What Staff Software Engineering Jobs Ask For
Across 1,498 open Staff Software Engineering postings that list skills, the ones mentioned most often are ai, cloud, api.
Updated November 1, 2026
1,507 open Staff Software Engineering postings. The percentages below are measured over the 1,498 of them that list skills at all.
| Skill | Mentioned in |
|---|---|
| ai | 75% |
| cloud | 51% |
| api | 44% |
| distributed-systems | 43% |
| python | 42% |
| observability | 35% |
| aws | 30% |
| machine-learning | 29% |
| kubernetes | 27% |
| agentic-ai | 26% |
| networking | 24% |
| gcp | 23% |
| llm | 23% |
| java | 23% |
| cpp | 22% |
| automation | 22% |
| typescript | 20% |
| react | 20% |
| ci-cd | 20% |
| azure | 14% |
| postgresql | 13% |
| rust | 13% |
| docker | 12% |
| sql | 12% |
| kafka | 11% |
| cloud-native | 11% |
| anthropic | 11% |
| terraform | 11% |
| linux | 10% |
| microservices | 9% |
| distributed-computing | 9% |
| data-modeling | 9% |
| event-driven-architecture | 9% |
| agile | 9% |
| developer-experience | 9% |
| nlp | 9% |
| infrastructure-as-code | 9% |
| data-pipelines | 9% |
| javascript | 8% |
| analytics | 8% |
"Mentioned in" counts postings that name the skill anywhere — including as a nice-to-have — so treat it as the ceiling, not the bar.
Browse 1,507 open Staff Software Engineering jobs →
Across all Software Engineering levels
Most Software Engineering postings never state a level. This wider list covers them too.
- ai 8,981
- cloud 7,622
- api 7,051
- python 6,262
- ci-cd 4,618
- aws 4,528
- java 4,527
- distributed-systems 3,754
- kubernetes 3,690
- automation 3,627
- sql 3,321
- typescript 3,228