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Senior Software Engineer, Release Engineering

Toast · Remote · R & D : Cloud Service Infra : Platform Infrastructure

Posted Sep 22, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a complex project you led with several contributors and stakeholders.

What they are checking: Whether they can coordinate people and keep a multi-team project on track.

Tell me about a time you mentored another engineer through a tough problem.

What they are checking: Whether they coach people to solve problems rather than taking over.

What would you do

Builds are getting slower every month and developers are frustrated. How would you find the cause?

What they are checking: Whether they diagnose with data on build steps and caching before guessing.

You're on call and a deployment tool fails, blocking every team from shipping. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they restore service quickly, communicate clearly and follow up on the root cause.

You need to fix something in a language you don't know well. How do you approach it?

What they are checking: Whether they can dive into unfamiliar code carefully, which the posting expects across many languages.

About the work

Walk me through a CI/CD pipeline you built or improved. What made it faster and safer?

What they are checking: Whether they have hands-on pipeline experience and measure improvement in both speed and quality.

How do you build security checks into a release pipeline without making developers wait?

What they are checking: Whether they can add scanning and policy gates that run fast and give useful feedback.

How do you prove compliance from first commit to production deployment?

What they are checking: Whether they understand audit trails, approvals and artifact traceability.

How would you decide between building an internal tool and adopting an off-the-shelf one?

What they are checking: Whether they weigh maintenance cost and fit rather than defaulting to building.

How do you measure whether developers can ship with speed, confidence and joy?

What they are checking: Whether they track meaningful delivery metrics and developer experience, not just pipeline uptime.

Practice this interview out loud.

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The full job description

As published by Toast.

Toast creates technology to help restaurants and local businesses succeed in a digital world, helping business owners operate, increase sales, engage customers, and keep employees happy. The mission of the Release Engineering team is “to empower Toasters to build and deploy software with speed, confidence, and joy.”&nbsp; We create digital assembly lines that transform code into polished products. We build scalable, secure, and automated release pipelines that turbocharge our software delivery and ensure compliance and reliability from first commit to production deployment.&nbsp; We are looking for a software engineer to join in our mission! A day in the life (Responsibilities) • Be part of a team working collaboratively to optimize build and deployment automation tools for developers • Create and implement CI/CD solutions that ensure release quality and security • Lead complex projects with multiple contributors and stakeholders • Participate in team on-call rotation to respond to production alerts for the team’s systems • Mentor and coach other team members • Promote technical excellence&nbsp; What you'll need to thrive (Requirements) • 5+ years of software engineering experience • Proficiency in Go, Java/Kotlin or other modern language(s) with a strong understanding of testing, quality and best practices • Ability to dive into a breadth of problems in various programming languages • Passion for improving the software delivery process and making developers happy • Hunger for leveraging AI tools efficiently for our team and our customers • Agile mindset focused on delivering usable software Special Sauce*&nbsp; • Experience with managing AWS/Cloud infrastructure • Experience building CI/CD solutions Our Tech Stack • A core of Java/Kotlin and Golang based backend services GitHub Actions workflow platform and custom actions written in TypeScript • PostgresQL and DynamoDB as core persistence • Backstage developer portal • Deep AWS integrations and componentry • Claude Code and similar AI development tools as part of daily engineering • Many more technologies that help us build a world-class platform AI at Toast At Toast, one of our company values is that we're hungry to build and learn. We believe learning new AI tools empowers us to build for our customers faster, more independently, and with higher quality. We provide these tools across all disciplines, from Engineering and Product to Sales and Support, and are inspired by how our Toasters are already driving real value with them. The people who thrive here are those who embrace changes that let us build more for our customers; it’s a core part of our culture. Our Total Rewards Philosophy&nbsp; We strive to provide competitive compensation and benefits programs that help to attract, retain, and motivate the best and brightest people in our industry. Our total rewards package goes beyond great earnings potential and provides the means to a healthy lifestyle with the flexibility to meet Toasters’ changing needs. Learn more about our benefits at&nbsp;<a class="c-link" href="https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits" target="_blank" data-stringify-link="https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits . The base salary range for this role is listed below. The starting salary will be determined based on skills, experience, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, our total rewards components include cash compensation (overtime, bonus/commissions if eligible), equity, and benefits. You can learn more about how we align pay with local labor markets in our Geographic Pay Zone Philosophy . Zone A $159,000 &mdash; $254,000 USD Zone B $138,000 &mdash; $221,000 USD Zone C $125,000 &mdash; $200,000 USD How Toast Uses AI in its Hiring Process Throughout the hiring process, our goal is to get to know you. We use AI tools to support our recruiters and interviewers with tasks like note-taking, summarization, and documentation of interviews to ensure they can be fully focused on your conversation. All hiring decisions are made by people. We ask that you complete interviews and assessments on your own, without real-time AI tools, recording, or transcription bots, unless we tell you otherwise in advance. To learn more: https://careers.toasttab.com/ai-in-hiring Our Approach to Hybrid Working We embrace a hybrid work model that fosters in-person collaboration while valuing individual needs. Our goal is to build a strong culture of connection as we work together to empower the hospitality community, regardless of location. Please visit the Locations page on our career site to learn more about our in-office expectations by region:&nbsp; https://careers.toasttab.com/locations-toast People Are the Secret Ingredient in Our Recipe for Success At Toast, our employees are our secret ingredient—when they thrive, we thrive. The restaurant industry brings together people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we value that same breadth at Toast. We strive to build a culture grounded in authenticity, respect, and humility, where every Toaster has a real opportunity to grow, contribute, and do their best work—raising the bar in delivering exceptional experiences for our customers and each other. Apply today! Toast is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive hiring process. As part of this commitment, we strive to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities to enable them to access the hiring process. If you need an accommodation to access the job application or interview process, please contact candidateaccommodations@toasttab.com . ------ For roles in the United States, it is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

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