At Realtor.com, we are building products that empower millions of home buyers, renters, and real estate professionals. Our mission is to simplify the home buying/selling process and help more people achieve the dream of home ownership. We are looking for a collaborative and customer-focused Staff Backend Software Engineer to join our RDC Next team. This team creates innovative solutions across the real-estate ecosystem, fostering deeper connections between industry players and consumers.

What You'll Do:

As a Staff Engineer, you will provide technical leadership for our backend ecosystem, architecting the core pillars of our platform.

• Product Partnership: Work directly with Product Managers to deeply understand product requirements, translate them into technical specifications, and ensure the implementation aligns with both user needs and technical feasibility.
• Architect Core Systems: Lead the design, implementation, and testing of high-scale content ingestion pipelines and user-facing APIs that power the consumer and agent experience.
• Advance AI Innovation: Shape our AI platform strategy, integrating machine learning models and agentic AI into production workflows to transform the industry.
• Expand the Ecosystem: Design reliable architectures for 3rd party integrations, ensuring seamless data exchange with external real-estate services and partners.
• Ensure High-Reliability Communication: Build and scale a notification system capable of delivering real-time, meaningful updates to millions of users.
• Operational Excellence: Set the standards for infrastructure, observability, and monitoring, ensuring our distributed systems are resilient, transparent, and scalable.
• Collaborative Leadership: Guide technical decisions for complex features, lead rapid prototyping, and evolve the architecture using Clean Architecture principles.
• Mentor & Support: Act as a mentor to junior engineers, encouraging a culture of continuous learning and high-quality software development.

What You'll Bring:

• 8+ years experience in software architecture and backend systems development.
• Backend Expertise: Proficiency in modern distributed languages such as Python, TypeScript, Rust, Go, or Java.
• Cloud & Infrastructure: Experience with AWS (or similar) and a commitment to operational health.
• Data Modeling: Expertise in relational databases (e.g., Postgres) and NoSQL stores (e.g., DynamoDB, MongoDB).
• System Design: A track record of building scalable APIs, event-driven architectures, and integrations.
• Observability Mindset: A focus on maintaining system health through monitoring, logging, and tracing.
• AI Interest: Curiosity or experience in building AI platforms and agentic workflows.
• Communication: Ability to break down complex problems and share solutions clearly with both technical and non-technical partners.
• Data-Driven: A data-informed approach balanced with strong empathy for the people using our products.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, a related field or equivalent professional experience.

How We Work:

We balance creativity and innovation on a foundation of in-person collaboration. For most roles, our employees work three or more days in our offices, where they have the opportunity to collaborate in-person, adding richness to our culture and knitting us closer together.

How We Reward You:

Realtor.com is committed to investing in the health and wellbeing of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

• Inclusive and Competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
• Family forming benefits
• 13 Paid Holidays
• Flexible Time Off
• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
• Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
• Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs
• 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
• Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location

Who We Are

The Notifications team sits within the Consumer and owns the centralized notification platform that powers relevant, timely, and valuable communications to our consumers across push and email channels. 

Our stack includes Kafka, AWS EKS and Lambda, SQS, MongoDB, Redis, AWS Secrets Manager, and Serverless, with a strong focus on observability, cost efficiency, and operational excellence.

About The Role

We are looking for a Sr. Backend Software Engineer to join the Notifications team and help design, build, and operate the next generation of our notification platform.

In this role, you will:

• Own core backend services that power notification preferences, home alerts, and notification delivery for initiatives like Project Columbus (Updated Notification Preferences and Alerts by Geo).
• Work across event-driven architectures, real-time delivery pipelines, and storage systems that serve notification history and campaign traffic at scale.
• Partner closely with CRM Marketing, Search, Mobile teams to deliver reliable, observable, and cost‑efficient notification experiences.

We believe in leveraging the best tools to solve problems faster. You will be expected to utilize AI coding assistants and LLMs proficiently to accelerate development velocity, generate boilerplate, and troubleshoot complex debugging scenarios. Beyond simple usage, this role requires the critical judgment to verify AI-generated outputs for security, performance, and accuracy. You should be comfortable integrating AI tooling into your daily workflow to eliminate repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on high-impact architectural and strategic engineering challenges.

What You’ll Do

Design, Build, and Operate Backend Services

• Design and implement scalable backend services and APIs for notification preferences, notification delivery, and notification storage, using modern backend languages and frameworks (e.g., Node.js/TypeScript, Java/Kotlin, or Python) on AWS.
• Extend and evolve our event-driven architecture for notifications, leveraging Kafka, SQS, and AWS services to reduce latency and improve reliability for push and email sends.
• Build and maintain data models and storage layers (e.g., MongoDB Atlas, Redis) to support high-volume reads/writes, notification history, and preference lookups at scale.
• Implement and harden CI/CD pipelines on our paved path (CircleCI, GitHub, Argo) to enable safe, frequent deployments with strong automated test coverage.

Reliability, Observability, and Operational Excellence

• Own the health of the services you build, including metrics, logging, tracing, dashboards, and alerts using tools like New Relic and Splunk, and participate in an on‑call rotation for Notifications services (Pigeon, Notification Center, Preferences APIs, and pipelines).
• Improve system reliability and performance by driving projects to simplify architectures (e.g., replatforming Pigeon to an event‑driven model, improving DLQ handling, and replacing legacy step functions and throttlers with SQS consumers).
• Contribute to cost and resiliency initiatives, including logging/CloudWatch optimization, secrets migration to AWS Secrets Manager/Skyway Vault, and scaling strategies for notification databases and infrastructure.
• Author and maintain runbooks and operational playbooks for on‑call responders, covering incident response, rollbacks, backfills, and replay strategies for notification workloads.

Cross‑Team Collaboration and Delivery

• Partner with CRM Marketing and Product to translate business requirements for campaigns, alerts, and notification preferences into robust technical designs and incremental delivery plans.
• Collaborate with Search, CPS, Identity, Orchestration, and Data teams to ensure notification flows (e.g., Alerts by Geo, saved search alerts, preference syncs) are correct, observable, and performant end‑to‑end.
• Participate in and lead technical design discussions, documenting trade‑offs and making recommendations that balance delivery speed, reliability, and total cost of ownership.
• Contribute to team rituals (planning, grooming, retros, incident reviews), helping to de‑risk projects via spikes/POCs, clear recommendations, and proactive communication on risks and timelines.

What You’ll Bring

Core Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong focus on backend systems and distributed services in production environments.
• Experience with TypeScript/JavaScript/Node.js. 
• Proficiency in at least one modern backend language such as Node.js/TypeScript, Java/Kotlin, or Python, and a track record of building secure, testable, maintainable services and APIs.
• Experience with event-driven architectures and streaming technologies (e.g., Kafka/MSK, SQS), including designing resilient producers/consumers and handling retries, DLQs, and backfills.
• Hands-on experience with AWS (e.g., Lambda, ECS/EKS, S3, API Gateway, IAM, SQS) and Infrastructure‑as‑Code frameworks (e.g., CloudFormation, Terraform, or similar).
• Experience with NoSQL and cache technologies such as MongoDB Atlas and Redis (or comparable systems), including schema design and performance tuning for high‑volume workloads.
• Strong CI/CD and testing mindset, including building and extending pipelines (e.g., CircleCI + GitHub + Argo), and applying unit, integration, and contract testing to services and data flows.
• Solid observability skills, using tools such as New Relic and Splunk (or equivalents) to define SLIs/SLOs, build dashboards, and reduce mean time to detection and recovery.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work closely with product, marketing, analytics, and other engineering teams, and to communicate clearly about risks, trade‑offs, and timelines.
• Ability to operate in an on‑call rotation in US time zones, owning production incidents end‑to‑end and driving follow‑up improvements.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice To Have

• Experience with notifications, messaging, or campaign delivery systems (push, email, in‑app notifications), including rate limiting, preference management, and history storage.
• Experience with CRM and marketing platforms such as Braze, Cordial, Hightouch, or similar activation tools, and integrations between internal data platforms and external providers.
• Background in real‑time personalization or alerts (e.g., saved searches, alerts by geo, behavioral triggers) where correctness, latency, and relevance are critical.
• Familiarity with security and compliance practices, including secrets management (AWS Secrets Manager, Skyway Vault), AppID tagging, and cloud cost/usage governance.
• Experience contributing to tech modernization and platform re‑architecture efforts (e.g., migrating serverless workflows to EKS‑based services, improving throughput and state recovery for high‑volume pipelines).

• Inclusive and Competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
• Family forming benefits
• 13 Paid Holidays
• Flexible Time Off
• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
• Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
• Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs
• 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
• Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location

Software Architect – Inspire11  

Elevens, as we call ourselves here, are curiously smart, purposefully scrappy, and dedicated to the highest standard of quality. By being true to ourselves and others, we create a respectful environment that enhances collaboration, drives growth through high expectations, and ensures alignment with our core values. Inspire11 is more than a modern business and technology consulting firm; we're a revolution. We work differently — and it shows. Every move we make is tied to measurable value, and our success aligns with our clients’ success. We partner to simplify the complex, solve sustainably, and stay ahead by continuously pushing our own thinking forward. Value creation isn't something we talk about — it's something we live, every day. 

At Inspire11, we're not just offering a job; we're providing a platform for you to transform the future. You'll feel right at home here if you think differently, build boldly, and lead with impact. We're a place where your unique perspective is valued, your boldness is celebrated, and your potential is unleashed. 

• Growth Through Challenge:  We hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence and accountability. At Inspire11, we are committed to delivering exceptional results and empowering our employees to take ownership of their work and drive meaningful impact. You'll work alongside elite consultants who challenge you to expand your skills and think even more creatively. 
  
• The Autonomy to Do Your Best Work: Here, outcomes matter more than outputs. It's about the value we create. You'll have the autonomy to shape your work, drive decisions, and make an impact—not just for our clients but for your growth. You'll be challenged to think strategically, anticipate needs, and solve problems. Bold thinking, creative approaches, and challenging conventional wisdom are part of our DNA. Our clients rely on us to lead them into what's next. 
• Diverse Perspectives Driving Innovative Solutions: We champion inclusivity and authenticity, knowing that diverse perspectives drive better solutions. You'll be encouraged to bring your whole self to work, knowing that's where true innovation happens. We also believe that doing great work should be fun. Our culture thrives on energy, camaraderie, and appreciating the unique contributions that make Inspire11 an amazing place. Our teams get energy from being the best they can be. 

What you can expect in this role: 

• Lead highly collaborative, cross-functional development teams across multiple client projects in diverse industries
• Partner with key stakeholders (CIOs, CTOs, Directors, and business leaders) to shape and drive strategic technology initiatives
• Own the full software development lifecycle—from requirements gathering and architecture through implementation and rollout
• Design, develop, and support complex, mission-critical applications and systems
• Define and maintain architecture standards, best practices, and technical guidelines
• Contribute to the evolution and enhancement of both new and existing applications, platforms, and components 

Tools for success: 

• Experience architecting and delivering end-to-end software solutions—from modern front-end interfaces (React) to scalable back-end systems and cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure)
• Proven full-stack development skills with deep expertise in JavaScript (React, Node.js), Java/Kotlin, Python, and designing/documenting APIs
• Adept at selecting the right tools, languages, and frameworks to match the needs of each unique software solution
• Skilled in working directly with clients to lead projects from ideation to delivery in fast-paced, collaborative environments
• Experienced with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions), and modern version control using Git
• Skilled in Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) with a strong foundation in database design and development using both relational and non-relational systems (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
• Passionate about mentoring, continuous learning, and shaping a modern, forward-thinking engineering culture
• Actively explores AI/ML technologies and integrates them into solutions; stays current with trends in the evolving AI landscape 

This role requires the willingness and ability to be onsite at the Inspire11 or client location depending on project needs to maximize in-person collaboration and build stronger relationships. 

Inspire11 is unable to sponsor employment visas at this time. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment. 

Inspire11’s Privacy Policy: https://www.inspire11.com/privacy-policy/  

For more information regarding our compensation and benefit offerings please see below: 

Software Engineer – Inspire11  

Elevens, as we call ourselves here, are curiously smart, purposefully scrappy, and dedicated to the highest standard of quality. By being true to ourselves and others, we create a respectful environment that enhances collaboration, drives growth through high expectations, and ensures alignment with our core values. Inspire11 is more than a modern business and technology consulting firm; we're a revolution. We work differently — and it shows. Every move we make is tied to measurable value, and our success aligns with our clients’ success. We partner to simplify the complex, solve sustainably, and stay ahead by continuously pushing our own thinking forward. Value creation isn't something we talk about — it's something we live, every day. 

At Inspire11, we're not just offering a job; we're providing a platform for you to transform the future. You'll feel right at home here if you think differently, build boldly, and lead with impact. We're a place where your unique perspective is valued, your boldness is celebrated, and your potential is unleashed. 

• Growth Through Challenge:  We hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence and accountability. At Inspire11, we are committed to delivering exceptional results and empowering our employees to take ownership of their work and drive meaningful impact. You'll work alongside elite consultants who challenge you to expand your skills and think even more creatively. 

• The Autonomy to Do Your Best Work: Here, outcomes matter more than outputs. It's about the value we create. You'll have the autonomy to shape your work, drive decisions, and make an impact—not just for our clients but for your growth. You'll be challenged to think strategically, anticipate needs, and solve problems. Bold thinking, creative approaches, and challenging conventional wisdom are part of our DNA. Our clients rely on us to lead them into what's next. 
• Diverse Perspectives Driving Innovative Solutions: We champion inclusivity and authenticity, knowing that diverse perspectives drive better solutions. You'll be encouraged to bring your whole self to work, knowing that's where true innovation happens. We also believe that doing great work should be fun. Our culture thrives on energy, camaraderie, and appreciating the unique contributions that make Inspire11 an amazing place. Our teams get energy from being the best they can be. 

What you can expect in this role: 

• Collaborate closely with clients to design and build custom technology solutions tailored to business needs.
• Develop responsive, declarative front-end user interfaces using ReactJS and modern JavaScript libraries, while also building complex back-end systems using Java (or Scala/Kotlin), C#, Node.js, or Python. 
• Design, develop, and support critical applications and system components from end to end.  
• Write and execute unit tests; troubleshoot and recommend solutions for complex technical issues.
• Contribute to ongoing enhancement of both new and existing applications across the full stack. 

Tools for success: 

• Contribute to ongoing enhancement of both new and existing applications across the full stack. 
• Proficient in full-stack development with expertise in either modern JavaScript & React, or backend-languages like Java, Kotlin, Python, etc., along with API design and documentation 
• Experienced with both relational and non-relational databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB), and database schema design.   
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (primarily AWS), containerization tools (e.g., Docker), and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions).   
• Strong understanding of Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) and version control using Git.   
• Passion to mentor other engineers, driving technical excellence, while contributing to a strong engineering culture.
• Actively explores and integrates AI/ML technologies into development workflows; stays up to date on the rapidly evolving AI landscape and market trends.   
• Committed to continuous learning and staying current with evolving technology trends, frameworks, and best practices.   
• Excellent communicator with the ability to thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments and take initiative across varied responsibilities.    

This role requires the willingness and ability to be onsite at the Inspire11 or client location depending on project needs to maximize in-person collaboration and build stronger relationships. 

Inspire11 is unable to sponsor employment visas at this time. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment. 

Inspire11’s Privacy Policy: https://www.inspire11.com/privacy-policy/  

For more information regarding our compensation and benefit offerings please see below: 

U.S. Compensation & Benefits  

Compensation at Inspire11 
Inspire11 follows Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Illinois Human Rights Act, the Illinois Equal Wage Act, and the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003. We believe that people performing the same role at the same level, with similar levels of ability or experience, should be similarly compensated. We also believe that the most critical factors driving compensation should be an Eleven’s skill, experience, performance, responsibility, and effort. We may also consider an employee’s length of service, relevant education, training, or certification, and the requirements of a specific job. We may also consider whether the cost of living or competition for talent in specific markets requires adjustments in compensation for employees in those markets. Our goal is to fairly compensate all our Elevens based on these factors within the Company’s financial ability.   

Compensation may be increased or decreased at Inspire11’s discretion based on an employee’s performance reviews, market conditions, and the Company’s financial performance. Inspire11 will always notify an employee in writing before any change is made to their compensation.  

Bonuses 
We may allow employees in Sales, Recruiting, or Leadership to earn periodic bonuses based on sales, revenue, client-specific or practice-specific targets. These targets are communicated to each eligible employee via offer letter or annual update. All such target-based bonuses are calculated based on the Company and an individual’s periodic performance and will only be awarded if: (a) the employee is meeting performance expectations and is an employee in good standing of the Company; (b) the target is met; and (c) the Company’s current financial performance and market conditions permit the bonus to be paid out. All periodic bonuses are discretionary and are earned only when paid out.   

Each year, the Company will decide whether the Company’s financial performance, market performance, and business realities allow it to create an annual bonus pool. If the Company decides that annual bonuses may be awarded, then the Leadership Team will grant annual bonuses to employees in good standing based on the same factors discussed in the previous paragraph while also considering employees’ diligence, performance, expertise, skill, judgment, and experience. To be eligible to participate in this annual bonus pool, an employee must be hired by no later than October 1st of the preceding year. Annual bonuses and merit increases may be prorated based on hire date. Employees eligible for target-based periodic bonuses are not eligible to participate in the annual bonus pool.   

Options or Other Equity in Inspire11 
Inspire11 has a legacy program that allowed certain high-performing employees to purchase shares of the Company through an affiliate. The Company also has a newer program that grants options annually to high-performing employees based on their performance reviews, their managers’ recommendation, and leadership approval. These options have a vesting period associated with them.  

Benefits 
Full-time employees are eligible for the following contributory benefits, where premiums are partially paid by the Company and partially by the employee:   

• Medical insurance plans, 
• Dental insurance plans, and  
• Vision insurance plans.  

Full-time employees are eligible for the following benefits provided wholly by the Company:  

• Short-term disability, providing for a benefit of 60% of an employee’s salary up to a maximum of $2,000 per week for up to 11 weeks after a 7-day waiting period; 
• Long-term disability, providing for 60% of an employee’s salary up to a maximum of $10,000 per month for the time period from the 91st day after a qualifying event through the earlier of the end of the disability or age 67; 
• Life insurance, providing for a benefit of two times the employee’s annual salary, up to a maximum payout of $400,000;   
• A connectivity stipend of $325 annually; 
• Employee Assistance Program, providing for confidential counseling sessions, 24-hour crisis support, online peer support groups, skills training, behavioral health coaching, initial free legal consultations (and discounted rates on referred lawyers), online legal forms, assistance with eldercare and parenting services, among other things.  

Full-time employees are also eligible to participate in the Company’s 401(k) plan, which allows employees to contribute to a standard or Roth IRA. According to a vesting schedule, the Company matches 100% of employee contributions up to 3% of an employee’s salary.  

Depending on eligibility and their elections, full-time employees may also have access to certain tax-advantaged savings accounts set up through the Company, into which employees contribute withheld funds:   

• Flexible savings accounts
• Limited-purpose flexible savings accounts  
• Healthcare savings accounts
• Dependent care savings accounts  
• Commuter benefit accounts  

Paid Time Off and Leave 
Inspire11 grants all eligible employees any statutory leave required by federal, Illinois, or other applicable law, such as FMLA, bereavement, sick leave, emergency leave, jury duty or witness leave, and VESSA leave.   

In addition, Inspire11 has a self-managed paid time off policy (PTO) that does not set predetermined upper limits on the amount of PTO an employee may take. All PTO must be requested in advance and approved by the appropriate supervisor to ensure client work can continue. All full-time employees are expected to take a minimum of one week of PTO each year.   

Inspire11 offers paid parental leave to full-time employees who have been with the company for at least one year. Birthing parents are eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave, while non-birthing parents are eligible for up to 6 weeks. Short-term disability (STD) benefits are also provided following childbirth. When combined with PTO and STD, birthing parents may receive a total of 18–20 weeks of paid leave. Lastly, Inspire11 has eight paid holidays.  

Other Benefits 
Inspire11 also maintains other programs that provide additional benefits to employees, such as:   

• Impact to 11: a charitable giving matching program where, after being employed by Inspire11 for a year, employees may request that a qualifying charity receive up to $500 in matching donations each year. 
• Professional development benefits for qualifying employees: a program allowing for reimbursement of certain course materials and costs on a discretionary basis for employees who have been at Inspire11 for at least 6 months, with supervisor’s approval. 
• Regular gifts of Inspire11 clothes, office items, and swag.  

Disclaimer 
This document applies only to the United States and to Inspire11 LLC, not our worldwide partners.  

Inspire11 reserves the right to change the benefits offered to employees in accordance with applicable law based on business needs, market conditions, and financial stability. Before changing any benefits, Company will notify all employees of the change and will update this document.  

EEOC 
Inspire11 is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please contact us at hr@inspire11.com, or inform your recruiting partner.