalable across a wide range of browsers and devices while handling traffic from some of the internet's largest companies. As a Staff Engineer, you'll contribute to organisation-wide technical strategy, drive cost optimisation initiatives with measurable business impact, and represent engineering perspectives in product and business strategy discussions. Join us to defend against fraud and abuse by bankrupting the business model of fraud! What you’ll be doing Lead architecture and technical strategy for our client-side JavaScript and backend services, driving design decisions that influence multiple engineering teams and architecting cutting-edge fingerprinting methods. Drive cost optimisation initiatives with measurable business impact while defining and championing engineering standards and best practices within the team Design, test, and implement features for our client-side JavaScript embedded into hundreds of millions of requests per day, ensuring performance and scalability across diverse environments Facilitate cross-functional collaboration by leading technical discussions across multiple teams, representing engineering perspectives in product and business strategy discussions, and building consensus on technical initiatives Influence technical direction through compelling communication with executive leadership and conducting strategic code reviews that consider broader organisational impacts Lead complex technical initiatives from conception through delivery, providing strategic input to quarterly planning processes and setting technical roadmaps that align with business objectives Manage stakeholder relationships across multiple teams, assess technical risks for complex initiatives, and balance competing priorities while delivering projects with broader organisational impact Provide technical mentorship and career guidance to engineers across all levels (P1-P3), taking shared responsibility for team outcomes and actively supporting colleagues Lead hiring and team development initiatives, help define team composition, and develop training programs that systematically capture and transfer engineering knowledge Support complex customer integrations and lead technical discussions with internal and external stakeholders while contributing to engineering culture and organisational learning initiatives Need to have 7+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership across multiple teams and the ability to influence technical strategy and architectural decisions Strong proficiency with JavaScript and backend languages (we use Go), including performance optimisation, cross-browser compatibility, DOM manipulation, Web APIs, modern frontend frameworks, and testing methodologies with automation strategies Cloud platform expertise with AWS and Azure, including proven ability to lead cost optimisation initiatives with measurable business impact and experience with CDNs, edge functions, and workers Database and scaling experience designing and scaling distributed databases, caching solutions, and data stores at enterprise scale, with optimisation techniques across multiple systems Cross-functional leadership skills with proven ability to lead technical discussions across multiple engineering teams, build consensus on technical initiatives, and represent engineering perspectives in business strategy discussions Executive communication and influence demonstrated through compelling communication with leadership, managing stakeholder relationships across teams, and assessing technical risks for complex initiatives Strategic planning and execution experience leading complex technical initiatives from conception through delivery, providing strategic input to quarterly planning processes, and setting technical roadmaps aligned with business objectives Technical mentorship and leadership experience with a proven track record of providing guidance to engineers across all levels (P1-P3), leading hiring initiatives, and developing training programs with knowledge-sharing frameworks Organisational impact experience balancing multiple competing priorities, delivering projects with broader organisational impact, and contributing to engineering culture and learning initiatives Operational readiness comfortable participating in an equitable team on-call roster to support customers 24x7 while taking shared responsibility for team outcomes Nice to have Extensive experience with DynamoDB, ScyllaDB, Redis, and Memcached at scale Experience leading organisation-wide technical initiatives and standards Extensive knowledge of web accessibility standards and compliance requirements, including WCAG Experience working with Kubernetes deployments and container orchestration with a cost optimisation focus Experience designing and optimising CI/CD pipelines with measurable impact across multiple systems Experience with monitoring, observability, and performance analysis tools at enterprise scale Deep understanding of security best practices for client-side applications, with the ability to set organisation-wide standards Experience establishing technical vision and long-term architecture strategy aligned with business objectives Why Arkose Labs? At Arkose Labs, our technology-driven approach enables us to make a substantial impact in the industry, supported by a robust customer base consisting of global enterprise giants such as Microsoft, Roblox, and more. We’re not just a company; we’re a collaborative ecosystem where you will actively partner with these influential brands, tackling the most demanding technical challenges to safeguard hundreds of millions of users across the globe. Why do top tech professionals choose Arkose Labs? Cutting-Edge Technology: Our high-efficacy solutions, backed by solid warranties, attract leading, global enterprise clients. Innovation and Excellence: We foster a culture that emphasizes technological innovation and the pursuit of excellence, ensuring a balanced and thriving work environment. Experienced Leadership: Guided by seasoned executives with deep tech expertise and a history of successful growth and equity events. Ideal Size: We’re structured to be agile and adaptable, large enough to provide stability, yet small enough to value your voice and ideas. Join us in shaping the future of technology. At Arkose Labs, you’re not just an employee; you’re part of a visionary team driving global change The most recognizable brands in the world select Arkose Labs, including Roblox, Microsoft, Adobe, Expedia, Snapchat, and Zilch. We value your unique contributions, perspectives, and experiences. Be part of a diverse and high-performing environment that prioritizes collaboration, excellence, and inclusion. We hire the best, focus on their professional development, and offer support for continuing education. We value: People: first and foremost they are our most valuable resource. Our people are independent thinkers who make data driven decisions and take ownership and accountability in all the things they do. Team Work. We demonstrate respect, trust, integrity, and communicate openly with a positive can do attitude and constructively challenge one another Customer Focus. We empathize with our customers and obsess about solving their problems Execution with precision, professionalism and urgency Security. It’s the lens through which we implement our processes, procedures, and programs Benefits: Competitive salary + Equity Flexible hardware options (e.g. Mac, Linux) Flexible working hours to support personal well-being and mental health EAP (Employee Assistance Program) Arkose Labs is an Equal Opportunity Employer that makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, military or veteran status, citizenship, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. In addition, Arkose Labs will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.