Software Engineer, Data Delivery San Ramon, CA

Overview

Are you a systems thinker who thrives on architecting reliable, scalable, and developer-friendly data platforms? Do you enjoy leading complex initiatives from ideation to delivery while mentoring others along the way? Are you eager to define the future of real-time data infrastructure in a cloud-native, AI-enabled environment? If so, we invite you to be a part of our innovative team.

Ridgeline’s Data Delivery Squad is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to drive foundational platform architecture and influence the future of our data streaming capabilities. As a senior technical leader, you will shape the end-to-end design of messaging systems, stream processing pipelines, and developer tooling that power our core product analytics, client workflows, and operational excellence. This is a hands-on, high-impact role that balances architectural leadership with technical depth—leveraging technologies like Kafka, Flink, and Kotlin, as well as AI tools like Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code, Junie, Glean, ChatGPT, and more to amplify engineering velocity and innovation.

At Ridgeline, how we work matters as much as what we build. Ridgeliners act like owners, choose growth over comfort, and communicate with transparency. We assume positive intent, bias toward action, and bring solutions—not just problems. We celebrate wins, learn from setbacks, and thrive in a resilient, collaborative, high-performing culture. If this excites you, we’d love to meet you.

• Architect scalable, highly available messaging and stream processing systems for real-time and batch data delivery
• Lead design and implementation of elasticity, autoscaling, and high-availability features across the platform
• Build SDKs, libraries, and paved paths that reduce cognitive load and accelerate developer productivity
• Establish observability standards and cost dashboards for platform visibility, accountability, and optimization
• Define platform-wide best practices for event ordering, schema validation, and materialization logic
• Collaborate across squads to integrate data delivery solutions with 40+ teams including Accounting, Reporting, Workflows, and AI agents
• Influence platform roadmap, assess emerging technologies, and lead technical POCs and design reviews
• Mentor engineers across the organization and model engineering excellence in system design, execution, and communication

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with 3+ years in platform or distributed systems leadership roles
• Deep expertise in building event-driven systems using Kafka, Flink, or similar technologies
• Advanced proficiency in Kotlin, Java, or Python with strong fundamentals in system design and architecture
• Proven track record designing cloud-native systems on AWS or equivalent platforms
• Strong understanding of observability, system resiliency, CI/CD, and cost-efficiency patterns
• Experience with developer experience tooling, platform SDKs, or internal developer platforms
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to drive consensus and lead technical strategy
• Commitment to mentoring, knowledge sharing, and fostering an inclusive engineering culture

• Familiarity with Debezium, Kafka Connect, schema registries, or Change Data Capture workflows
• Contributions to data mesh or streaming-first architectures
• Background in fintech, investment management, or regulatory data environments

Ridgeline is the industry cloud platform for investment management. It was founded by visionary tech entrepreneur Dave Duffield (co-founder of both People Soft and Workday) to apply his successful formula of solving operational business challenges with bold innovation and human connectivity to the unique needs of the investment management industry.

Ridgeline started with a clean sheet of paper and a deep bench of experts bound by a set of core values and motivated to revolutionize an industry underserved by its current tech offerings. We are building a new, modern platform in the public cloud, purpose-built for the investment management industry and we are prioritizing security, agility, and usability to empower business…