Staff Engineer Jobs in Washington
Staff Engineer jobs in Washington are among the most active in the country, concentrated in software systems, cloud infrastructure, and aerospace engineering, with demand at every level from early-career engineers through principal-level staff. Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond anchor most of the hiring, where established employers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Boeing maintain large engineering organizations and open roles across distributed systems, hardware, and platform engineering. Specialties in machine learning infrastructure, site reliability, and embedded systems see the most consistent demand. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
Find Staff Engineer JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 156+ Staff Engineer jobs
Company and benefits
Why UKG:
At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That’s what we do.
We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you’ll get flexibility that’s real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters—and so do you.
***UKG is unable to offer sponsorship for this position.***
Sr. Staff Forward Deployed Engineer
Role Overview
We are seeking a Senior Staff Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to lead complex enterprise engagements across UKG’s HCM, Payroll, and Workforce Management ecosystem.
This role operates as a principal architect and strategic advisor, combining enterprise systems design, agentic AI architecture, and hands-on engineering.
You will embed with strategic customers to deliver production-grade integrations, AI-enabled workflows, and reusable platform patterns that accelerate time-to-value and expansion.
This is not traditional consulting — you will ship production systems and influence product and platform direction.
Why This Role Matters
You will directly shape how enterprise customers adopt UKG’s platform and AI capabilities.
This role drives customer outcomes, platform leverage, and product evolution — forming a critical link between enterprise reality and engineering strategy.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead architecture for complex enterprise ecosystems across HCM, Payroll, WFM, ERP, IAM, and adjacent systems
- Design and deliver production-grade integrations, automation, and AI-enabled workflows
- Advise customers on agentic AI adoption, including orchestration, decisioning, and human-in-the-loop systems
- Translate business problems into scalable architectures combining systems + AI capabilities
- Act as a trusted technical advisor to CIO/CTO-level stakeholders
- Drive reusable accelerators, templates, and reference architectures
- Mentor and guide other FDEs; set technical standards and best practices
- Influence product roadmap through structured field feedback
Agentic AI Leadership:
- Guide enterprise customers on safe, compliant, and scalable AI adoption
- Design and prototype agentic workflows integrated with enterprise systems
- Identify high-value use cases for AI-driven automation and orchestration
- Balance AI innovation with enterprise constraints (security, governance, auditability)
- Contribute reusable AI patterns and reference implementations to the platform
Qualifications
- 10+ years in software engineering, architecture, or distributed systems
- Deep experience with enterprise integrations (APIs, event-driven systems, data pipelines, IAM)
- Strong cloud architecture experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
- Experience building production-grade systems in enterprise environments
- Strong customer-facing and executive communication skills
- Ability to operate autonomously and lead ambiguous, high-impact initiatives
AI / Systems Expertise:
- Experience with AI-enabled systems, LLMs, copilots, or automation frameworks
- Familiarity with agentic AI concepts (agents, orchestration, tool use)
- Understanding of enterprise AI constraints (security, privacy, compliance)
- Ability to translate AI strategy into production-ready architectures
- Strong systems thinking across human + AI + system interactions
Success Metrics:
- Reduction in enterprise Time-to-Value
- Successful, scalable production deployments
- Reusable assets and AI patterns adopted across customers
- Expansion ARR influenced
- Executive-level customer satisfaction
Company Overview:
UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry — because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com.
Equal Opportunity Employer
UKG is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, disability, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.
View The EEO Know Your Rights poster
UKG participates in E-Verify.
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process
For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email UKGCareers@ukg.com.
The pay range for this position is $145,600 to $240,695. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation. Learn more about UKG’s benefits and rewards at https://www.ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits
UKG will never ask you for a copy of your driver’s license, social security card, or passport during a job inter
All job descriptions are written to accurately reflect the open job and include general work responsibilities. They do not present a comprehensive, detailed inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required for the job. Management reserves the right to revise the job or require that other or different tasks be performed if or when circumstances change.
Company and benefits
Why UKG:
At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That’s what we do.
We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you’ll get flexibility that’s real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters—and so do you.
***UKG is unable to offer sponsorship for this position.***
Sr. Staff Forward Deployed Engineer
Role Overview
We are seeking a Senior Staff Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to lead complex enterprise engagements across UKG’s HCM, Payroll, and Workforce Management ecosystem.
This role operates as a principal architect and strategic advisor, combining enterprise systems design, agentic AI architecture, and hands-on engineering.
You will embed with strategic customers to deliver production-grade integrations, AI-enabled workflows, and reusable platform patterns that accelerate time-to-value and expansion.
This is not traditional consulting — you will ship production systems and influence product and platform direction.
Why This Role Matters
You will directly shape how enterprise customers adopt UKG’s platform and AI capabilities.
This role drives customer outcomes, platform leverage, and product evolution — forming a critical link between enterprise reality and engineering strategy.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead architecture for complex enterprise ecosystems across HCM, Payroll, WFM, ERP, IAM, and adjacent systems
- Design and deliver production-grade integrations, automation, and AI-enabled workflows
- Advise customers on agentic AI adoption, including orchestration, decisioning, and human-in-the-loop systems
- Translate business problems into scalable architectures combining systems + AI capabilities
- Act as a trusted technical advisor to CIO/CTO-level stakeholders
- Drive reusable accelerators, templates, and reference architectures
- Mentor and guide other FDEs; set technical standards and best practices
- Influence product roadmap through structured field feedback
Agentic AI Leadership:
- Guide enterprise customers on safe, compliant, and scalable AI adoption
- Design and prototype agentic workflows integrated with enterprise systems
- Identify high-value use cases for AI-driven automation and orchestration
- Balance AI innovation with enterprise constraints (security, governance, auditability)
- Contribute reusable AI patterns and reference implementations to the platform
Qualifications
- 10+ years in software engineering, architecture, or distributed systems
- Deep experience with enterprise integrations (APIs, event-driven systems, data pipelines, IAM)
- Strong cloud architecture experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
- Experience building production-grade systems in enterprise environments
- Strong customer-facing and executive communication skills
- Ability to operate autonomously and lead ambiguous, high-impact initiatives
AI / Systems Expertise:
- Experience with AI-enabled systems, LLMs, copilots, or automation frameworks
- Familiarity with agentic AI concepts (agents, orchestration, tool use)
- Understanding of enterprise AI constraints (security, privacy, compliance)
- Ability to translate AI strategy into production-ready architectures
- Strong systems thinking across human + AI + system interactions
Success Metrics:
- Reduction in enterprise Time-to-Value
- Successful, scalable production deployments
- Reusable assets and AI patterns adopted across customers
- Expansion ARR influenced
- Executive-level customer satisfaction
Company Overview:
UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry — because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com.
Equal Opportunity Employer
UKG is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, disability, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.
View The EEO Know Your Rights poster
UKG participates in E-Verify.
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process
For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email UKGCareers@ukg.com.
The pay range for this position is $145,600 to $240,695. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation. Learn more about UKG’s benefits and rewards at https://www.ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits
UKG will never ask you for a copy of your driver’s license, social security card, or passport during a job inter
All job descriptions are written to accurately reflect the open job and include general work responsibilities. They do not present a comprehensive, detailed inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required for the job. Management reserves the right to revise the job or require that other or different tasks be performed if or when circumstances change.
See All 156+ Staff Engineer Jobs in Washington
Find roles in Washington that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Staff Engineer JobsStaff Engineer Jobs by City in Washington
Where Washington roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Staff Engineer Job Market in Washington
A snapshot from current Washington openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Google18
- GEICO15
- Rippling13
- Okta6
- UKG5
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software28
- Insurance10
- Consulting & Professional Services5
- Retail4
- Investment & Asset Management4
What Washington Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in staff engineer jobs across Washington.
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a closely related technical field required
- Seven or more years of software or systems engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership
- Proven ability to define architecture decisions and mentor engineers across multiple teams
- Deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud platforms, or embedded software depending on the discipline
- Experience driving cross-functional technical projects from design through production delivery
- Strong written and verbal communication skills for technical documentation and stakeholder alignment
Staff Engineer Jobs in Washington: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a staff engineer in Washington?
Staff engineer roles in Washington are typically reached through a combination of formal education and accumulated engineering experience rather than a state-issued license. Most employers require a bachelor's degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related field, though many Washington technology and aerospace employers also recognize equivalent experience. The clearest path is building depth in a specialized domain, taking on technical leadership within project teams, and demonstrating the ability to influence architecture decisions before pursuing a staff-level title.
Which companies hire staff engineers in Washington?
Employers hiring staff engineers in Washington right now include Google, GEICO, and Rippling, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Washington's concentration of technology headquarters and aerospace manufacturers means staff engineer openings appear consistently across both software-focused and hardware-focused organizations throughout the state.
Which Washington cities have the most staff engineer jobs?
Seattle, Bellevue, and Kirkland have the most staff engineer openings in Washington. Seattle and Bellevue drive the majority of listings because of the dense cluster of technology companies and cloud platform teams headquartered there, while Redmond reflects Microsoft's large engineering campus and Everett draws aerospace engineers tied to major manufacturing operations in that corridor.
Are there remote staff engineer jobs in Washington?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 58% of staff engineer openings tied to Washington are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting how much of the work happens in code, design documents, and distributed systems rather than on a physical site. The roles most likely to be fully remote tend to be in software platform, backend infrastructure, and developer tooling, while staff engineers embedded in hardware, embedded systems, or manufacturing programs typically require on-site presence.
How can I get hired as a staff engineer in Washington with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is starting in a software engineer or systems engineer role and building toward staff-level scope over time. Large Washington employers like Microsoft and Amazon run structured new-graduate hiring programs that place engineers into teams where mentorship and promotion tracks are formalized. Taking on technical design work, writing architecture proposals, and leading a project end-to-end within an existing role are the activities that convert an engineer into a staff-level candidate. A strong portfolio of system design decisions and documentation gives Washington candidates a concrete edge when applying.
Where can I find and apply to staff engineer jobs in Washington?
You can find and apply to staff engineer jobs in Washington on Migrate Mate, which lists current Washington openings across technology, aerospace, and related industries. Find roles that fit your experience and apply directly to each one.
See All 156+ Staff Engineer Jobs in Washington
Find roles in Washington that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Staff Engineer Jobs