$120k - $155k
Software Engineer II (Backend) $120,000-$155,000 Base Salary, Position eligible for additional incentives including bonus, 401k match, health and welfare benefits. Location: Hybrid working 3-days onsite per week at our S…
Engineering & IT · San Diego, CA
Software Engineer jobs in San Diego, CA
Software engineers design, build, and maintain the applications and systems behind modern products. The work spans writing code, reviewing designs, and keeping software reliable as it grows.
293
Open roles today
$42–$113/hr
Typical pay range
$150k
Median, full-time
10
Fresh in this list
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01
Open software engineer roles
12 shown of 293 · sorted by freshness
$165k - $220k
Role: Senior Software Systems Engineer Location: San Diego, CA (in-office) Salary Range: $165,000 - $220,000 /yr + stock options, 401k matching, and other benefits Role Overview: Seasats' vehicles run on software that ha…
Job-ID29297730Reference26-02873TypeDirect PlacementSalary$125,000-$150,000 / year Role Title: Manager - Software Engineering San Diego, CA (onsite) Experience: 10+ years | Management/Leadership: 3+ years Perm R…
$150k - $244k
Staff / Sr Staff Engineer - System SoftwareCategorySoftwareLocationSan Diego, CA ExperienceMore than 8 Years Work Expe.Job Description•... ...platform boards and verify the major functions independently• Regular software…
with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and... ...operating in complex and contested environments. Forge is the engineering platform us…
$149.8k - $262.2k
Company DescriptionIt all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried... ...be considered.About the team: We are seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer…
$149.8k - $262.2k
Company DescriptionIt all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried... ..., will be considered.About the team: We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer…
$108.01k - $183.61k
public and private-sector clients. ICF has the expertise, agility, and commitment to design, build, and operate high-performance IT engines to support all aspects of our client’s business.As a ServiceNow Architect, you w…
$160k - $250k
with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and... ...Instagram, and YouTube. Job Description:Shield AI is seeking a Senior Engineer to hel…
$87.1k - $157.45k
security against ever-adapting threats. Our Electronic Warfare division currently has an exciting opportunity for an Embedded Software Engineer to perform design, development, and hardware/software integration in San Die…
$135.82k - $141.13k
Position Overview We are looking for a Software Engineer to design, develop, and expand our SDK & Demo App ecosystem across multi-device and network environments. Our software layer supports our core identity document sc…
$155k - $175k
Senior Software Engineer Expeditionary Systems (OpAI) The Marlin Alliance, Inc. | San Diego, CA | 100% On-Site | Clearance Required This position requires an ACTIVE DoD security clearance. Applicants who do not currently…
02
What software engineers earn in San Diego
Hourly first — that's how the offer arrives
| Experience | Hourly | Annual, full-time |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $42–$60 | $88k–$124k |
| Mid level | $60–$85 | $124k–$177k |
| Senior | $82–$113 | $171k–$236k |
Adjusted for the San Diego market from national ranges.
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What employers ask for
The skills these listings keep naming
Data structures and algorithmsSystem designGit and code reviewTesting and debuggingSQL and databasesAPIs and integrationCloud fundamentals (AWS/GCP/Azure)Clear written communicationCross-team collaboration
04
Interview questions worth rehearsing
With the thing the interviewer is actually listening for
Walk me through a project you built and the technical decisions behind it.
Pick one project and go deep. Explain the tradeoffs you weighed, not just the stack you used, and name one thing you would do differently now.
How would you design a URL shortener (or similar small system)?
Start with requirements and rough scale before drawing boxes. Interviewers care more about how you reason through storage, uniqueness, and reads versus writes than a perfect answer.
Tell me about the hardest bug you have debugged.
Describe your process: how you reproduced it, narrowed the cause, and confirmed the fix. A methodical story beats a dramatic one.
How do you decide when code is good enough to ship?
Talk about tests, review, and risk relative to the change. Showing judgment about tradeoffs matters more than claiming perfection.
Describe a time you disagreed with a teammate about a technical approach.
Show that you argued from evidence, listened, and committed to the outcome. Avoid stories where the point is simply that you were right.
How do you approach learning an unfamiliar codebase?
Mention concrete tactics: reading tests, tracing a request end to end, making a small safe change first. This signals you can become productive quickly.
What would you do if a production incident happened right before a deadline?
Prioritize stabilizing production and communicating early. Interviewers want calm triage, not heroics.
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Resume tips that move the needle
For software engineers specifically — generic advice costs you here
01
Name the languages and frameworks per role or project, not just in a skills block, so screeners can match you to the stack.
02
Quantify outcomes in engineering terms: latency reduced, error rate cut, deploy time shortened, users served.
03
Link to a GitHub profile or portfolio only if the pinned work is recent and readable.
04
Describe your role on team projects precisely — 'built the payments service' reads very differently from 'worked on payments'.
05
Keep the tech list honest; anything on the resume is fair game in the interview.
06
For senior roles, show scope: systems owned, engineers mentored, decisions driven.
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Where this role goes
Typical progression
01
Junior Software Engineer
02
Software Engineer
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Senior Software Engineer
04
Staff Engineer
05
Principal Engineer
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