Senior Software Engineer - Safety Platform

The Safety Platform team is at the heart of keeping Discord safe for all users. We provide the infrastructure and services that enable scalable and reliable safety on Discord. We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer who is capable of handling ambiguous, complex, multi-milestone projects.

Our team developed Osprey, the open-source investigation and incident response tool that allows safety teams to understand what is happening on their platforms and take actions at scale. Osprey has since been open-sourced and donated to ROOST, reflecting our commitment to industry-wide safety improvements.

As a Senior Engineer on Safety Platform, you'll take full ownership of projects from identifying efficient solutions to gathering feedback and collaborating with cross-functional partners. You'll deliver lovable products while maintaining Discord's high quality bar, utilizing 80/20 thinking and a user-centric approach. You'll embody a growth mindset, diving into new code and technologies to deliver safety solutions that protect millions of users daily.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own complex safety platform projects end-to-end, from initial design through post-launch monitoring and iteration
• Build and maintain critical safety infrastructure
• Apply an adversarial mindset to your work, thinking through security, scaling, and abuse scenarios to protect Discord's users
• Collaborate with Trust & Safety, ML, and product teams to understand requirements and deliver effective safety solutions
• Debug and resolve issues within the team's codebase and adjacent systems, participating in on-call rotations
• Break down complex projects into smaller, prioritized work streams while managing stakeholders and dependencies
• Contribute to technical design discussions and documentation, writing RFCs when necessary
• Help establish best practices and maintain the team's quality bar through code reviews and mentorship

What you should have

• 5+ years of professional experience in a software development role, with a focus on backend services and infrastructure
• Strong programming skills in languages like Python, Rust, or TypeScript
• Experience building and operating production services at scale
• Demonstrated ability to own projects end-to-end and deliver results on time
• Experience with distributed systems concepts and cloud platforms (GCP/AWS)
• Strong debugging skills and ability to navigate complex codebases
• Experience with observability tools, metrics, and monitoring systems
• Excellent communication skills with ability to work effectively with cross-functional partners
• A quality-centered mindset with attention to the right details at every stage of development

Bonus Points

• A strong passion for Discord and gaming
• Experience tackling safety problems in collaboration with ML teams at large-scale social platforms

This position is US-based only. We are seeking candidates located in the Los Angeles or San Francisco Bay Areas. Candidates in the Los Angeles area can work remotely. Candidates in the San Francisco area are required to be in the office 2 days per week. Relocation assistance may be available to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Candidates must be located within one of the following counties:

• Los Angeles area: (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, or Ventura Counties)


• San Francisco Bay Area: (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties)

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $196,000 to $245,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.