Staff Software Engineer

Introduction:

The Zebra, named a Best Place to Work in Austin four years running, is revolutionizing how connected consumers research and shop for insurance. We intentionally strive to build diverse teams that feel inclusive for all. Our motto is "All Stripes Welcome," and we put that into practice by valuing both traditional and non-conventional backgrounds and perspectives. Our Zeebs are passionate about learning, growing, & working together to tackle exciting problems.

The Zebra is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to expand our rapidly growing team and help us craft a best-in-class insurance-buying experience. As a Staff Software Engineer at The Zebra, you will serve as a technical leader by driving large-scale initiatives to completion while making extraordinarily strong individual code contributions. You will take on challenging, ambiguous problems and find the right solution that supports The Zebra’s growing business.

We’re looking for software engineers who are excited to work in either a backend, frontend, or full-stack role. Our ideal candidate is someone flexible enough to supply to The Zebra product. This could include expanding into new lines of insurance, continuing to build on our comparison experience across existing insurance lines, supporting new and existing functionality, or finding creative solutions to improve scalability and stability through architectural enhancements. You will need to be comfortable working both on experimental, rapid-prototyping projects and building long-term sustainable, scalable solutions.

Location:

While we are open to remote work across the contingent US, we are still in the process of establishing our company to support work in all states! We’ve recently made the shift from an in-office organization to a hybrid model and love the flexibility it allows our employees. We are set up to support employees who want to be fully remote, in-office only, and a mix of the two.

Please note - we will not be supporting work based out of the following states: CA, MA, NY, NJ.

What You'll Do:

• Contribute to the technical design, implementation, and maintenance of The Zebra products using Python, Django, ReactJS, NodeJS and other modern frameworks and technologies

• Lead technical implementation of sophisticated cross-team projects, ensuring smooth launches, appropriate testing efforts, and on-time delivery

• Work closely with other engineers, designers, and engineering leadership to rapidly build, iterate, test, and deploy new features and products and maintain a high-quality codebase

• Identify high-impact opportunities for improvement and scaling of existing products and tools to support our growth

• Research and propose new tools and technologies

• Act as a technical leader across multiple teams and grow other engineers by setting a strong example and providing coaching and mentorship

What We're Looking For:

As we evaluate candidates across all roles, we look for folks who have a strong sense of ownership, phenomenal communication and collaboration skills, and a dedication to continuous improvement.

• 10+ years of professional programming experience

• Know at least one of Python, Javascript, Ruby, Java, C++, C#, Go at an expert level

• Strong experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases

• Comfort with Linux/Unix command line

• Proven experience architecting and contributing to performant web applications at scale, and a desire to continue learning and growing as a technical leader

• Experience leading large engineering efforts while making meaningful individual contributions, and knowing where to draw the line between good and flawless in order to deliver business value successfully

• A keen eye for good software design, empathy for the end-user, and eagerness to take ownership of work by collaborating with collaborators and other engineers through all stages of the product development lifecycle

• A willingness to offer opinions and question existing assumptions

• A passion for problem-solving with strong analytical capabilities

• A desire to adhere to and advocate for software engineering standard methodologies and processes

Experience that will Impress the Heck Out of Us:

• Experience with Python, Django, AWS, Javascript, React, microservice architectures, web API design, and/or other modern frontend or backend web frameworks

• Experience working in consumer-facing web products and/or using A/B testing and data to drive product decisions

• Fluency in working with cloud services

• Experience with Wagtail, WordPress, or other CMS system

• Demonstrated experience in the insurance industry

Benefits & Perks:

Inclusive and healthy environments are crafted intentionally. All of our employees can join and participate in (or create your own!) Employee Resource Groups. Here are some other wonderful perks of working here:

• Competitive Compensation & Stock Option Offering

• Health, Dental, Vision & Disability Coverages

• HSA offering + employer contribution

• 401k plan + employer match

• Unlimited PTO (paid time off)+ the flexibility to enjoy it

• Paid Parental Leave Program

• Wellness perk ($100/month)

• Pet Adoption Reimbursement ($300/year)

• Learning & Development Opportunities

• Join a team that truly lives their values (outside of the office. Cliche, we know… but we really mean it)

About The Zebra:

The Zebra is the nation’s leading, independent insurance comparison site. With our dynamic, real-time quote comparison tool, consumers can identify insurance companies with the coverage, service level, and pricing to suit their unique needs. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, The Zebra has sought to bring transparency and simplicity to insurance shopping since 2012 -- it's “insurance in black and white.”

We've garnered attention and investment of some of the nation’s top venture capitalists. Check out all of our awards & recognition!

Our core mantra is "All Stripes Welcome." As part of our dedication to maintaining an inclusive and diverse workforce, we provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform core job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.