[Hiring] Senior Software Engineer II @Apartment List

Role Description

The Lister team owns how property partners list, manage, and succeed on Apartment List — and it's one of the areas where product quality directly shapes whether renters find accurate, trustworthy listings. As a Senior Software Engineer II, you'll take ownership of core services and experiences on this team, working end-to-end from backend architecture in Kotlin and Ruby to frontend interfaces in TypeScript and React. You'll shape technical direction for problems that don't have a playbook yet, and you'll be a reference point for other engineers — through code reviews, design discussions, and the standard you hold for the work.

What You’ll Do

• Own the design and delivery of scalable backend services that power the Lister experience, from architecture decisions through production reliability.
• Drive full-stack feature delivery — from Kotlin/Ruby services to TypeScript/React interfaces — in close partnership with product, design, and analytics.
• Shape technical solutions for ambiguous problems, weighing speed against long-term maintainability and making the call.
• Partner with engineering teams across Apartment List to keep solutions consistent and cohesive for both renters and property partners.
• Raise the technical bar for the team through code reviews, pairing, and design discussions — mentoring engineers earlier in their careers.
• Contribute to Lister's technical roadmap, surfacing tradeoffs and opportunities that product and engineering leadership should know about.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience in organizations that prioritize quality, scalability, and performance.
• Strong grounding in computer science fundamentals — data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs.
• Experience with relational databases and data modeling.
• Working proficiency in at least one of Kotlin, Ruby, or TypeScript, with willingness to build fluency in the others.
• Experience working across the stack, from backend services through frontend applications.
• Practical experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Copilot, Claude Code, or similar) to speed up real engineering work, with sound judgment about when and how to apply them.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with product managers, designers, and analysts.

Requirements

• Mentorship experience for other engineers.
• Experience with search or recommendation systems.
• Experience working in an online marketplace.
• Familiarity with real-time systems, particularly in the context of optimizing latency and performance.

Benefits

• At Apartment List, we carefully consider a variety of factors to determine compensation for each position, including the role, level, and work.
• The US Total Target Compensation (TTC) for this position is:
• Zone 1: $171,000 - $207,000 TTC (including $154,000 - $182,000 base salary) + equity
• Zone 2: $158,000 - $191,000 TTC (including $142,000 - $168,000 base salary) + equity
• Zone 3: $145,000 - $176,000 TTC (including $130,000 - $155,000 base salary) + equity
• This reflects the compensation target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations.
• Please note, the compensation details provided do not include benefits and perks that we offer.
• We also rely on market indicators along with considering your work location, job related skills, experience and relevant education and training, to determine compensation that is fair and competitive for you.
• Apartment List will consider paying compensation near the higher of the range in exceptional circumstances, where candidates have the experience, credentials or expertise that would warrant such consideration.
• It is always our goal to hire exceptional talent and we would be happy to share more about compensation during the hiring process.