WHO WE ARE
Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) is the AI-Powered Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. Through the Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP), our vision is to make sophisticated marketing simple by unifying identity, intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single platform – powered by one of the industry’s largest proprietary databases and AI. Our enterprise customers across multiple verticals are empowered to personalize experiences with consumers at an individual level across every channel, delivering better results for marketing programs. Zeta was founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley and is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world. To learn more, go to www.zetaglobal.com.
The Opportunity
At Zeta Global, identity is at the core of our marketing cloud. The Identity team builds and operates backend services that power the Zeta Identity Graph - collecting, resolving, and maintaining billions of behavioral, demographic, and transactional signals. These services enable people-based marketing at scale, ensure trust and transparency in how identity data is managed, and provide critical APIs and event streams consumed across Zeta’s platform. Our systems support more than 235 million consumer profiles and process billions of events monthly, requiring services that are highly available, low-latency, and built to scale
We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer who brings strength in both backend distributed systems and data engineering. In this role, you’ll design APIs and event-driven services, scale our systems to handle rapidly growing data volumes, and modernize our platform for resilience, transparency, and performance.
You Will:
- Design and build backend services and APIs for identity resolution, graph transparency, and integrations.
- Develop and optimize event-driven pipelines and workflows processing billions of signals.
- Deploy and operate cloud-native services on EKS/Kubernetes, leveraging Helm for repeatable deployments.
- Ensure reliability, observability, and scalability across services and data pipelines.
- Collaborate across engineering, product, and data teams to deliver end-to-end identity solutions.
- Mentor engineers and influence architecture and roadmap
You Have:
- 5+ years of experience in backend and/or data engineering at scale.
- Strong skills in Python, Java, or Scala, with expertise in APIs, distributed systems, and event-driven design.
- Hands-on experience with Kafka (or similar), Spark/Hive/Flink, and workflow schedulers (Airflow/Luigi).
- Proficiency with Kubernetes (EKS preferred) and deployment practices (Helm, service meshes).
- Solid knowledge of SQL, data modelling, and cloud platforms (AWS).
- Familiarity with columnar / NoSQL databases (Aerospike, Snowflake, HBase, Scylla, Couchbase).
- Strong communication skills and a track record of driving technical direction and mentoring teams.
Bonus Skills:
- Experience with large-scale or multi-tenant distributed systems.
- Exposure to real-time streaming frameworks (Flink, Storm).
- Knowledge of open table formats (Iceberg, Hudi, Delta Lake).
- Background in security, compliance, or privacy related to identity systems.
BENEFITS & PERKS
- Unlimited PTO
- Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Employee Equity
- Employee Discounts, Virtual Wellness Classes, and Pet Insurance And more!!
SALARY RANGE
The salary range for this role is $150,000 - $200,000, depending on location and experience.
PEOPLE & CULTURE AT ZETA
Zeta considers applicants for employment without regard to, and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Zeta discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
We’re committed to building a workplace culture of trust and belonging, so everyone feels invited to bring their whole selves to work. We provide a forum for employees to celebrate, support and advocate for one another. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion here: https://zetaglobal.com/blog/a-look-into-zetas-ergs/
ZETA IN THE NEWS!
https://zetaglobal.com/press/?cat=press-releases
#LI-DD1
Skills Required
- 5+ years of experience in backend and/or data engineering at scale
- Strong skills in Python, Java, or Scala
- Expertise in APIs, distributed systems, and event-driven design
- Hands-on experience with Kafka or similar
- Experience with Spark/Hive/Flink and workflow schedulers like Airflow/Luigi
- Proficiency with Kubernetes and deployment practices
- Solid knowledge of SQL and data modeling
- Familiarity with columnar / NoSQL databases
- Strong communication skills
What the Team is Saying
Zeta Global Compensation & Benefits Highlights
How does Zeta Global ensure its pay and bonus plans are competitive?
Zeta Global supports competitive compensation through a mix of base pay, equity, performance incentives, financial benefits and employee feedback-informed rewards. The company’s total rewards approach connects compensation with ownership, financial planning and benefits that support employees’ broader well-being.
- Competitive pay and incentives: Zeta lists competitive pay, equity, performance bonuses and an employee stock purchase plan as part of its compensation and total rewards offerings. Employees also describe compensation as a strength. A software engineer said Zeta offers “good compensation,” “best appraisals and pay raise” and a “supportive work environment,” while a director cited “compensation” as one of the strengths of the company.
- Equity and ownership: Zeta offers company equity and an employee stock purchase plan, giving employees ways to participate in the company’s growth. Its broader financial benefits also include a 401(k) with company match, monthly financial workshops, commuter benefits and insurance coverage, reinforcing compensation as part of a larger financial wellness package.
- Performance-oriented rewards: Employee reviews describe Zeta’s compensation as tied to performance and growth. One employee said, “Zeta pays well,” while another said compensation is “within industry range and revised every year.” A finance analyst cited “great incentives,” and a director described Zeta as a place to “shape your career” with room to move up. (Comparably; Glassdoor reviews; Indeed reviews)
- Benefits that strengthen total rewards: Zeta’s rewards package extends beyond pay through health, dental and vision insurance, mental health benefits, pet insurance, flexible time off, parental leave, adoption assistance, fertility and family-building support, travel assistance for reproductive health procedures, volunteer days and wellness resources. The company also says it uses wellness surveys and employee feedback to shape benefits updates, including expanded parental leave and adoption assistance.
- External signals:
- Compensation sentiment: Employees on external review sites describe Zeta’s compensation as “good,” “great” and competitive, with reviews citing pay raises, incentives, benefits and performance-based earning potential. (Glassdoor reviews; Indeed reviews; Comparably)
- Benefits signals: External profile data lists company equity, performance bonuses, an employee stock purchase plan and a home-office stipend for remote employees.
- Financial wellness: Zeta’s benefits include 401(k) matching, financial workshops, insurance coverage and employee stock purchase participation.
Bottom line: Zeta Global’s compensation approach combines competitive pay, performance incentives, equity, stock purchase access and broad benefits, giving employees both near-term rewards and longer-term financial participation in the company’s growth.
Zeta Global Insights
What We Do
Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) is the AI Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. Through the Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP), our vision is to make sophisticated marketing simple by unifying identity, intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single platform – powered by one of the industry’s largest proprietary databases and AI. Our enterprise customers across multiple verticals are empowered to personalize experiences with consumers at an individual level across every channel, delivering better results for marketing programs. Zeta was founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley and is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world.
Why Work With Us
At Zeta, people have the freedom to think creatively, take initiative, and grow. We value curiosity, innovation, and teamwork, empowering everyone to use AI and technology in smarter ways to drive impact for clients, consumers, and each other while shaping the future together.
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Zeta Global Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
