The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet — from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more.
Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world’s brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly.
The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges — from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you’re driven to solve meaningful challenges, we’d love to meet you.
Job Title: Senior Software Engineer
Location: 400 Spectrum Center Drive, Suite 550, Irvine, CA 92618
*Telecommuting permitted: work may be performed within normal commuting distance from The Trade Desk, Inc. office in Irvine, CA.
Job Duties: Architect and optimize large-scale distributed systems that handle petabyte-scale data across cloud and on-premise data centers, ensuring high availability and performance. Design and develop robust data and ML pipelines with strong emphasis on automation, scalability, data governance, quality assurance, and privacy compliance. Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of data products, including design, development, validation, and production deployment to meet client and business needs. Leverage data-driven insights to enhance large-scale algorithmic systems, improving operational efficiency and accuracy through analytical experimentation. Develop and apply advanced graph algorithms to solve complex real-world challenges. Collaborate with cross functional teams to align technical design and implementation with product strategy and long-term roadmap goals. Define and review execution strategies that integrate user data, market intelligence, and system feedback to guide product and algorithmic improvements. Mentor and guide junior engineers and interns, defining technical project scopes, reviewing deliverables, and fostering their growth through structured feedback and leadership.
Salary: $184,558 - $249,700 / year
Job Requirements: Bachelor's degree (U.S. or foreign equivalent) in Computer Science, Information Systems or related field and five (5) years of experience in the job offered or related role. Must have five (5) years of experience with: Python, Scala or other high-level programming languages; SQL and relational database systems; working with Agile software development environments; participating in the full lifecycle of data products, including design, testing, validation, and production deployment; and version control systems. Must have three (3) years of experience with: designing, developing, and maintaining REST APIs for data and software systems; implementing continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) practices for data and software systems; distributed computing frameworks including Spark; designing and implementing scalable algorithms, including graph-based approaches; columnar database systems for data analytics; cloud computing platforms and tools; data analysis and visualization for large-scale (terabytes or larger) datasets; workflow orchestration frameworks; and developing and maintaining data and machine learning pipelines.
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In accordance with various US state laws, the range provided is the Trade Desk's reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount may differ based on non-discriminatory factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, and location. All employees may be eligible to become The Trade Desk shareholders through eligibility for stock-based compensation grants, which are awarded to employees based on company and individual performance. The Trade Desk also offers other compensation depending on the role such as variable compensation-based incentives and commissions. Plus, expected benefits for this role include comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents, retirement benefits such as a 401k plan and company match, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, well-being benefits, reimbursement for certain tuition expenses, parental leave, sick time of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, vacation time for full-time employees up to 120 hours thru the first year and 160 hours thereafter, and around 13 paid holidays per year. Employees can also purchase The Trade Desk stock at a discount through The Trade Desk’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
The Trade Desk also offers a competitive benefits package. Click here to learn more.
Note: Interns are not eligible for variable incentive awards such as stock-based compensation, retirement plan, vacation, tuition reimbursement or parental leave
As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Please reach out to us at accommodations@thetradedesk.com to request an accommodation or discuss any accessibility needs you may require to access our Company Website or navigate any part of the hiring process.
When you contact us, please include your preferred contact details and specify the nature of your accommodation request or questions. Any information you share will be handled confidentially and will not impact our hiring decisions.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or related field
- Five years of experience in the job offered or related role
- Experience with Python, Scala, or other high-level programming languages
- Experience with SQL and relational database systems
- Experience in Agile software development environments
- Experience with REST APIs for data and software systems
- Experience with CI/CD practices for data and software systems
- Three years of experience with distributed computing frameworks including Spark
- Experience with designing scalable algorithms
- Experience with columnar database systems for data analytics
- Experience with cloud computing platforms and tools
- Experience with data analysis and visualization for large-scale datasets
- Experience with workflow orchestration frameworks
- Experience developing and maintaining machine learning pipelines
The Trade Desk Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about The Trade Desk and has not been reviewed or approved by The Trade Desk.
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Affordable Benefits — Healthcare premiums are often paid in full for employees and dependents, reducing out-of-pocket costs. Coverage includes medical, dental, and vision alongside mental health and wellness support.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Packages commonly include new-hire stock grants, a generous Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and equity refreshers tied to performance. Feedback suggests equity meaningfully boosts total compensation alongside base pay and bonuses.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays, paid sick time, and sabbaticals are available. Paid parental leave and extensive family-planning support broaden time-off and caregiving coverage.
The Trade Desk Insights
What We Do
The Trade Desk is changing the way global brands and their agencies advertise to audiences around the world. Our mission is to transform media for the benefit of humankind. Our media-buying platform helps brands deliver a more insightful and relevant ad experience for consumers — and sets a new standard for reach, accuracy, and transparency.
Why Work With Us
With up to 11 million queries per second and SLAs in the milliseconds, we’re tackling data and software challenges at massive scale. While we’re growing fast, investing in our value based company culture remains one of our top priorities. If you’re talented, driven, and hungry to bring something entirely new and wildly ambitious, let's talk.
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