Senior Principal Software Development Engineer

About the teamThe Industry Software organization builds the platforms and tools that empower real estate professionals to succeed. Our mission is to simplify workflows, improve transparency, and help agents, brokers, and MLS partners deliver better outcomes for their clients. As one of Zillow’s most dynamic and customer-facing engineering groups, we operate at the intersection of product innovation, technical complexity, and business impact, requiring strong technical leadership and deep cross-functional collaboration.

About the role

As a Senior Principal Engineer in Zillow’s Industry Software organization, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of software for real estate professionals. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering, you will drive architectural coherence across teams, set the long-term technical vision, and ensure engineering strategy aligns with business priorities. Your impact will extend beyond technology, influencing how we serve agents, brokers, and MLSs with innovative, scalable tools, and shaping the culture and operating rhythm of our teams. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will earn trust through technical depth, clear communication, and collaborative decision-making.

As a Senior Principal Engineer, You Will Get To:

• Set technical vision and strategy across Industry Software, ensuring architectures align with business goals and organizational scalability.

• Balance architecture with execution by engaging in code reviews, prototypes, and system-wide strategy.

• Rapidly build domain expertise in real estate professional workflows to connect technical decisions to customer needs.

• Leverage experience scaling B2B/SaaS platforms to introduce fresh patterns and systems thinking.

• Drive innovation by anticipating technology and business trends, translating foresight into product and platform improvements.

• Influence through code and communication, guiding teams on when to simplify, invest, or create leverage.

• Partner closely with Product, Design, Data, and Marketing to ensure technical decisions strengthen business outcomes.

• Mentor senior engineers and technical leaders, fostering growth and amplifying team impact.

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, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $227,500.00 - $363,500.00 annually. This base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations. In Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont the standard base pay range for this role is $216,100.00 - $345,300.00 annually. The base pay range is specific to these locations 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. Employees in this role will not be paid below the salary threshold for exempt employees in the state where they reside.

Who you are

• A hands-on technical leader with 10+ years of experience building and shipping production-grade software or services.

• Skilled in distributed systems, SaaS platforms, and B2B systems, with the ability to balance immediate needs and long-term design.

• Experienced in setting architecture strategy for organizations and shifting technical momentum as needed.

• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and breaking down complex problems into clear, actionable steps.

• A trusted cross-functional partner who builds strong relationships across Product, Design, BizOps, and Marketing.

• An exceptional communicator, fluent in code reviews, design docs, executive briefings, and cross-org alignment.

• Passionate about mentoring and growing technical leaders, amplifying the impact of others.

• Both an innovator and pragmatist, able to explore new technologies while grounding them in business reality.

• Experience with enterprise monetization platforms is a plus (billing, payments, subscriptions, entitlements, usage metering) to help shape how Industry Software scales sustainably as a business.

• Deep expertise in microservice design, event-driven and stream processing platforms (e.g., Kafka, Flink, Spark), and data-centric architectures.

• 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.