Staff Software Engineer Jobs in California
Staff Software Engineer jobs in California are among the most actively hired senior engineering roles in the country, concentrated in enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, fintech, and consumer technology across every seniority level from senior engineer through principal. The largest hiring activity clusters in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego, where major employers such as Google, Apple, and Salesforce maintain deep engineering organizations. Distributed systems, backend platform engineering, and developer tooling are among the most in-demand specialties across California's technology sector. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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INTRODUCTION
At Disney, we’re storytellers. We make the impossible, possible. The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) is a world-class entertainment and technological leader. Walt’s passion was to continuously envision new ways to move audiences around the world—a passion that remains our touchstone in an enterprise that stretches from theme parks, resorts and a cruise line to sports, news, movies and a variety of other businesses. Uniting each endeavor is a commitment to creating and delivering unforgettable experiences — and we’re constantly looking for new ways to enhance these exciting experiences.
The Enterprise Technology & Data mission is to deliver technology solutions that align to business strategies while enabling enterprise efficiency and promoting cross-company collaborative innovation. Our group drives competitive advantage by enhancing our consumer experiences, enabling business growth, and advancing operational excellence.
TEAM DESCRIPTION
This role is located within the Enterprise Products Organization under the Financial Value Chain business solutions area. Finance Value Chains will be delivering Priority Business Solutions aligned with the enterprise architecture for the Financial Planning (EPM) value chain.
The P4 Sr. Software Engineer is a Staff-level technical leader responsible for the architecture, technical direction, and end-to-end reliability of the Oracle EPM applications used across the Walt Disney Company. This role goes beyond individual feature delivery to own cross-module architecture decisions, set engineering standards for the team, and mentor other engineers — while remaining a hands-on, technical individual contributor.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
1. Technical Architecture & Standards
- Architecture Ownership: Own the technical architecture and roadmap for Oracle EPM applications (Planning, FCCS, Data Management) supporting Disney’s Financial Planning value chain, ensuring design decisions scale across modules and integrations.
- Standards & Best Practices: Define and enforce coding, scripting, and integration standards for Calculation Scripts, Groovy, and EPM Integration Agent/REST API development across the engineering team.
- Technical Governance: Lead architecture and design reviews for new EPM features and integrations, ensuring solutions align with enterprise architecture principles and long-term platform stability.
2. Complex Feature & Integration Leadership
- End-to-End Ownership: Own delivery of the most complex, cross-module EPM initiatives, translating ambiguous business requirements into scalable technical designs with minimal oversight.
- Advanced Data Pipeline Design: Architect secure, resilient data pipelines connecting Oracle EPM to on-premises and cloud systems (e.g., SAP, Snowflake, upstream/downstream finance applications), optimizing for reliability and auditability.
- Performance & Scalability: Lead deep-dive diagnostics on the most demanding Essbase calculation scripts and business rules, driving platform-wide performance and capacity strategy rather than one-off fixes.
3. Technical Leadership & Mentorship
- Mentorship: Mentor Sr. and mid-level EPM engineers, elevating scripting practices, code quality, and troubleshooting rigor across the team.
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Serve as the principal technical liaison between engineering and Finance/FP&A stakeholders, shaping requirements and negotiating tradeoffs at the roadmap level.
- Escalation Authority: Act as the senior-most technical escalation point for production issues, owning root-cause resolution for the most critical cross-module failures.
- Peer Review Leadership: Own the code and design review process for the team, raising the bar on engineering rigor for configurations, scripts, and integration endpoints.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS
- Minimum of 7 years of technical experience in software engineering, with deep, demonstrated concentration in Oracle EPM architecture.
- Domain Mastery: Advanced expertise across multiple Oracle EPM modules (Planning, FCCS, Financial Consolidation and Close, Data Management), with a proven ability to architect solutions spanning modules.
- Scripting Mastery: Expert-level Calculation Script, Groovy, and Python scripting, with a track record of setting scripting standards adopted by other engineers.
- Data Management: Deep proficiency with multidimensional databases (Essbase), MDX queries, and enterprise-grade integrations via EPM Integration Agents or REST APIs.
- Engineering Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading technical design, driving engineering best practices (Git, testing frameworks, structured deployment pipelines), and setting technical direction for a team.
- Execution Mindset: Proven ability to balance strategic architecture work with hands-on delivery and production support at scale.
- Independence & Ambiguity: Track record of taking abstract, enterprise-level business strategy and translating it into concrete technical architecture with full autonomy.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Finance experience, ideally within Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) or Corporate Finance, is a plus
- Experience serving as a technical lead within Agile/Scrum environments is a plus
- Media & Entertainment experience is a plus
- Oracle EPM Certification is a plus
REQUIRED EDUCATION
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience
COMPENSATION
- The hiring range for this position in Burbank, CA is $158,100 - $211,900 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.
This position is with Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., which is part of a business we call The Walt Disney Company (Corporate).
Disney Worldwide Services, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.
The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.
See All 1,040+ Staff Software Engineer Jobs in California
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Find Staff Software Engineer JobsStaff Software Engineer Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Staff Software Engineer Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Google107

- Anthropic46

- Walmart42

- Rippling42

- Intuit37

Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software176
- Electronics & Hardware23
- Artificial Intelligence19
- Automotive15
- Cybersecurity15
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in staff software engineer jobs across California.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field
- Seven or more years of professional software engineering experience across multiple production systems
- Deep expertise in at least one primary language such as Java, Python, Go, or C++
- Demonstrated technical leadership including code review, architecture decisions, and mentoring engineers
- Experience designing and operating distributed systems or large-scale cloud infrastructure on AWS, GCP, or Azure
- Strong cross-functional collaboration skills working with product, design, and engineering leadership
Staff Software Engineer Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a staff software engineer in California?
Reaching the staff software engineer level in California typically requires a bachelor's degree in computer science or a closely related field combined with several years of progressively senior engineering experience. California does not require a state-issued license or registration for software engineers. Most engineers reach this level by demonstrating consistent impact on complex systems, leading technical design decisions, and mentoring junior colleagues at well-known California technology companies or startups before advancing into a formal staff title.
How much do staff software engineers make in California?
Staff software 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 staff software engineers in California?
Employers hiring staff software engineers in California right now include Google, Anthropic, and Walmart, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. California's density of large technology headquarters, enterprise software companies, and high-growth startups means openings appear across a broader range of industries here than in most other states.
Which California cities have the most staff software engineer jobs?
San Francisco, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View have the most staff software engineer openings in California. The Bay Area's concentration of major technology headquarters drives the highest volume, while Los Angeles and San Diego generate strong demand through their growing enterprise software, defense technology, and biotech engineering organizations.
Are there remote staff software engineer jobs in California?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 63% of staff software engineer openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting how naturally this work adapts to distributed collaboration. Platform and backend infrastructure roles tend to be the most fully remote, while positions tied to hardware, embedded systems, or on-site engineering teams more often require in-person presence.
How can I get hired as a staff software engineer in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is an associate or junior software engineer role at a California-based technology company, with a clear trajectory toward staff-level work. Large California employers such as Google, Meta, and Apple run structured new-graduate programs that place candidates into engineering rotations designed to build toward senior tracks. Building a strong portfolio of open-source contributions or personal projects and earning cloud certifications from providers such as AWS or Google Cloud gives candidates a meaningful edge when competing for early-career positions that can lead to staff-level roles over time.
Where can I find and apply to staff software engineer jobs in California?
You can find and apply to staff software engineer jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current California openings across the state's major engineering markets. Find the roles that fit your background and apply directly through each listing.
See All 1,040+ Staff Software Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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