What Staff Software Engineering Jobs Ask For
Across 753 open Staff Software Engineering postings that list skills, the ones mentioned most often are ai, cloud, distributed-systems.
Updated October 27, 2026
753 open Staff Software Engineering postings. The percentages below are measured over the 753 of them that list skills at all.
| Skill | Mentioned in |
|---|---|
| ai | 84% |
| cloud | 51% |
| distributed-systems | 45% |
| python | 43% |
| api | 42% |
| observability | 36% |
| aws | 33% |
| kubernetes | 32% |
| machine-learning | 30% |
| agentic-ai | 28% |
| automation | 25% |
| java | 23% |
| ci-cd | 23% |
| typescript | 22% |
| llm | 22% |
| cpp | 20% |
| analytics | 19% |
| networking | 18% |
| gcp | 18% |
| react | 17% |
| azure | 16% |
| rust | 16% |
| postgresql | 14% |
| sql | 13% |
| cloud-native | 12% |
| terraform | 12% |
| anthropic | 12% |
| infrastructure-as-code | 12% |
| event-driven-architecture | 11% |
| kafka | 11% |
| linux | 11% |
| data-pipelines | 10% |
| databricks | 10% |
| developer-experience | 10% |
| lakehouse | 10% |
| unity | 9% |
| agile | 8% |
| docker | 8% |
| microservices | 8% |
| unity-catalog | 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 753 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 4,154
- python 2,773
- cloud 2,690
- api 2,064
- distributed-systems 1,554
- aws 1,534
- machine-learning 1,432
- kubernetes 1,418
- automation 1,365
- observability 1,322
- cpp 1,309
- ci-cd 1,309