What Staff Software Engineering Jobs Ask For
Across 5,791 open Staff Software Engineering postings that list skills, the ones mentioned most often are ai, cloud, python.
Updated October 10, 2026
5,976 open Staff Software Engineering postings. The percentages below are measured over the 5,791 of them that list skills at all.
| Skill | Mentioned in |
|---|---|
| ai | 68% |
| cloud | 53% |
| python | 44% |
| api | 43% |
| distributed-systems | 35% |
| aws | 34% |
| observability | 32% |
| java | 30% |
| ci-cd | 28% |
| automation | 28% |
| kubernetes | 26% |
| machine-learning | 24% |
| agentic-ai | 24% |
| typescript | 22% |
| cpp | 22% |
| react | 20% |
| gcp | 20% |
| llm | 19% |
| azure | 17% |
| agile | 16% |
| cloud-native | 15% |
| sql | 15% |
| microservices | 15% |
| docker | 15% |
| networking | 14% |
| postgresql | 14% |
| javascript | 13% |
| analytics | 13% |
| linux | 13% |
| kafka | 12% |
| event-driven-architecture | 12% |
| github | 12% |
| terraform | 11% |
| infrastructure-as-code | 10% |
| rest | 10% |
| test-automation | 10% |
| devops | 10% |
| saas | 9% |
| data-pipelines | 9% |
| rust | 9% |
"Mentioned in" counts postings that name the skill anywhere — including as a nice-to-have — so treat it as the ceiling, not the bar.
Browse 5,976 open Staff Software Engineering jobs →
Across all Software Engineering levels
Most Software Engineering postings never state a level. This wider list covers them too.
- cloud 54,651
- ai 51,407
- api 49,641
- python 47,157
- java 45,907
- ci-cd 38,406
- agile 35,608
- sql 33,755
- automation 32,951
- aws 31,654
- kubernetes 24,166
- azure 23,984