Reddit

Staff Engineer, Ads Formats

United States

Not SpecifiedCompensation
Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Advertising Technology, Social MediaIndustries

Job Description: Staff Backend Engineer, Brand Ad Formats

Company Information

Reddit is a community of communities, built on shared interests, passion, and trust. It's home to the most open and authentic conversations on the internet. Every day, Reddit users submit, vote, and comment on the topics they care most about. With over 100,000 active communities and approximately 101M+ daily active unique visitors, Reddit is one of the internet’s largest sources of information. For more information, visit redditinc.com.

Team Description

The Brand Ad Formats team drives the development of ad formats that help advertisers maximize reach and brand impact. They focus on high-visibility, awareness-driven solutions that create memorable experiences for Reddit users. By delivering guaranteed placements and engaging ad interactions, they support major brand initiatives and help advertisers achieve measurable outcomes. Their work includes evolving existing formats and launching entirely new ones to keep Reddit’s ad offerings fresh and competitive.

The team is currently working on multiple new formats, including a fully customizable interactive ad format and an ad format that uses AI to incorporate User-Generated Content.

Role Description

The Brand Ad Formats team is seeking a skilled Backend Engineer with a product-focused mindset to join the team. As a Staff Backend Engineer, you will work on:

  • Online systems used for ad rendering.
  • Microservices and APIs that power our advertiser-facing product, ads.reddit.com.
  • Backends that power interactive ad experiences.
  • Database design in support of the above.

Technologies Used:

  • Languages: Go, Python
  • Frameworks/Technologies: GQL, Thrift, Kafka
  • Datastores: Postgres, BigQuery, Redis, DynamoDB
  • Tools: Kubernetes, Argo, Docker

Staff-level engineers are expected to help define best practices on the team that align with the broader organization, while also being effective code contributors. Engineers at this level must be able to execute complex projects and lead other engineers.

Responsibilities

  • Work with product managers to define and improve Ads products.
  • Lead the processes needed to improve operational stability, including improving code quality, delivering dashboards, and data visualizations.
  • Collaborate across product, design, and engineering teams to innovate and implement sophisticated solutions for complex challenges.
  • Collaborate with platform and data teams while building new features.
  • Support project management tasks, including communicating project updates, managing project timelines, and overseeing project execution.
  • Engage in the full development cycle: design, develop, QA, experiment, analyze, and deploy.
  • Build extensible components that align with product objectives.

Required Qualifications

  • 7+ years of software development experience in one or more general-purpose programming languages (Java, Scala, Go, C++, Python).
  • Ability to take complete ownership of a complex project.
  • Minimum 3+ years of experience building backend systems for high scale and performance.
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals.
  • An experienced technical leader with a strong track record of mentoring and uplifting team members' technical skills.
  • Experience working in the Ads domain.

Bonus Points

  • Experience with full-stack development.
  • Exposure to using LLMs in production.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive Healthcare Benefits and Income Replacement Programs
  • 401k Match
  • Family Planning Support
  • Gender-Affirming Care
  • Mental Health & Coaching Benefits
  • Flexible Vacation & Reddit Global Days Off
  • Generous paid Parental Leave
  • Paid Volunteer Time Off

#li-remote

Pay Transparency: This job posting may span more than one career level. In addition to base salary, this job is eligible to receive equity in the form of restricted stock units, and depending on the position offered, it may also be eligible to receive a commission. Additionally, Reddit offers a wide range of benefits.

Skills

Go
Python
GQL
Thrift
Kafka
Postgres
BigQuery
Redis
DynamoDB
Kubernetes
Argo
Docker
Microservices
APIs
Database Design
Backend Development
Product Mindset
Best Practices

Reddit

Online platform for community discussions and content

About Reddit

Reddit is an online platform that allows users to post, vote, and comment on content within various communities based on shared interests. Users can engage in discussions on a wide range of topics, from news and sports to entertainment and hobbies. The platform features a unique voting system where content can receive upvotes or downvotes, helping the most popular posts gain visibility. Reddit generates revenue primarily through advertising, premium memberships, and the sale of virtual goods like Reddit Coins. Unlike many other social media platforms, Reddit emphasizes community-driven content and discussions, creating a space for authentic interactions among users. The goal of Reddit is to foster engagement and connection among its diverse user base.

San Francisco, CaliforniaHeadquarters
2005Year Founded
$1,177.1MTotal Funding
IPOCompany Stage
Consumer Software, EntertainmentIndustries
1,001-5,000Employees

Benefits

Comprehensive health benefits
Flexible unlimited vacation days & monthly global wellness days
Family planning funds & 4+ months paid parental leave
Personal & professional development funds
Paid volunteer time off
Workspace & home office benefits

Risks

Reliance on advertising revenue faces competition from platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
AI tools like 'Reddit Answers' may raise privacy and data usage concerns.
NFT market expansion exposes Reddit to volatility and regulatory scrutiny.

Differentiation

Reddit's unique voting system promotes engaging and authentic content discovery.
The platform's diverse communities cater to a wide range of interests and discussions.
Reddit's AI-powered tools enhance user experience and content moderation.

Upsides

Reddit's confidential IPO plans signal potential growth and market expansion.
AI-driven content moderation can improve user safety and platform reliability.
Expansion into blockchain and NFTs opens new revenue streams and user engagement.

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