Staff Software Engineer

About the job

Company Description It all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried tears of joy. That moment inspired Fred to build a company that could do that for everyone—freeing people from busywork so they could focus on meaningful work. Today, ServiceNow is the AI control tower for business reinvention. Our ServiceNow AI platform brings together any AI, any data, and any workflow— helping 85% of the Fortune 500® work smarter, faster, and better. We're building an AI-native culture where technology and talent are unstoppable together. And we're just getting started. Join us to put AI to work for people.

Job Description About the role  We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer to set technical direction for a team building AI-native products on the ServiceNow platform. You’ll shape how we design, build, and operate systems where AI agents, LLM-driven workflows, and traditional platform engineering work together. This is a hands-on role with broad influence: you’ll make architectural calls, raise the engineering bar, and help the team move from AI-assisted development to AI-native delivery.  What you get to do in the role:

- Lead the design and delivery of complex, cross-functional features across the platform, from architecture through production operations.

- Build AI-native capabilities, including LLM-integrated workflows, agentic patterns, prompt and context design, and evaluation pipelines, with reliability and governance built in.

- Define and drive how the team uses AI tools across the development lifecycle: code generation, test automation, review, triage, and documentation. Measure the impact and share what works.

- Design for ServiceNow platform internals: Flow Designer, Workflow Studio, Decision Management etc

- Mentor senior and mid-level engineers and set standards for code quality, observability, and safe AI usage.

- Partner with product, UX, and other engineering leads to turn ambiguous problems into scoped, shippable plans.

- Own production quality for your area, including defect triage, release readiness, and gate reviews.

Qualifications To be successful in this role you have:

- Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI's potential impact on the function or industry.

- 8+ years of software engineering experience, with a track record of technical leadership at the staff level or equivalent.

- Strong proficiency in Java, JavaScript, or another language relevant to the platform, plus solid system design skills.

- Hands-on experience building or integrating LLM-based features: prompt design, retrieval or context management, evaluation, and cost/latency tradeoffs.

- Working knowledge of agentic architectures, including tool use, orchestration, and human-in-the-loop controls.

- Experience using AI-assisted development tools in daily work, with an opinion on where they help and where they don’t.

- Clear written and verbal communication, including the ability to brief senior leaders and align multiple teams.

- Familiarity with enterprise SaaS, multi-tenant systems, and secure, compliant software delivery.  Nice to have

- Experience with ServiceNow platform development or Flow Designer internals.

- Background in workflow automation, or approval systems.

- Experience designing AI governance, guardrails, or responsible AI controls.

- Contributions to internal or external AI engineering standards or tooling.  Why this role matters  You’ll help define how a 60+ person engineering organization builds with AI, and the patterns you set will shape how customers experience intelligent workflows on the platform.

Additional Information Work Personas We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here . To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service. Equal Opportunity Employer ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity,  veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.   Accommodations We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact globaltalentss@servicenow.com for assistance.  Export Control Regulations For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities.  From Fortune. ©2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. Used under license.