Sr Staff Software Engineer

Company Description

It all started in sunny San Diego, California in 2004 when a visionary engineer, Fred Luddy, saw the potential to transform how we work. Fast forward to today — ServiceNow stands as a global market leader, bringing innovative AI-enhanced technology to over 8,100 customers, including 85% of the Fortune 500®. Our intelligent cloud-based platform seamlessly connects people, systems, and processes to empower organizations to find smarter, faster, and better ways to work. But this is just the beginning of our journey. Join us as we pursue our purpose to make the world work better for everyone.

Job Description

We're seeking a senior technical leader to shape the future of ServiceNow's developer experience. You'll work on the ServiceNow IDE—a web-based VSCode fork that serves as the foundation for our Build Agent, an agentic AI product that empowers and enhances developer productivity.

This is a full-stack role (Java backend, TypeScript frontend) where you'll architect and build core features that directly impact how thousands of developers build on the ServiceNow platform. You'll own significant technical initiatives end-to-end, set engineering standards for the team, and work cross-functionally with design, product, and AI teams to define what modern AI-assisted development looks like.

You'll be both a hands-on engineer diving deep into complex technical challenges and a strategic leader who keeps the bigger picture in focus—driving outcomes, not just deliverables. This role requires someone who leads by example, takes ownership beyond their immediate scope, and is energized by building developer tools that multiply the impact of others across the platform.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with a track record of delivering high-quality products.  

Leadership & Accountability

• Proven experience leading technical teams (5+ members) or in a formal management capacity
• Demonstrated track record of owning outcomes end-to-end, not just deliverables
• Natural sense of accountability and responsibility for project success beyond individual contributions

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Strategic Vision

• Extensive experience partnering with design, product, and business stakeholders
• Strong communication skills with ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences
• Strategic mindset with understanding of how individual work connects to broader business objectives
• Takes ownership of shaping and influencing the bigger picture, not just executing within it

Technical Excellence & Cultural Leadership

• Commitment to code quality, engineering best practices, and technical hygiene as core responsibilities
• Track record of establishing and maintaining high standards for team deliverables
• Proactive "see it, own it" mentality—willing to address gaps, fix issues, and improve processes regardless of whether it's "your job"
• Leads by example in creating and maintaining excellent engineering culture
• No task too small if it needs doing; willing to roll up sleeves when the team needs it

TypeScript Expertise

• Deep understanding of TypeScript's type system, generics, and advanced typing patterns
• Extensive experience debugging and resolving compiler errors across large TypeScript codebases
• Expert knowledge of type declarations and modules: ambient .d.ts files, module augmentation, ESM vs CommonJS
• Proficiency with TypeScript tooling and configuration: tsconfig.json, tsc, ts-node, linting (eslint, typescript-eslint), and formatting (prettier)
• Strong understanding of cross-environment concerns: DOM typings, Node.js typings, event handling, and runtime compatibility
• Experience with build and integration tools: bundlers (esbuild, vite, webpack), and type-safe APIs/contracts (zod, io-ts)

JavaScript & Runtime Fundamentals

• Deep understanding of AST structure, node types, and traversal patterns
• Proficiency with source maps and debugging transformed code
• Expert knowledge of the JavaScript event loop, microtasks vs macrotasks, and asynchronous behavior
• Experience with Web Workers, Service Workers, and Shared Workers
• Strong grasp of ES Modules, bundlers (Webpack, Rollup, Vite), and tree-shaking optimization
• Understanding of JSON, structured cloning, and serialization techniques
• Knowledge of feature detection and polyfilling strategies

Node.js Proficiency

• Expertise with core APIs: fs, path, http, events, stream, buffer, crypto
• Deep understanding of async patterns: event loop