Senior Full Stack Engineer Jobs in California
Senior Full Stack Engineer jobs in California are among the most active in the country, concentrated in technology, fintech, enterprise software, and digital media across a market that demands talent at every level from mid-career engineers to principal-level architects. The heaviest hiring is in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego, where established employers like Google, Salesforce, and Qualcomm maintain large engineering teams and consistently recruit at the senior level. The most in-demand specialties include distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, and React or Node.js full stack development. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 3 of 432+ Senior Full Stack Engineer jobs
About Shield AI:
Shield AI is a defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. We build autonomy systems for air, maritime, space, and other platforms operating in complex and contested environments.
Forge is the engineering platform used to build, integrate, test, and operate Hivemind capabilities. It connects autonomy developers with the applications, services, compute, data, and workflows they need to move from local development to deployed systems.
Job Description:
We are looking for a full-stack engineer interested in customer-facing products, developer tools, and AI-assisted workflows. You will partner with internal subject-matter experts to build an extensible application platform and complete applications on it.
Shield AI’s Hivemind developers are the platform’s primary design partners and proving ground. Forge is also designed for external engineering teams to adopt, extend, and integrate into their own environments.
You will help evolve Forge into an integrated engineering environment with shared foundations for APIs, user interfaces, extensions, model integrations, and agent tools. Working across frontend architecture, backend services, platform contracts, and deployment, you will validate the platform through real workflows. Your work will help engineers understand complex systems, develop autonomy software, investigate failures, and deliver reliable capabilities faster.
What you'll do:
- Build and operate a full-stack platform embedded in the workflows used to train, validate, and deploy the AI Pilot.
- Design a composable UI architecture that lets applications contribute widgets, dashboards, commands, and shared resource context.
- Define typed, versioned contracts between the platform and independently developed Forge applications.
- Create workflows for teams to package, publish, configure, install, upgrade, and disable applications.
- Enable Forge’s native AI experiences and external agent harnesses to understand active context, invoke authorized tools, navigate applications, and compose dashboards.
- Deliver consistent application behavior across local-development and remote-cluster environments.
- Partner with simulation, autonomy, and ML subject-matter experts to build initial applications, validate the platform against real workflows, and incorporate what you learn.
- Work across infrastructure, security, product, and design to shape the platform’s architecture and engineering practices.
Key outcomes:
- Applications behave consistently across local-development and remote-cluster environments, even when their deployment and service lifecycles differ.
- Application developers can move quickly using clear contracts, examples, documentation, and authoring guides.
- Hivemind teams can develop, integrate, test, and diagnose autonomy capabilities more quickly using Forge applications and platform services.
- Users can combine applications, tools, and shared context into persistent workflows tailored to their needs and share those workflows within their organization.
- Internal teams and external customers can build integrated Forge applications that extend these workflows without modifying the core platform.
- Forge’s embedded AI and external agent harnesses can explore and operate the same catalog of platform tools through shared contracts.
Required qualifications:
- Experience owning production full-stack applications from design and implementation through rollout and support.
- Strong proficiency with TypeScript and React or an equivalent modern web stack.
- Experience building production backend services in Go, Python, Rust, or a comparable language.
- Experience designing typed, versioned APIs and contracts between independently deployed components.
- Strong knowledge of web and distributed-system architecture, including state management, routing, asynchronous communication, browser security, authentication, authorization, and failure handling.
- Ability to build intuitive technical tools for engineers and test them at the unit, integration, and system levels.
- Sound judgment about when to extend an existing system, introduce an abstraction, or keep a solution intentionally small.
- Clear communication skills and the ability to work across frontend, backend, infrastructure, and product disciplines.
Preferred qualifications:
- Strong proficiency with TypeScript and React or an equivalent modern web stack.
- Experience building production backend services in Go, Python, Rust, or a comparable language.
- Experience designing typed, versioned APIs and contracts between independently deployed components.
- Strong knowledge of web and distributed-system architecture, including state management, routing, asynchronous communication, browser security, authentication, authorization, and failure handling.
- Ability to build intuitive technical tools for engineers and test them at the unit, integration, and system levels.
- Sound judgment about when to extend an existing system, introduce an abstraction, or keep a solution intentionally small.
- Clear communication skills and the ability to work across frontend, backend, infrastructure, and product disciplines.
Why join us:
- Connect your work directly to the mission. The platform and applications you build help engineers develop, validate, and deliver the autonomy software behind Hivemind.
- Define human-and-agent workflows. Design how engineers and AI agents use the same platform tools while preserving user control, security, and accountability.
- Own complete workflows. Work across user experience, frontend architecture, backend services, APIs, deployment, and operations.
- Build alongside engaged users. Partner with engineers solving autonomy, simulation, data, and infrastructure problems, and see the direct effect of your decisions.
Full-time regular employee offer package:
About Shield AI:
Shield AI is a defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. We build autonomy systems for air, maritime, space, and other platforms operating in complex and contested environments.
Forge is the engineering platform used to build, integrate, test, and operate Hivemind capabilities. It connects autonomy developers with the applications, services, compute, data, and workflows they need to move from local development to deployed systems.
Job Description:
We are looking for a full-stack engineer interested in customer-facing products, developer tools, and AI-assisted workflows. You will partner with internal subject-matter experts to build an extensible application platform and complete applications on it.
Shield AI’s Hivemind developers are the platform’s primary design partners and proving ground. Forge is also designed for external engineering teams to adopt, extend, and integrate into their own environments.
You will help evolve Forge into an integrated engineering environment with shared foundations for APIs, user interfaces, extensions, model integrations, and agent tools. Working across frontend architecture, backend services, platform contracts, and deployment, you will validate the platform through real workflows. Your work will help engineers understand complex systems, develop autonomy software, investigate failures, and deliver reliable capabilities faster.
What you'll do:
- Build and operate a full-stack platform embedded in the workflows used to train, validate, and deploy the AI Pilot.
- Design a composable UI architecture that lets applications contribute widgets, dashboards, commands, and shared resource context.
- Define typed, versioned contracts between the platform and independently developed Forge applications.
- Create workflows for teams to package, publish, configure, install, upgrade, and disable applications.
- Enable Forge’s native AI experiences and external agent harnesses to understand active context, invoke authorized tools, navigate applications, and compose dashboards.
- Deliver consistent application behavior across local-development and remote-cluster environments.
- Partner with simulation, autonomy, and ML subject-matter experts to build initial applications, validate the platform against real workflows, and incorporate what you learn.
- Work across infrastructure, security, product, and design to shape the platform’s architecture and engineering practices.
Key outcomes:
- Applications behave consistently across local-development and remote-cluster environments, even when their deployment and service lifecycles differ.
- Application developers can move quickly using clear contracts, examples, documentation, and authoring guides.
- Hivemind teams can develop, integrate, test, and diagnose autonomy capabilities more quickly using Forge applications and platform services.
- Users can combine applications, tools, and shared context into persistent workflows tailored to their needs and share those workflows within their organization.
- Internal teams and external customers can build integrated Forge applications that extend these workflows without modifying the core platform.
- Forge’s embedded AI and external agent harnesses can explore and operate the same catalog of platform tools through shared contracts.
Required qualifications:
- Experience owning production full-stack applications from design and implementation through rollout and support.
- Strong proficiency with TypeScript and React or an equivalent modern web stack.
- Experience building production backend services in Go, Python, Rust, or a comparable language.
- Experience designing typed, versioned APIs and contracts between independently deployed components.
- Strong knowledge of web and distributed-system architecture, including state management, routing, asynchronous communication, browser security, authentication, authorization, and failure handling.
- Ability to build intuitive technical tools for engineers and test them at the unit, integration, and system levels.
- Sound judgment about when to extend an existing system, introduce an abstraction, or keep a solution intentionally small.
- Clear communication skills and the ability to work across frontend, backend, infrastructure, and product disciplines.
Preferred qualifications:
- Strong proficiency with TypeScript and React or an equivalent modern web stack.
- Experience building production backend services in Go, Python, Rust, or a comparable language.
- Experience designing typed, versioned APIs and contracts between independently deployed components.
- Strong knowledge of web and distributed-system architecture, including state management, routing, asynchronous communication, browser security, authentication, authorization, and failure handling.
- Ability to build intuitive technical tools for engineers and test them at the unit, integration, and system levels.
- Sound judgment about when to extend an existing system, introduce an abstraction, or keep a solution intentionally small.
- Clear communication skills and the ability to work across frontend, backend, infrastructure, and product disciplines.
Why join us:
- Connect your work directly to the mission. The platform and applications you build help engineers develop, validate, and deliver the autonomy software behind Hivemind.
- Define human-and-agent workflows. Design how engineers and AI agents use the same platform tools while preserving user control, security, and accountability.
- Own complete workflows. Work across user experience, frontend architecture, backend services, APIs, deployment, and operations.
- Build alongside engaged users. Partner with engineers solving autonomy, simulation, data, and infrastructure problems, and see the direct effect of your decisions.
Full-time regular employee offer package:
See All 432+ Senior Full Stack Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find JobsSenior Full Stack Engineer Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Senior Full Stack Engineer Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- SpaceX23
- OpenAI20
- Rippling13
- Apple9
- Google8
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software59
- Science & Research15
- Consulting & Professional Services9
- Aerospace & Defense6
- Artificial Intelligence6
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in senior full stack engineer jobs across California.
- Five or more years of professional full stack development experience with production systems
- Proficiency in at least one major front-end framework such as React, Angular, or Vue
- Strong back-end experience in Node.js, Python, Java, or Go with RESTful or GraphQL APIs
- Hands-on experience designing and deploying on AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure infrastructure
- Demonstrated ability to mentor junior engineers and lead technical design discussions
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines, containerization tools like Docker, and Kubernetes orchestration
Senior Full Stack Engineer Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a senior full stack engineer in California?
Senior full stack engineers in California typically reach the role through a combination of a computer science or software engineering degree and several years of progressive professional experience. California does not require a state-issued license for software engineers, so the path centers on building a portfolio of production work, deepening expertise in both front-end and back-end systems, and demonstrating leadership on engineering teams. Employers in California's tech-dense markets weigh hands-on project history and system design ability heavily in hiring decisions.
How much do senior full stack engineers make in California?
Senior full stack engineers in California earn a median of about $174,410 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $105,060 for the lowest 10% to over $272,670 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire senior full stack engineers in California?
Employers hiring senior full stack engineers in California right now include SpaceX, OpenAI, and Rippling, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. California's concentration of technology headquarters, enterprise software companies, and well-funded startups means demand for senior-level engineers stays consistent across a wide range of sectors throughout the year.
Which California cities have the most senior full stack engineer jobs?
San Francisco, San Jose, and Mountain View are the California cities with the most senior full stack engineer openings, reflecting the concentration of technology companies, enterprise software firms, and venture-backed startups across the Bay Area and Southern California. The San Francisco Bay Area leads due to the density of major tech headquarters, while Los Angeles and San Diego draw volume from media technology, defense contractors, and a growing startup ecosystem.
Are there remote senior full stack engineer jobs in California?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 59% of senior full stack engineer openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting how well the role translates to distributed work. Back-end development, API design, and architecture work are the most commonly offered in fully remote arrangements, while roles involving close collaboration with on-site hardware or embedded systems teams are more likely to require in-person presence.
How can I get hired as a senior full stack engineer in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is securing an associate or junior software engineer role at a California-based technology company and building toward a senior title through demonstrated project ownership. Large California employers like those in the Bay Area tech sector and enterprise software companies in Los Angeles run new-grad programs and engineering rotations that open the door without years of prior experience. Lateral moves from QA engineering, DevOps, or front-end specialist roles are also common. A strong portfolio of deployed projects or contributions to open-source work gives candidates a meaningful edge in California's competitive hiring market.
Where can I find and apply to senior full stack engineer jobs in California?
You can find and apply to senior full stack engineer jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current California openings across a range of employers and specialties. Find the roles that fit your experience and location preferences and apply directly through the listings.
See All 432+ Senior Full Stack Engineer Jobs in California
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