Staff Software Engineer

Who you are

• Experience building and maintaining production software
• Proficiency in Java or another relevant programming language
• Familiarity with APIs, data structures and software-design principles
• Experience testing software and investigating defects or production issues
• The ability to explain technical decisions clearly in writing and conversation
• The ability to take ownership of assigned work while asking for input or support when needed
• Experience contributing to projects from design through implementation, release and maintenance
• Equivalent practical experience is welcome in place of a specific degree or educational path
• Experience with distributed systems, search, personalization or other high-volume consumer products
• Experience with AI, machine learning or large language model applications
• Experience with relational databases or other structured data stores
• Experience working on web products, mobile products or travel-related products
• Experience improving accessibility, reliability or usability
• Experience working with Java and Spring
• Experience with cloud services, CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks

What the job involves

• We are looking for a strong Java Senior Software Engineers to implement new features and maintain KAYAK’s AI. You will be an essential part of a high powered team that keeps all of this running smoothly – helping millions of people find the best hotels and the best ways to fly from A to B every day!
• Design, implement and maintain reliable production software for KAYAK’s travel-search and trip-planning experiences
• Build and evolve APIs and services supporting AI-assisted search, conversational travel planning, itineraries and related user experiences
• Investigate technical problems, assess trade-offs and choose practical solutions that improve reliability, performance and maintainability
• Write automated tests and contribute to quality across unit, integration and end-to-end testing
• Participate in code reviews and technical discussions, providing constructive feedback focused on correctness, clarity and maintainability
• Work with engineers, product managers and designers to clarify requirements and deliver useful, accessible user experiences
• Contribute to features such as ASK AI, smart filters, AI-generated hotel review summaries, Explore and related search experiences
• Help make AI-assisted features dependable, transparent and useful to travelers
• Learn unfamiliar systems and share knowledge with teammates through documentation, pairing and technical discussions
• Monitor and improve production behavior through effective debugging, observability and root-cause analysis
• Contribute to the evolution of development tools, engineering processes and delivery practices

Benefits

• Work flexibly: Our global flexible work policy lets our teams decide if they head into one of our offices or work from anywhere else
• Team-wide time off: Most of our team disconnects at the same time each year to recharge and reconnect
• Global volunteer week: Take VTO (Volunteer Time Off) to support the organizations and charitable efforts you believe in
• Wellness: We take care of each other - providing opportunities and spaces to live that work-life balance
• Resource groups: Our five ERGs are employee-led groups for underrepresented communities and their allies
• Career growth: We provide opportunities for our team to develop their skills – or learn new ones – on their own terms