Staff Software Engineer — Simulation

Job overview

The Staff Software Engineer — Simulation role is primarily onsite in San Francisco, CA, Monday through Thursday, with the option to work remotely or from the office on Fridays. Compensation is $174,500–$236,000 per year. Linden Lab develops virtual experiences, including Second Life, a user-driven virtual world and global community. The engineer leads technical initiatives across Second Life’s server and simulation systems, addressing complex challenges and improving scalability, reliability, and maintainability. The role shapes architecture, resolves production issues, and mentors engineers to strengthen technical decisions and system health.

What you'll do

• Lead technical discovery, design, implementation, and debugging across large C++ codebases and adjacent systems
• own complex problems from definition through production
• learn existing systems and operational context
• lead designs spanning systems, codebases, and teams
• guide architecture for reliability, performance, scalability, and maintainability
• identify systemic issues and technical risks
• partner with engineering, product, and stakeholders on tradeoffs
• mentor engineers and provide design guidance and technical feedback.

What we're looking for

Skills & competencies

staff software engineer

simulation

c++

second life

game server

distributed systems

technical leadership

mentorship

san francisco ca

linden lab

$174,500–$236,000/year

on-call responsibilities

Work arrangement

• Weekend coverage required

Benefits & perks

• Eligible for awards under the Equity Incentive Plan and medical, dental, vision, and 401(k) plans.

Why this role

Requires 8+ years of software engineering experience, including 3+ years with real-time simulation, game-server, distributed, or similarly complex production systems and 3+ years of production C++ experience; on-call responsibilities are performed remotely.

About the employer

Linden Lab is hiring for this role. Industry: Software Publishers. Sector: 51.