Software Engineer - Code Understanding [IC2]

About Sourcegraph

Everything is changing in how software gets built, and Sourcegraph is at the center of that transformation. With Code Search, Deep Search, and MCP, Sourcegraph is the world’s most powerful code intelligence platform that developers and agents rely on to navigate, understand, and operate on massive, complex codebases with speed and confidence. Teams at companies like Stripe, Uber, and Dropbox rely on Sourcegraph to ship faster and with higher quality. We’re backed by a16z, Sequoia, and Redpoint, and proud to operate as a globally distributed team that values high agency, direct communication, and a deep love for developers and their craft. If you want to contribute to infrastructure that empowers millions of developers to do their best work - join us.

Hours & Location

While we hire almost anywhere in the world, we have a preference for someone to reside in North America or South America for this role. However, if you feel qualified, we welcome you to apply regardless of location. Working hours must overlap with EST for at least 20 hours/week.

Why this job is exciting

The Code Understanding team owns the products that sit closest to the developer: Code Search, Code Intel, Deep Search, Code Review, and the APIs that empower others to use them. You'll be building features that users see and interact with every day, from agentic-powered code review to evergreen documentation powered by agents. This is a product team, not a platform team, and the work you do will directly shape how developers experience Sourcegraph.

Within one month, you will…

• Familiarize yourself with Sourcegraph’s codebase, understanding the architecture and the problems it solves for our users.
• Start contributing to our current focus areas by working on tasks related to the end-to-end user experience.
• Engage with your team members, learning from their experiences and sharing your insights to contribute to the product’s direction.

Within three months, you will…

• Take ownership of smaller features and ship them, focusing on improving user engagement and satisfaction.
• Contribute to our team's focus areas by working on end-to-end user experience tasks.
• Collaborate with your teammates and design engineers to translate user feedback into product requirements and begin to influence the product’s future direction.

Within six months, you will…

• Be fully ramped up and able to anticipate our customers' needs.
• Establish yourself as a key contributor to the team, known for your expertise in both the technical and product aspects of our work.
• Ship features across the stack, from React and SvelteKit frontends, through GraphQL APIs, to backend services written in Go, interfacing with SQL relational storage, Redis caching, and flexible blob storage.

About You

You are a passionate Full-stack Software Engineer with 2-5 years of hands-on experience, looking for a role where you can grow while shipping work that matters. Your coding skills are solid; you are proficient in your primary focus area with a strong generalist skill set, and you are starting to develop internal expertise. You are eager to continue building your track record of excellence, autonomy, and expertise in solving complex software engineering challenges. You are used to clarifying the scope of your projects and are comfortable delivering projects of medium to high technical risk. While you are task-oriented and able to follow directions, you are also demonstrating a growing sense of independence in your work. You are self-sufficient, capable of delivering results with minimal guidance, and unafraid to take the lead on small and mid-sized projects. You are adaptable, thriving in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. You seek out work rather than wait for it, and you take ownership of it. You actively contribute to a collaborative, respectful team culture and collaborate across teams on your direct areas of work. You communicate thoughtfully and proactively to keep stakeholders informed and identify risks. You escalate early when blocked or when you see a better way to achieve goals.

Technical Skills

• Proficient in Go and have exposure to scaling and concurrency.
• Proficient with TypeScript and JavaScript frameworks; experience with React and SvelteKit is a plus.
• Some knowledge of GraphQL.
• Comfortable with Docker and familiar with Kubernetes.
• Comfortable interacting with relational databases; PostgreSQL experience is a plus.
• Comfortable with the command-line interface and bash scripting.
• Experience working closely with Product and Design teams.
• Comfortable in a multi-service environment.
• Familiar with macOS and Linux platforms.
• Use agentic coding tools but understand and own the code they submit.

Nice-to-haves

• Familiar with working with product ergonomics and have experience designing user-facing features.
• Experience working async-first in a distributed remote team.
• Experience with customer-facing work: gathering requirements, incorporating feedback, and shipping with the customer in mind.

Level

This job is an IC2.

Compensation

We pay you an above-average salary because we want to hire the best people who are fully focused on helping Sourcegraph succeed, not worried about paying bills. As an open and transparent company that values competitive compensation, our compensation ranges are visible to every single Sourcegraph teammate. Your salary is determined by your pay band for the IC2 job level. For determining pay bands, we use a number of market and data-driven salary sources, along with your location zone, and target the high-end of the range to ensure we’re always paying above market regardless of where you live in the world. Both U.S. and international locations are divided into one of four zones, determined by the cost of labor index for each area. The salary for a successful candidate will be based on level, job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and location zone. Please note that the salaries below may be adjusted in the future.

The target compensation for this role is based on the IC2 pay band for your zone. The start of the IC2 pay band for each zone is listed below:

• Zone 1: $160,000
• Zone 2: $128,000
• Zone 3: $96,000
• Zone 4: $64,000

Please speak with a recruiter for additional information regarding zone locations. In addition to our cash compensation, we offer equity (because when we succeed as a company, we want you to succeed, too) and generous perks & benefits.

Interview Process

Below is the interview process you can expect for this role. It may look like a lot of steps, but rest assured that we move quickly and the steps are designed to help you get the information needed to determine if we’re the right fit for you. Interviewing is a two-way street, after all! We expect the interview process to take 4.5 hours in total.

Introduction Stage

• Recruiter Screen (30m)
• Technical Screen / Resume Deep Dive (45m)

Team Interview Stage

• Code Walkthrough (60m)
• Coding Exercise (60m)
• Cross-functional Team Collaboration / Values (45m)

Final Interview Stage

• Leadership (30m)

We check references and conduct your background check. Please note - you are welcome to request additional conversations with anyone you would like to meet, but didn’t get to meet during the interview process.

Learn more about us

You can learn more about what it is like to work at Sourcegraph by reading our handbook. We are an ambitious team who are collectively working hard to build the most influential company in the world. You can read more about our culture, competitive compensation and benefits here. Sourcegraph is an equal opportunity workplace; we welcome people from all backgrounds. Sourcegraph participates in E-Verify for U.S. Employees.

Key skills/competency

• Software Engineering
• Code Understanding
• Go
• TypeScript
• JavaScript
• React
• SvelteKit
• GraphQL
• Docker
• Kubernetes