Sr. Software Engineer - Platform Permissions
Description
AppFolio is more than a company. We're a community of dreamers, big thinkers, problem solvers, active listeners, and multipliers. At every opportunity, we set the pace while delivering innovation built to carry real estate into the future. One in which every experience feels effortless, yet meaningful. Where customers are empowered to take on any opportunity. We show up as one team, connected by our values to be a force for good. Because together, we have the power to create extraordinary outcomes for our customers, our communities, and ourselves.
The Senior Software Engineer on the Permissions team will help build the authorization platform that decides who can do what in all AppFolio products — the foundation that keeps every customer's data safe and every workflow trustworthy. Your work supports every engineering team at AppFolio and, through them, the property managers, owners, investors, and residents who rely on our platform every day. You'll design systems that make access control fast, clear, and dependable at scale, and partner closely with teammates and other teams to make the secure path the easy path. We welcome engineers from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences; if you're excited about this work, we'd love to hear from you.
Your impact
Design, build, and operate the authorization platform — the roles, policies, and access checks that other teams build on top of
Improve the speed and reliability of permission checks so they stay fast as usage grows, and set the performance and availability goals that keep them there
Build the interfaces, libraries, and tooling that other engineering teams use to easily add access control to their own features, so they can move quickly and safely
Lead the migration of older, hard-to-maintain permissions logic onto the modern authorization platform, reducing risk and complexity along the way
Raise the technical bar through thoughtful design reviews, pragmatic code review, and clear written proposals that help the team make good decisions together
Mentor engineers, share context generously, and partner with product, security, and engineering teams to turn ambiguous access-control needs into simple, well-understood systems
Own quality end-to-end - automated testing, controlled rollouts (with feature flags), and observability - so authorization changes ship safely without disrupting the teams that depend on them
Qualifications
Work comfortably across the stack - backend services and customer-facing interfaces - and pick up new languages and tools as needed
Diagnose and improve performance and reliability in systems that serve high request volumes
Drive to root causes and cut unnecessary complexity rather than patch symptoms
Experience with authorization, authentication, or other security-sensitive systems is a plus
Communicate proactively and clearly in writing and conversation, explaining technical trade-offs to both engineers and non-engineers
Collaborate generously across your team and with engineering teams org-wide — giving and receiving feedback well and helping others do their best work
Prioritize team delivery over individual productivity
Must have
7+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating production systems
Fluency with AI coding agents - experience with any of the available agents, understanding of common concepts, and willingness to learn and utilize AI for building
Depth in some of the languages we use — Ruby on Rails, Go, or React with TypeScript — or the ability and desire to become effective in them quickly
A track record of designing and owning non-trivial Platform systems end-to-end
About AppFolio
AppFolio is the technology leader powering the future of the real estate industry. Our innovative platform and trusted partnership enable our customers to connect communities, increase operational efficiency, and grow their business. For more information about AppFolio, visit appfolio.com.
Why AppFolio
Grow | We enable a culture of high performance, where delivering results is recognized by opportunities for growth and compelling total rewards. Our challenging and meaningful work drive the growth of our business, and ourselves.
Learn | We partner with you to realize your potential by investing in you from the start. We're cultivating a team of big thinkers through coaching and mentorship with our best-in-class leaders, and giving you the time and tools to develop your skills.
Impact | We are creating a world where living in, investing in, managing, and supporting communities feels magical and effortless, freeing people to thrive. We do this by innovating with purpose while cultivating a culture of impact. We learn as much from each other as we do our customers and our communities.
Connect | We excel at hybrid work by fostering an environment that feels flexible, personal and connected, no matter where we are. We create space to fuel innovation and collaboration, and we come together to celebrate, connect, and succeed.
Paddle as One.
Learn more at appfolio.com/company/careers
Statement of Equal Opportunity
At AppFolio, we value diversity in backgrounds and perspectives and depend on it to drive our innovative culture. That’s why we’re a proud Equal Opportunity Employer, and we believe that our products, our teams, and our business are stronger because of it. This means that no matter what race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or veteran status, you’re always welcome at AppFolio.