Staff Software Engineer, Discovery

Are you looking for more than just a job? At Chewy, you'll find yourself on a career path with other outstanding humans, like yourself. Join a culture that values all your contributions, your outstanding identity, and the career objectives you've established. We want to give you the opportunity to grow, earn competitive pay, and be happy. Sounds simple, but we love it!
Our Opportunity:
Chewy is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join an established technology team within our Discovery organization in Bellevue, WA. At Chewy, it is our mission to be the most trusted and convenient destination for pet parents (and partners) everywhere. As part of the Search and Listings team, you will lead the design and implementation of next generation chatbot and search systems that power intelligent, personalized, and delightful customer experiences at Chewy. You will work closely with multi-functional partners in Data Science, Cloud Engineering, and Product to architect and implement scalable systems that leverage large language models, conversational AI, and vector search. You'll be a technical leader guiding end-to-end delivery - from design and prototyping to producing services and deploying them on cloud-based infrastructure.
What You'll Do:

• Lead the design, implementation, and delivery of large-scale, distributed software systems that enable customer insights and personalization in search.
• Lead the design and development of large-scale chatbot and conversational AI services used by millions of customers.
• Collaborate with Principal Engineers to define technical vision and architecture for key Discovery systems, ensuring scalability, performance, and maintainability.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business objectives into robust, scalable engineering solutions.
• Mentor and guide engineers across multiple levels, encouraging technical growth and high-quality delivery.
• Drive initiatives that improve developer efficiency, system observability, and operational excellence.

What You'll Need:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 2+ years in a Staff- or Principal-level technical leadership role.
• Proven success designing and delivering high-performance, distributed systems or large-scale backend services.
• Strong proficiency in one or more modern programming languages (e.g., Java, Kotlin, Python).
• Proficiency in Terraform and Jenkins
• Deep understanding of system design, architecture patterns, and cloud-based deployment (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Strong understanding of LLM architectures, embeddings, and vector databases (e.g., Qdrant, Pinecone, Milvus, FAISS).
• Demonstrated ability to drive cross-team technical initiatives and influence architectural decisions.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to partner effectively across engineering, product, and data science teams.

Bonus:

• Experience in e-commerce or retail.
• Exposure to product-facing integration of ML features.
• Experience with modern search systems and Vector Search.
• Contributions to open-source LLM or chatbot frameworks.
• Prior experience mentoring and growing engineers into more senior technical roles.
• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science or related field.

#LI- SA2
The specific salary offered to a candidate may be influenced by a variety of factors including but not limited to the candidate's relevant experience, education, and work location. In addition, this position is eligible for 401k and a new hire and annual equity grant.
We offer different types of insurance and benefits, such as medical/Rx, vision, dental, life, disability, hospital indemnity, critical illness, and accident. We offer parental leave, family services benefits, backup dependent care, flexible spending accounts, telemedicine, pet adoption reimbursement, employee assistance program, and many discounts including 10% off pet insurance and 20% off at Chewy.com.
Exempt salary team members have unlimited PTO, subject to manager approval. Team members will receive six paid holidays per year. Team members may be eligible for paid sick and family leave in compliance with applicable state and local regulations.
Base Salary Range
$169,500-$271,500 USD
Chewy is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, citizenship, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, veteran status, as well as any other legally-protected characteristic. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law, and you need an accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements, or if you need a religious accommodation, please contact [email protected].
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