Principal Software Engineer

About the teamThe Service Enablement Team (SET) is a hands-on engineering group at Zillow focused on operationalizing emerging technologies and AI capabilities. We work at the intersection of Developer Experience, Core Technology, and product teams to deliver secure, scalable, and self-service infrastructure. Our mission is to help developers—and eventually non-technical teams—adopt new tools with confidence, transforming innovation into measurable value across Zillow.

About the role

As a Principal Software Development Engineer on SET, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and scaling agentic systems, self-service developer tooling, and intelligent orchestration patterns. You will partner with engineers, technical program managers, and platform leaders to shape the adoption of foundational platforms like our Model Context Protocol (MCP), automation frameworks, and enablement patterns for AI/LLM-powered systems. Your work will set technical direction for solutions that scale across teams, adapt to new technologies, and maintain security and reliability from day one.

As a Principal Software Engineer, You Will Get To:

• Design and implement self-service developer tools, including onboarding flows and orchestration frameworks for AI and internal platform usage

• Build enablement solutions such as starter guides, reusable security-aware integrations, and shared orchestration patterns for agentic workflows

• Identify and address areas where teams are duplicating AI or agentic patterns, providing shared solutions to accelerate adoption

• Collaborate with Core Technology and Developer Experience teams to integrate platform capabilities into scalable, ready-to-use offerings

• Lead cross-team technical initiatives, set architecture for complex workflows, and advise during ambiguous problem-solving

• Partner with security and product teams to shape adoption strategies and unify the developer experience

• Mentor engineers, champion engineering quality, and support SET’s mission to turn innovation into practical solutions

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

In California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $186,700.00 - $298,300.00 Annually. This base pay range is specific to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington DC and may not be applicable to other locations.

In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location.

Who you are

• 10+ years of experience building scalable backend systems, developer tooling, or infrastructure platforms

• Expertise in system design, distributed computing, and platform architecture

• Strong knowledge of AWS infrastructure, Kubernetes, and Infrastructure-as-Code

• Experience with orchestration platforms (e.g., n8n, Airflow) and event-driven architectures

• Familiarity with integrating or operationalizing AI/LLM workflows and observability in hybrid AI + human-in-the-loop systems

• Proven ability to lead large-scale, cross-team initiatives in ambiguous or emerging technical spaces

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Experience with platform-as-a-product thinking, prioritizing enablement and adoption

• Comfortable navigating fast-changing landscapes and learning new technologies

• Here at Zillow, we value the experience and perspective of candidates with non-traditional backgrounds. We encourage you to apply if you have transferable skills or related experiences.

Get to know us

Zillow is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people.

As the most-visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates help movers find and win their home through digital solutions, first class partners, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences. Millions of people visit Zillow Group sites every month to start their home search, and now they can rely on Zillow to help make it easier to move. The work we do helps people get home and no matter what job you're in, you will play a critical role in making home a reality for more and more people.

Our efforts to streamline the real estate transaction are supported by a deep-rooted culture of innovation, our passion to redefine the employee experience, a fundamental commitment to Equity and Belonging, and world-class benefits. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverages as well as parental leave, family benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off. We’re also setting the standard for work experiences of the future, where our employees are supported in doing their best work and living a flexible, well-balanced life. But don’t just take our word for it. Read recent reviews on Glassdoor and recent recognition from multiple organizations, including: the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equity Index, and TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable state and local law.

Applicants who receive job offers from Zillow Group will be asked to sign a Proprietary Rights Agreement which includes confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, customer and employee non-solicitation, and non-competition provisions. If you are contacted for a role at Zillow Group and wish to review a copy of the Proprietary Rights Agreement prior to receiving an offer, you may request a copy from your Recruiter.