Staff Software Engineer, Data

Liftoff is a leading AI-powered performance marketing platform for the mobile app economy. Our end-to-end technology stack helps app marketers acquire and retain high-value users, while enabling publishers to maximize revenue across programmatic and direct demand.

Liftoff’s solutions, including Accelerate, Direct, Monetize, Intelligence, and Vungle Exchange, support over 6,600 mobile businesses across 74 countries in sectors such as gaming, social, finance, ecommerce, and entertainment. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Redwood City, CA, Liftoff has a diverse, global presence.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join the Supply Data Engineering team. You will play a key role in shaping and executing our long-range data platform roadmap. You will lead infrastructure modernization, performance optimization, observability enhancements, and prototype work toward a unified internal data environment.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and deliver high-impact, multi-quarter data infrastructure projects from inception through stable production rollout, driving both the design and execution independently.

• Architect and evolve large-scale data systems with a strong focus on long-term reliability, maintainability, cost efficiency, and alignment with Liftoff’s standards for security, inclusion, and quality.

• Shape technical direction for the data team and adjacent teams by identifying key priorities, driving technical alignment across functions, and influencing decisions through deep expertise.

• Scope and resolve complex, ambiguous technical problems end-to-end, taking full ownership beyond implementation, including documentation, integration testing, monitoring, and production hygiene.

• Develop and maintain internal frameworks, tools, and observability infrastructure that improve developer productivity and system resilience at scale.

• Mentor engineers across multiple levels by offering thoughtful design and code reviews, coaching them on architectural decisions, and helping them grow toward the next level.

• Contribute to hiring, interviewing, and play a key role in upholding and defining the engineering bar across the organization.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Engineering, or a related technical field; Advanced degrees (MS/PhD) are a plus but not required. Equivalent practical experience in large-scale systems or platform engineering is also acceptable

• 8+ years of experience in software/data engineering(6+ years for MS/PhD)

• Strong hands-on experience with distributed systems including Apache Spark/Flink, Iceberg/Deltalake, Trino/Presto, and Kafka

• Fluency in Scala or Python, with clean coding and debugging skills in large-scale systems

• Experience deploying and operating services in Kubernetes, including Helm-based configuration management

• Familiarity with cloud-native CI/CD workflows (e.g., Argo CD, Github Action, Jenkins, etc.)

• Familiarity with Jupyter Notebooks for data exploration, prototyping, or collaborative workflows

• Proven ability to deliver infrastructure projects from planning to production in a cross-functional setting

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to lead cross-team collaborations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with data analytics tooling such as Looker or other semantic modeling layers

• Prior use of Apache Druid for low-latency analytics or high-throughput ingestion

• Hands-on experience building or maintaining Apache Airflow pipelines

• Contributions to open-source systems or internal platform tooling

• Background in building internal developer platforms or ML infrastructure

• Familiarity with cost-aware and inclusive data design principles

Location:
This role is hybrid, working a minimum of 3 days/week from our Beijing office (Guomao).

Travel Expectations:
We offer several opportunities for in-person team gatherings, including but not limited to project meetings, regional meetups, and company-wide events. We expect our employees to attend these gatherings at least once per quarter. These gatherings provide essential opportunities for collaboration, communication, and team building.

Compensation:
Liftoff offers all employees a full compensation package that includes equity and health/vision/dental benefits associated with your country of residence. Base compensation will vary based on the candidate's location and experience.

The following are our base salary ranges for this role: 610,000 - 750,000 RMB annually

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Liftoff offers a fast-paced, collaborative, and innovative work environment where employees are empowered to grow and make an impact. We’re shaping the future of the mobile app ecosystem—join us and help accelerate what’s next.

Liftoff’s compensation strategy includes competitive salaries, equity, and benefits designed to support employee well-being and performance. We benchmark compensation based on role, level, and location to ensure fairness and market alignment. Benefits may include medical coverage, wellness stipends, and additional perks based on your country of residence.

Liftoff is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Agency and Third Party Recruiter Notice:

Liftoff does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers or Recruiting Team. All candidates must be submitted via our Applicant Tracking System by approved Liftoff vendors who have been expressly requested to make a submission by our Recruiting Team for a specific job opening. No placement fees will be paid to any firm unless such a request has been made by the Liftoff Recruiting Team and such a candidate was submitted to the Liftoff Recruiting Team via our Applicant Tracking System.