Whatnot is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join the Developer Tools team. This role focuses on AI Tooling end-to-end. You will build and own the AI tooling that shapes how Whatnot's engineering organization writes code, ships software, and operates systems, serving as the primary interface between the Developer Tools team and the AI Tooling Working Group.
What You'll Do
- Build and ship AI tooling across the full spectrum—from near-term developer productivity wins to long-term autonomous agent capabilities.
- Design and build sandboxed, containerized environments where AI agents can operate autonomously.
- Build multi-agent orchestration systems and workflows, including CI-fixing agents and SRE context agents.
- Enable non-engineers (PMs, designers, operations) to leverage AI tools effectively through purpose-built workflows and interfaces.
- Build and optimize AI-aware developer infrastructure: CLAUDE.md configurations, MCP servers, prompt engineering frameworks, and context management systems.
- Deploy, monitor, and maintain the infrastructure supporting AI tools and workflows.
- Evaluate and integrate emerging AI tools and platforms.
What We're Looking For
- 5+ years of software engineering experience with a track record of building and shipping production systems.
- A software engineer first—backend-leaning is fine, but comfortable with frontend codebases.
- A genuine developer tooling enthusiast who has built or improved internal tools or platform infrastructure.
- Deeply familiar with the current generation of AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) and uses them to get real work done.
- Strong product thinking—can translate ambiguous problem spaces into concrete plans and prioritize.
- Clear communicator who adapts naturally to different audiences and technical abilities.
Nice to Have
- Experience with agent sandboxing, containerized execution environments, multi-agent orchestration, LLM APIs and observability, prompt engineering at scale, or enabling non-technical users to leverage AI-powered workflows.
Team & Environment
You will be a key member of the Developer Tools team, working closely with the AI Tooling Working Group.
Benefits & Compensation
- Generous Holiday and Time off Policy
- Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision
- Work From Home Support: Home office setup allowance, Monthly allowance for cell phone and internet
- Care benefits: Monthly allowance for wellness, Annual allowance towards Childcare, Lifetime benefit for family planning
- Retirement; 401k offering for Traditional and Roth accounts in the US (employer match up to 4% of base salary) and Pension plans internationally
- Monthly allowance to dogfood the app
- Parental Leave: 16 weeks of paid parental leave + one month gradual return to work
Work Mode
This is a hybrid role based in Los Angeles or San Francisco.
Whatnot is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, parental status, disability status, or any other status protected by local law.
