Software Development Engineer III - C++

At Expedia Group, we help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. As a global travel company powered by passionate people, trusted partnerships, and leading technology, we connect travelers, partners, and advertisers through our consumer brands, B2B network, and travel advertising business.

Here, you'll do meaningful work that helps millions of people discover, book, and experience travel with more ease, confidence, and joy. Our five Behaviors-Traveler First, Think Big, Operate with Excellence, Ownership Mindset, and Succeed Together-help foster a supportive environment where people can grow their careers and have the flexibility, benefits, and support to do their best work. Join us and build for travelers everywhere.

Introduction to the Team

Our Technology Team partners with groups across Expedia Group to create innovative products, services, and tools that deliver high‑quality experiences for travelers, partners, and employees. A singular technology platform powered by data and machine learning provides secure, differentiated, and personalized experiences that drive loyalty and traveler satisfaction.

This role sits in Expedia Group’s core C++ engineering group, responsible for building and optimizing high‑performance C++ systems that power millions of travel experiences worldwide.

Join Expedia Group’s Engineering organization within our core Development division, where you’ll lead design and delivery of high‑performance C++ systems that support critical, large‑scale travel workloads. As a Software Development Engineer III, you will solve complex technical problems, evolve system architecture, and raise the engineering bar across the team in a collaborative, high‑impact environment.

In this role, you will:

• Own design and implementation of critical services and components, with a focus on clean API design, robust data modeling, and reliable system behavior.

• Lead and contribute to system design, including low‑level design decisions, to ensure services are scalable, observable, and maintainable.

• Implement high‑quality, well‑tested C++ code; conduct and drive code reviews; and help advance engineering standards, tooling, and best practices across the team.

• Collaborate closely with product, design, and partner engineering teams to deliver features end‑to‑end, balancing technical quality with delivery timelines.

• Safely integrate and operate AI/ML‑enabled solutions that improve outcomes, leveraging AI‑driven systems, tools, or workflows where appropriate.

• Work across multiple services or components within a domain, diagnosing complex production issues, improving performance, and contributing to operational excellence.

• Use telemetry and diagnostics (metrics, logs, tracing, profiling tools, experimentation frameworks) to analyze system behavior and drive data‑informed decisions.

• Mentor and coach other engineers, providing technical guidance, reviewing designs, and helping grow the team’s C++ and systems expertise.

• Influence longer‑term architecture and roadmap within your area, identifying and driving initiatives that improve reliability, performance, and developer productivity.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent related professional experience.

• 5+ years of relevant professional software engineering experience (or equivalent depth of experience).

• Demonstrated professional experience owning services or components within a broader production system.

• Strong proficiency in C++ and its ecosystem, including hands‑on experience with API design, data modeling, and system design (including low‑level design).

• Experience building, testing, deploying, and operating backend or full‑stack services in production environments, including participation in on‑call or incident response rotations as appropriate.

• Solid foundation in algorithms, data structures, and object‑oriented design.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building high‑performance, production‑grade C++ systems with a focus on performance optimization, memory efficiency, concurrency, and reliability at scale.

• Strong background in systems design and API development, including designing maintainable interfaces, data models, and evolving existing architectures in complex distributed environments.

• Demonstrated experience improving engineering quality through:

  • Refactoring legacy code,

  • Optimizing performance‑critical paths,

  • Strengthening observability,

  • Advancing testing and operational practices.

• Practical experience using telemetry and diagnostics (metrics, logs, tracing, profiling, experimentation) to analyze and improve system behavior.

• Exposure to integrating intelligent or AI‑enabled capabilities into backend systems (for example, inference APIs, personalization features, or AI‑assisted engineering workflows) and interest in leveraging emerging technologies to enhance system performance and developer productivity.

• Experience mentoring other engineers and contributing to hiring, onboarding, and raising the technical bar for the team.

Please note that this role is only available in Seattle, WA, in alignment with our flexible work model, which requires employees to be in-office at least three days a week. We are unable to offer relocation assistance for this role.

The total cash range for this position in Seattle is $146,000.00 to $204,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $233,500.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.

Starting pay for this role will vary based on multiple factors, including location, available budget, and an individual’s knowledge, skills, and experience. Pay ranges may be modified in the future.

Benefits and perks

Expedia Group offers benefits and perks designed to support employees and their families, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, an Employee Assistance Program, wellness and travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) membership. Learn more about life at Expedia Group at https://careers.expediggroup.com/life.

Accommodation requests

Expedia Group is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruiting experience. If you need an accommodation or adjustment due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please submit a request at https://expedia.service-now.com/askeg?id=job_accommodation.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.

Important notice

Employment opportunities and job offers at Expedia Group will always come from Expedia Group's Talent Acquisition and hiring teams. Never share sensitive personal information unless you are confident of the recipient. Expedia Group does not extend job offers via email or messaging tools to individuals with whom we have not made prior contact. Our email domain is @expediagroup.com. The official place to find and apply for roles is https://careers.expediagroup.com/jobs/.

Equal Opportunity

Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This employer participates in E-Verify. The employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee's I-9 to confirm work authorization.