Senior Staff Software Engineer, Tech Lead, Ads Safety

Company: Google
Location: Mountain View
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

Minimum qualifications: Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience. 8 years of experience in software development. 5 years of experience with design and architecture, and testing/launching software products. 3 years of experience working in Trust and Safety, Ads, Anti-Fraud, Anti-Spam, or a similar security-focused domain. Preferred qualifications: Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field. 8 years of experience with data structures and algorithms. 5 years of experience in a technical leadership role leading project teams and setting technical direction. 3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization involving cross-functional, or cross-business projects. Experience with machine learning, particularly applying models to classification, anomaly detection, or risk-scoring problems. About the job Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward. The Ads Safety team is responsible for protecting the users, advertisers, and the platform from fraudulent, harmful, and low-quality Ad experiences. We are the guardians of the advertising ecosystem. In this role, you will be part of actor safety engineering organization and address complex challenges in an adversarial space, including scams, fraud, malware, and misinformation. Your work will have a direct and immediate impact on user trust and business. You will be a technical leader on this mission-critical team leading engineers across teams. You will design, build, and scale the distributed systems, machine learning infrastructure, and detection tools that identify and prevent abuse. Google Ads is helping power the open internet with the best technology that connects and creates value for people, publishers, advertisers, and Google. We’re made up of multiple teams, building Google’s Advertising products including search, display, shopping, travel and video advertising, as well as analytics. Our teams create trusted experiences between people and businesses with useful ads. We help grow businesses of all sizes from small businesses, to large brands, to YouTube creators, with effective advertiser tools that deliver measurable results. We also enable Google to engage with customers at scale. The US base salary range for this full-time position is $262,000-$365,000 bonus equity benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google . Responsibilities Design, build, and maintain highly scalable, low-latency, and reliable systems for real-time Ad scanning, detection, and enforcement. Own the full life-cycle of the systems. Lead the technical direction for the actor safety organization, this includes leading complex projects, from initial design to production deployment. Mentor engineers, conduct code and design reviews, and set a high bar for engineering excellence. Partner with product managers, and trust and safety to understand emerging threats and build effective, scalable solutions. Develop and implement sophisticated detection logic, models, and tools to combat abuse vectors, including account takeovers and fraudulent payments, and malicious ad creatives. Build and support data pipelines and ML infrastructure that power the detection models, enabling rapid model iteration and deployment.

Keywords: Google, San Jose , Senior Staff Software Engineer, Tech Lead, Ads Safety, IT / Software / Systems , Mountain View, California