Staff Software Engineer

About the Role

Step into a pivotal engineering leadership position with REA Group's AdTech team based in Sydney or Melbourne. You will be instrumental in driving the future of digital advertising technology, solving large-scale challenges that reach millions, while fostering an environment of inspiration and excellence among your peers.

Company and Team Background

REA Group is revolutionizing property search and financing experiences with a strong culture centered on high performance and care. The company has been recognized as one of Australia's top workplaces, including those supportive of women. The AdTech team resides within the broader New Homes & Audience Solutions business unit, focusing on delivering cutting-edge advertising platforms that connect consumers with relevant services across property, finance, utilities, home services, automotive, and lead generation.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and continually enhance REA's advertising technology ecosystem with sound engineering principles and strategic foresight.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Product, Sales, Ad Operations, and technical specialists to validate ideas and develop impactful solutions.
• Write high-quality backend and full stack code implementing APIs, event-driven systems, and data pipelines.
• Lead research and prototype development to assess new ideas and technologies to inform team direction.
• Support Engineering Managers by crafting technical strategies and mentoring engineering and AdTech staff.
• Promote a culture of excellence through coaching, code reviews, and collaborative learning.
• Continuously expand your knowledge of AdTech trends and contribute positively to team morale, culture, and hiring.
• Maintain production systems including participating on Day Pager escalation rosters.

Candidate Profile and Experience

• At least 10 years in software engineering with experience building and managing complex, scalable systems.
• Background in AdTech, digital advertising, or media technology is an advantage but not mandatory.
• Expertise in API development using REST and GraphQL, cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP, and distributed event-driven architectures.
• Strong command of contemporary development practices such as test-driven development, microservices, and continuous deployment with full stack backend capabilities.
• Proven skills in designing scalable high-performance systems, long-term architectural planning, and working with diverse database technologies including relational, NoSQL, and BigQuery.
• Fully committed to the "you build it, you run it" philosophy, carrying ownership from implementation through to operation and incident management.
• Excellent communicator capable of translating complex technical topics to technical and non-technical stakeholders alike.
• Leadership abilities focused on mentoring, talent growth, and fostering inclusive, high-achieving teams.
• Experienced in setting and maintaining engineering quality benchmarks including testing, observability, and monitoring.

What REA Offers

• Flexible and hybrid work arrangements.
• Generous leave options including birthday leave and purchasable additional leave.
• Comprehensive parental leave for all carers.
• Community engagement programs such as volunteering leave, community grants, payroll giving, and charity-supporting initiatives.
• Innovation-focused hackdays encouraging idea sharing and development.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

REA values diverse ideas and experiences as drivers of creativity and innovation. They encourage applications from individuals who bring passion and dedication to learning, even if all qualifications are not met.