Staff Software Engineer, Programmatic Ads at Pinterest

**Who this is for** An experienced backend software engineer with a background in programmatic advertising and high-scale distributed systems, interested in opt

Work type: hybrid

Location: Seattle, WA, US

Salary: $208,454 – $364,795/yr

Type: Full-time

Summary

**Who this is for** An experienced backend software engineer with a background in programmatic advertising and high-scale distributed systems, interested in optimizing ad performance through technical innovation. **Key highlights** You will lead integrations with external demand partners, drive the software development lifecycle for programmatic ad products, and actively utilize AI tools to enhance system design and engineering team efficiency. **You might be a good fit if you...** - Possess 8+ years of experience with backend development in large-scale, distributed environments. - Have specific domain knowledge in ad serving, DSPs, SSPs, or OpenRTB protocols. - Are comfortable using data and A/B testing to guide product iterations and technical decision-making. - Have a demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and lead complex technical projects from ideation to release.

Job Description

About Pinterest:

Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.

Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the [flexibility](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/our-life/pinflex/) to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible.

At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.

Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process [here](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/our-philosophy-on-ai-in-hiring/).

The Programmatic Ads team integrates with external demand partners (DSPs, SSPs, etc) through OpenRTB. We drive performance optimization (latency, conversion, engagement, fill rate, etc) for our programmatic ad products. We are also responsible for building internal tools to better enable cross-functional teams.

What you’ll do:

• Lead one or two partner integrations, and work closely with product managers, data scientists, other cross-functional teams, and external partners to understand business requirements and translate them into technical solutions.

• Use AI to accelerate team execution, system design, and decision-making, applying sound judgment to validate outputs and ensure correctness and quality.

• Independently drive the full software development lifecycle, including ideation, technical design, prototyping, development, and release.

• Independently drive problem-solving and product iterations by utilizing A/B testing.

• Establish and maintain a high standard for technical excellence and production quality.

• Mentor junior engineers on the team and provide design and coding feedback.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, a related field or equivalent experience

• 8+ years of hands-on backend software engineering experience in large-scale distributed systems.

• Passion for working on ad products work.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder alignment skills.

• Strong problem-solving skills and analytical mindset, with the ability to use data to guide decisions

• Experience with ad serving platform, ad exchange, supply-side platform, or demand-side platform.

• Demonstrated ability to use AI to accelerate team execution, system design, and decision-making, paired with sound judgment in validating outputs, maintaining quality, and taking ownership of final outcomes.

• Strong track record of critical evaluation and verification of AI-assisted work (e.g., testing, source-checking, data validation, peer review).

• High integrity and ownership: you protect sensitive data, avoid over-reliance on AI, and remain accountable for final decisions and deliverables.

• Demonstrated ability to transform a team’s engineering workflow using AI—from pilot to broad adoption—through tooling, enablement, and change leadership, with clear metrics (cycle time, defect rate, on-call load, incident rate).

• We let the type of work you do guide the collaboration style. That means we're not always working in an office, but we continue to gather for key moments of collaboration and connection.

• This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration twice a month, therefore needs to be in a commutable distance from the Seattle office.

• This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our[ PinFlex](https://www.pinterestcareers.com/pinflex/) page to learn more about our working model.

#LI-AG8

At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.

Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here.

US based applicants only
$208,454—$364,795 USD

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