Staff Software Architect $200,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
We are seeking Platform Architects to build the foundational systems that enable other engineering teams to deliver. In this role, you will focus on platform-level products where your decisions around APIs, architectural design, and technical documentation directly influence how multiple teams execute their work.
Example products in scope:
- TimeBack: An educational platform that supports Alpha School's 2-hour learning model (achieving 99th percentile test outcomes)
- Incept: A content generation platform producing personalized educational materials for diverse learning applications
- Crossover: An AI-driven hiring platform managing tens of thousands of applicants each month
- This is a design-intensive position: you will spend 50% of your time authoring specifications, API contracts, and technical decisions; 30% building intricate platform capabilities; and 20% conducting reviews and providing technical guidance. You hold architectural authority. Once aligned with the team, your specifications become binding.
You will join a compact team of capable engineers, enjoy substantial ownership, and operate without bureaucracy. You design it, you implement it, you maintain it.
What you will be doing
- Authoring detailed specifications prior to any implementation work
- Crafting APIs that ensure backward compatibility and future extensibility
- Producing Important Technical Decisions (ITDs) complete with justification and context
- Developing sophisticated platform features
- Conducting pull request reviews to maintain architectural coherence
What you will NOT be doing
- Extensive team leadership or direct people management
- Building straightforward application-level products
- Spending time in prolonged meetings
- Doing pure architectural work with no hands-on implementation
Candidate requirements
- A minimum of 5 years of professional software development experience
- At least 2 years spent designing systems in which other teams relied on your APIs or architectural decisions
- Demonstrated history of producing technical specifications or decisions that were implemented by others
- Practical experience integrating AI tools into your development workflow
Applying for a role? Here’s what to expect.
Crossover's skill assessment process combines innovative AI power with decades of human research, to take the guesswork, human bias, and pointless filters out of recruiting high-performing teams.
Chat-style
screening interview.
Cognitive 
aptitude test.
Prove real-world 
job skills.
Interview with the hiring manager.
Pass
proctored test.
Accept job offer.
Frequently asked questions
Reviews
Meet some people who've landed similar jobs
Recruitment sucks. So we’re fixing it.
The Olympics of work
It’s super hard to qualify—extreme quality standards ensure every single team member is at the top of their game.
Premium pay for premium talent
Over 50% of new hires double or triple their previous pay. Why? Because that’s what the best person in the world is worth.
Shortlist by skills, not bias
We don’t care where you went to school, what color your hair is, or whether we can pronounce your name. Just prove you’ve got the skills.
Join the world's largest community of 
AI-first remote workers.