Staff Software Engineer, Ads
Whatnot, New York, New York +2
The role
As an engineer on the Ads team, you will shape the technical foundation of Whatnot’s advertising marketplace. You’ll design auction systems that allocate limited buyer attention across sellers, balance marketplace and customer outcomes, and operate reliably at Whatnot’s scale. This includes bidding, pricing, pacing, ranking, forecasting, and real-time decision-making.
This role requires strong technical judgment, comfort navigating ambiguous domains, and the autonomy to lead foundational projects from inception through production. You’ll work closely with product, machine learning, and infrastructure teams to make sound trade-offs and ship high-impact systems quickly without compromising quality.
What you will do
- Architect and lead the implementation of high-throughput, low-latency backend systems that power ad auctions, bidding, pacing, ranking, and delivery.
- Design auction mechanisms that balance seller value, buyer experience, marketplace efficiency, and long-term ecosystem health.