Staff Software Engineer (Java) - AI & Developer Experience

Reposted 22 Days Ago
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Geneva, CHE
Hybrid
Senior level
Artificial Intelligence • Cloud • Security • Software
Sonar is the trust & verification layer for AI and agentic coding, and the industry standard for automated code review.
The Role
As a Senior Software Engineer, you will develop and expand SonarQube for IDE, integrate new tools, mentor team members, and promote code quality and security in AI-assisted development.
Summary Generated by Built In

Who is Sonar?

Sonar is driving the future of agent-centric software development. As the leader in AI code review and verification, we solve a critical problem: ensuring that software generated by AI-assisted developers or autonomous agents is reliable, secure, and maintainable.

Integrating seamlessly with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini, and Devin, we help over 75% of the Fortune 100 build trusted, reliable, compliant software. Customers who use Sonar are 44% less likely to report an outage due to AI-generated code.

We believe code verification is the critical missing link in the Agent-Centric Development Cycle (AC/DC). Industry giants like Nvidia, ServiceNow, Booking.com, Goldman Sachs, AstraZeneca, and Ford Motor Company.count on us to provide independent, explainable, consistent review and governance of their AI-generated code via products like:

  • SonarQube: The world’s leading AI code review and verification platform.

  • SonarQube Foundation Agent: Currently topping the leaderboards for agentic software repair.

  • SonarSweep & Sonar Context Augmentation: Providing the enterprise-grade context and constraints agents need to be truly effective.

Our team operates across global hubs in Austin, Bochum, Dubai, Geneva, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington D.C. We move with a mindset we call CODE:

  • Committed to our customers and community.

  • Obsessed with quality.

  • Deliberate in our decisions.

  • Effective as one team.

With over $400M in revenue and profitable, fast-paced growth, we are building the backbone of the AI software revolution. If you’re hungry to have an impact, want to build at a fast pace, and ready to work at the forefront of AI, we want to hear from you.

Position description

At Sonar, our team owns the external development experiences, including the SonarQube IDE Extensions (VS Code, IntelliJ, Visual Studio) and the Sonar Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. With over 1 million active users, we operate at a scale few developer tools achieve. The tools we build here are on the critical path for the world’s most impactful engineering teams, having a tangible, high-stakes impact on the global software supply chain.
 
We are navigating a massive industry shift from manually written to AI-co-authored code. As a Senior/Staff member of the IDE Experience squad, you will define the vision for this hybrid engineering future, architecting an "inner loop" that anticipates the needs of both human engineers and AI Agents. You will build the critical infrastructure that empowers the engineers to move fast, ensuring that all code is "born clean" and secure before a PR is ever opened.

What you will do

  • Build the Real-Time Feedback Loop. You will design and implement intelligent guidance systems that proactively steer both developers and AI agents toward secure patterns. Your mission is to ensure that security flaws and architectural drift are eliminated before a PR is opened.
  • Lead the Technical Evolution. You’ll drive architectural decisions for the IDE Extensions and their backend. You will solve for hard constraints: managing memory and CPU footprint, providing low-latency responses, and ensuring we never block the UI thread to protect the engineer's flow state.
  • Architect the "Context Engine" for AI Agents. You will contribute to the development of the Sonar MCP Server and Sonar CLI, allowing local AI Agents (like Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, etc.) to "ask" for project rules and security context before they generate code.
  • Champion a Unified Experience. You will ensure our tools feel "native" in every IDE while sharing a robust logic core. You will bridge the gap between platform-specific implementations (TypeScript/C#) and our shared backend (Java) to prevent feature fragmentation across the ecosystem.
  • Act as a Technical "Force Multiplier." Beyond writing code, you’ll mentor the squad through design reviews and collaborate with the Code Quality and Security teams to ensure our static analysis engine runs efficiently in a live, local environment.

Experience and qualifications

  • Deep Engineering Foundation. You have significant professional experience (typically 7+ years) in one of the following ecosystems: Java (JVM internals, IntelliJ Platform UI / Compose), TypeScript (Node.js, VS Code Extension API), C# (.NET, Visual Studio Extensibility). You are a specialist in one but capable of learning and contributing to the other as needed.
  • Systems-Level Thinking. You understand the complexities of asynchronous programming, concurrency, and Inter-Process Communication (IPC). Experience with LSP (Language Server Protocol) and/or MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a plus.
  • Product-Minded Engineering. You don't just "take tickets." You are passionate about the impact of your work. You proactively bring new ideas to the roadmap and care about "Zero Friction" flow, understanding that if we slow down the Agent or the Human, we constrain the value we add.
  • Vision for "Agentic" Coding. You understand that the role of the IDE is changing. You want to build the infrastructure that allows AI to be autonomous and safe.
  • Collaborative Leadership. You have experience guiding engineers toward technical excellence and enjoy fostering a culture of empathy, continuous learning, and "dogfooding" our own tools.

Additional comments

    This role is based in Geneva, Switzerland. We are unable to consider candidates unwilling to be in Geneva, but we are willing to relocate the right candidate.

Benefits

  • We encourage usage of our robust time-off allocations with 27 PTO days for our employees based out of the Geneva region, plus additional days based on seniority and circumstances.
  • We contribute 60% of the total cost for your pension; 13.5% to 15.5% of your base salary for savings; 2% for risk.
  • Generous discretionary Company Growth Bonus, paid annually.  
  • Commuting:Sustainable mobility options, including carpooling and the refund of 60% of the annual transportation subscription.
  • Global workforce with employees in 20+ countries representing 35+ unique nationalities.
  • We have an annual kick-off somewhere in the world where we meet to build relationships and goals for the company.
  •  

We value diversity, equity, and inclusion

At Sonar, we believe that our diversity is our strength. We are a global company that values and respects different backgrounds, perspectives, and cultures. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute their best. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome all qualified applicants, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

If you need any accommodation, please reach out to us at [email protected]

All offers of employment at Sonar are contingent upon the results of a comprehensive background check and reference verification conducted before the start date. 

We do not currently support visa candidates in the US. 

Applications that are submitted through agencies or third party recruiters will not be considered.

Skills Required

  • 8+ years of hands-on experience as a Software developer
  • Proven track record in software development
  • Experience with AI-assisted coding
  • Fluency in agile methodologies and source code quality

What the Team is Saying

Kim
Elizabeth
Katie
Jeff
Brian
Will
Varsha
Max
London

Sonar Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • Leave & Time Off Breadth PTO is positioned at 23 days for U.S. employees with additional days added at 5 and 10 years. Time off is highlighted as a strong aspect of the package.
  • Retirement Support A 401(k) with a 4% company match that vests from day one provides clear long‑term savings support.
  • Healthcare Strength Employer contributions are described at roughly 90% of employee premiums (about 60% for dependents) for medical, dental, and vision, alongside employer‑paid life and disability insurance.

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The Company
HQ: Austin, TX
800 Employees
Year Founded: 2008

What We Do

Sonar provides the essential verification layer for the AI-driven development era, ensuring all code—whether human-written or AI-generated—is code you can trust. Today, AI coding tools are generating explosive volumes of code. This has created an "engineering productivity paradox" : faster code writing doesn't automatically lead to faster, safer software delivery. The new bottleneck is verification. Sonar solves this. Integrating code quality and code security into a single platform (SonarQube), Sonar is the foundation for high performance software engineering, analyzing over 750 billion lines of code daily to ensure applications are secure, reliable, and maintainable. As an independent verification platform, Sonar enables organizations to securely develop at the speed of AI. We are driven by a deep belief in our people, a commitment to excellence, and an unwavering dedication to delivery. We operate as a united group where our collective success is the sum of each individual's contributions. Our company culture is driven by the values of CODE: Committed, Obsessed, Deliberate & Effective. This mindset reflects our culture of creativity, collaboration, and pride in the work we do. Rooted in the open source community, Sonar’s solutions support over 35 programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure technologies. Today, Sonar is used by 7M+ developers worldwide, including ServiceNow, Booking.com, Deutsche Bank, AstraZeneca, and Ford Motor Company. Sonar is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland with additional offices in Austin, Texas; Bochum, Germany; London, Singapore, and Tokyo. The company is rapidly growing with over 800 employees! Join us in our mission to solve the trillion-dollar challenge of bad code!

Why Work With Us

We are a product-first company, with a people-first culture. Every employee has the opportunity to grow and learn. We promote from within, provide regular feedback and professional development opportunities, value the right to fail along with respect and kindness and work with team members to achieve their full potential.

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Sonar Offices

Hybrid Workspace

Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.

At Sonar, we require employees to come into the office 3 days/week.

Typical time on-site: 3 days a week
HQAustin, TX office
Geneva Office (HQ)
Annecy Office
Bochum Office
London Office
Singapore Office
Learn more

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