Software Engineer, Discovery UX

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Software Engineer, Discovery UX

Company: Roblox

Location: San Mateo, CA, United States

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Engineering / Frontend Development

Date Posted: 2026-09-16

Experience Level: 2-5 Years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Design, build, and deploy user-facing features across key discovery platforms such as Home and Search, directly impacting how millions of users find and engage with Roblox experiences.

• Drive significant user experience (UX) enhancements through data-informed strategies, including rigorous A/B testing and in-depth analysis of experiment outcomes to optimize engagement and discovery metrics.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, and other engineering disciplines, to ensure a cohesive and high-quality user experience across web and mobile platforms.

• Leverage a strong analytical mindset to anticipate edge cases, identify potential issues, and utilize data to quantify the impact and effectiveness of implemented features and improvements.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role is titled "Software Engineer, Discovery UX," the responsibilities and required skills strongly indicate a focus on frontend development with a significant emphasis on user experience and data-driven decision-making. The "flexibility to work across areas such as backend systems and data infrastructure" suggests a full-stack capability or at least a strong understanding of how frontend interacts with these systems, common in mid-level engineering roles. The target experience level of 2-5 years supports this interpretation, implying a need for both technical proficiency and some degree of autonomy in feature development and analysis.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, and implement new frontend features for Roblox's discovery surfaces, including Home, Search, and other user-facing content aggregation areas, ensuring scalability and performance.

• Lead the design and execution of A/B tests and other experimentation frameworks to validate hypotheses, measure the impact of new features on user engagement, retention, and conversion, and iterate based on results.

• Conduct deep-dive data analysis on user behavior, experiment results, and system performance to identify trends, uncover insights, and recommend data-backed solutions for optimizing the discovery funnel.

• Partner with Product Management and UX Design teams to translate user needs, business requirements, and design mockups into robust, user-friendly, and technically sound frontend solutions.

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of backend systems and data infrastructure as needed to support frontend feature development and data analysis requirements, ensuring seamless integration and data flow.

• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code, adhering to best practices in software engineering, including code reviews, testing methodologies, and CI/CD pipelines.

• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues across the discovery stack, ensuring high availability and optimal performance for millions of concurrent users.

• Proactively identify opportunities for process improvements, technology adoption, and architectural enhancements within the Discovery UX team to drive efficiency and innovation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The description emphasizes "ship features," "drive UX improvements through rigorous A/B testing and deep-dive analysis," and "collaborate with teams across Roblox." This suggests a role that is not just about coding but also about product ownership and impact. The mention of working "across areas such as backend systems and data infrastructure when needed" implies that while the primary focus is frontend, a broader understanding and willingness to contribute to other areas are valued, especially for driving features end-to-end.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Experience:

• 1-3 years of professional industry experience in software development, with a strong focus on frontend engineering.

• Proven track record of designing, building, and shipping user-facing features for web or mobile applications. Required Skills:

• Proficiency in modern JavaScript frameworks and libraries, with a strong emphasis on React.

• Expertise in TypeScript for building robust and scalable applications, ensuring type safety and improved developer experience.

• Deep understanding of core JavaScript principles and best practices for efficient and performant web development.

• Experience in frontend development and building interactive user interfaces.

• Familiarity with UX design principles and a passion for creating exceptional user experiences.

• Hands-on experience with A/B testing methodologies and tools for experimentation and data-driven decision-making.

• Strong data analysis skills, with the ability to interpret complex datasets and derive actionable insights using relevant tools and techniques.

• Experience building and deploying web applications.

• Experience developing mobile applications or understanding of mobile development constraints and best practices.

• Basic understanding or experience with backend systems and APIs.

• Familiarity with data infrastructure concepts and how data flows through systems.

• Demonstrated analytical mindset with the ability to identify potential issues, edge cases, and problem-solve effectively.

• Commitment to fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment, demonstrating respect for teammates and diverse perspectives. Preferred Skills:

• Experience with performance optimization techniques for web applications.

• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks.

• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).

• Understanding of data visualization tools and techniques.

• Experience working in an agile development environment.

• Knowledge of web accessibility standards (WCAG).

📝 Enhancement Note: The "You Have" section clearly lists technologies like React, TypeScript, and JavaScript, along with key methodologies like A/B testing and data analysis. The experience level is stated as "1-3 years of industry experience," but the AI's derived experience level of "2-5" suggests that while 1-3 years is the minimum, candidates with up to 5 years might also be considered, especially if they possess strong skills and a proven track record. The "flexibility to work across areas" implies that candidates with some full-stack exposure or a strong understanding of the broader technical ecosystem will be highly valued.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase of at least 1-2 significant frontend projects that demonstrate your ability to design, develop, and deploy user-facing features.

• Projects should highlight your proficiency with modern JavaScript frameworks, particularly React, and your use of TypeScript.

• Include examples of how you've implemented A/B tests or other forms of experimentation to drive user experience improvements.

• Demonstrate your approach to data analysis, including how you've used data to inform design decisions or measure the impact of your work.

• For each project, clearly articulate the problem you were solving, your technical approach, the challenges encountered, and the quantifiable outcomes or learnings. Process Documentation:

• Be prepared to discuss your personal development workflow, including your approach to code reviews, testing strategies (unit, integration, E2E), and debugging processes.

• Detail your experience with collaboration tools and processes, such as version control (Git), issue tracking (Jira), and communication platforms (Slack).

• Explain your methodology for analyzing experiment results, including how you define success metrics, interpret statistical significance, and translate findings into actionable recommendations.

• Describe your experience in working with backend APIs and understanding data structures to effectively integrate frontend components with backend services.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the emphasis on data-driven decision-making and A/B testing, a portfolio should ideally include case studies that explicitly detail experimental design, hypothesis formulation, data collection, analysis, and the resulting impact on key metrics. For a frontend role with potential backend interaction, demonstrating an understanding of API contracts and data flow is crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• The annual base salary range for this position is $153,120 to $196,750 USD. Benefits:

• Equity Compensation: Opportunity to receive company stock options or grants, aligning your success with the company's growth.

• Health Insurance: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance plans to support employee well-being.

• Reasonable Accommodations: Commitment to providing necessary accommodations for candidates with qualifying disabilities or religious beliefs during the recruiting process.

• [Additional Benefits - inferred based on industry standards for tech companies of this size]: Likely includes 401(k) matching, paid time off (PTO), parental leave, and professional development stipends. Working Hours:

• This is a full-time position. The standard working hours are not explicitly defined but are expected to align with industry norms for a 40-hour work week. The role is hybrid, requiring onsite presence on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with optional presence on Mondays and Fridays.

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range is specific and includes a clear minimum and maximum for base pay. The listed benefits are explicit. My enhancement notes infer common additional benefits typically offered by companies of Roblox's size and industry to provide a more complete picture. The working hours detail is derived from the hybrid work policy, indicating a structured work week with specific in-office days.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology / Interactive Entertainment / Gaming Platform

Company Size: Large (1,001-5,000 employees, based on LinkedIn data)

Founded: 2004, Roblox has a long history of innovation in the online gaming and metaverse space, evolving from an early platform for user-created games to a global phenomenon. This longevity suggests a culture that values adaptability, continuous improvement, and a strong understanding of user-driven platforms.

Team Structure:

• The Discovery UX team is part of the broader Engineering organization at Roblox.

• It likely comprises Software Engineers with frontend specialization, potentially UX Designers, Product Managers, and Data Analysts who collaborate closely.

• The reporting structure would typically involve a Engineering Manager or Director, with engineers working in a matrixed fashion across product initiatives.

• Cross-functional collaboration is a core tenet, with frequent interaction between the Discovery UX team and other product, engineering, and design teams across Roblox to ensure platform consistency. Methodology:

• Data-Driven Development: The team strongly emphasizes data analysis and A/B testing to inform product decisions and measure the impact of features, aligning with Roblox's overall data-centric approach.

• Agile Development: While not explicitly stated, modern tech companies of this scale typically operate using agile methodologies, focusing on iterative development, rapid prototyping, and continuous feedback loops.

• User-Centric Design: A primary focus is on understanding and serving the needs of Roblox's vast user base, translating user insights into tangible product improvements.

Company Website: https://www.roblox.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Roblox's reputation as a platform built by its community implies a culture that values user empowerment, creativity, and developer success. For an engineering role, this translates to a focus on building robust tools and experiences that enable this ecosystem. The company's scale means that engineers will be working on complex, high-traffic systems.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Mid-Level Software Engineer

• This role is positioned as a mid-level engineer (1-3 years minimum experience, with potential for 2-5 years). It signifies an individual contributor role with significant responsibility for feature development, A/B testing, and data analysis. The expectation is for the engineer to work relatively autonomously on defined projects, contribute to technical design discussions, and mentor junior engineers as they progress. Reporting Structure:

• The Software Engineer will report to an Engineering Manager or Lead within the Discovery UX team.

• They will collaborate closely with Product Managers, UX Designers, and fellow Software Engineers.

• Interaction with other engineering teams (e.g., backend, data, platform) will be frequent to ensure seamless integration and cross-functional alignment. Operations Impact:

• The Discovery UX team directly influences user engagement and retention by improving how players find games. This has a direct impact on the overall health and growth of the Roblox platform, as more engaged users lead to increased playtime, developer success, and ultimately, revenue.

• By driving A/B testing and data analysis, this role contributes to a culture of continuous improvement and optimization, ensuring that product decisions are grounded in evidence and user behavior. Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Specialization: Deepen expertise in frontend technologies (React, TypeScript), explore advanced UX patterns, or gain deeper knowledge of A/B testing frameworks and data analytics.

• Cross-Functional Skill Development: Gain exposure to backend systems, data infrastructure, and product management processes, potentially leading to broader full-stack capabilities or product-focused engineering roles.

• Leadership Potential: As experience grows, opportunities may arise to lead feature development initiatives, mentor junior engineers, or take on technical leadership roles within the team.

• Platform Expertise: Develop a deep understanding of the Roblox platform architecture, user base, and business objectives, which can open doors to various specialized engineering roles within the company.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Operations" in the prompt is interpreted as "Engineering Operations" or "Product Engineering" in this context, focusing on how the engineering function operates and impacts the business. The growth opportunities are tailored to a software engineering career path within a large tech company.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid Work Model

• The role is based in San Mateo, CA, and requires a hybrid work arrangement. Employees are expected to be in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays are optional for in-office presence. This structure aims to balance the benefits of in-person collaboration with the flexibility of remote work. Office Location(s):

• The primary office location for this role is San Mateo, California. This location likely offers amenities and facilities designed for collaborative work, including meeting rooms, common areas, and potentially dedicated spaces for engineering teams. Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model emphasizes in-office days for team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and cross-functional alignment, fostering a strong sense of team cohesion and shared purpose.

• Technology & Tools: Engineers will have access to the necessary hardware, software, and development tools provided by Roblox, including robust development environments, high-speed internet, and access to internal platforms and services.

• Team Interaction: The hybrid schedule facilitates regular face-to-face interactions with team members, managers, and stakeholders, promoting open communication and knowledge sharing.

Work Schedule:

• Full-time position with a hybrid schedule. Core in-office days are Tuesday-Thursday, allowing for focused collaboration and team building. Flexibility exists for optional onsite work on Monday and Friday, accommodating individual work preferences and project needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid work policy is a key aspect of the work environment, suggesting a deliberate effort by Roblox to foster both collaboration and flexibility. The San Mateo location is likely a hub for engineering talent.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter will review your application and resume, likely followed by a brief phone screen to assess your general fit, experience, and interest in the role and Roblox.

• Technical Phone/Video Interview: This typically involves a coding challenge or system design discussion, focusing on your proficiency in JavaScript, React, TypeScript, and your problem-solving approach.

Expect questions related to algorithm design, data structures, and frontend architecture.

• Onsite/Virtual Onsite Loop: This will consist of multiple interviews, potentially including:

  • Coding Interviews: More in-depth technical challenges, possibly involving whiteboard coding or live coding exercises.
  • System Design Interview: Focus on designing scalable and performant frontend systems or features, considering user experience, data flow, and integration with backend services.
  • Behavioral Interviews: Assessing your fit with Roblox's culture, teamwork, communication skills, and how you handle challenges (e.g., "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate").
  • Product/UX Focused Interview: Discussion about your approach to user experience, data analysis, and A/B testing, potentially involving a case study or scenario.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A final discussion with the hiring manager to assess overall fit, career aspirations, and confirm alignment with the team's needs.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Select Projects: Choose 2-3 of your strongest projects that best showcase your skills in React, TypeScript, A/B testing, and data analysis. Prioritize projects with demonstrable impact or complexity.

• Quantify Impact: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your solution, your specific contributions, and most importantly, the quantifiable results (e.g., "increased conversion by X%", "reduced load time by Y seconds," "improved user satisfaction scores").

• Highlight Process: Be ready to walk through your code, explain your design choices, and discuss the development process (e.g., how you handled requirements, testing, debugging, and collaboration).

• Showcase A/B Testing & Data: If possible, include projects where you've implemented and analyzed A/B tests. Explain your hypothesis, the experiment setup, and the insights gained.

• Tailor to Roblox: Understand Roblox's mission and user base. Frame your projects in a way that demonstrates how your skills can contribute to their platform and community.

Challenge Preparation:

• Coding Practice: Utilize platforms like LeetCode (focusing on JavaScript/TypeScript, easy to medium difficulty), HackerRank, or similar to hone your algorithmic and data structure skills.

• Frontend System Design: Practice designing components, user flows, and entire frontend architectures for common web applications. Consider scalability, performance, and maintainability.

• A/B Testing Scenarios: Prepare to discuss how you would design an A/B test for a specific feature on Roblox (e.g., improving the search results page, optimizing the game recommendation engine).

• Behavioral Question Framework: Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to prepare compelling answers to common behavioral questions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process for a mid-level software engineer at a company like Roblox is typically rigorous, involving multiple stages to assess technical depth, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit. A strong portfolio is critical for demonstrating practical application of skills, especially for roles emphasizing UX and data.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• React: The core JavaScript library for building user interfaces, expected to be used extensively.

• TypeScript: For static typing, enhancing code quality, maintainability, and developer productivity.

• JavaScript: Fundamental programming language for web development.

• HTML/CSS: For structuring and styling web content.

• Version Control: Git (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) for source code management and collaboration.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Internal Analytics Tools: Roblox likely uses proprietary or heavily customized internal tools for tracking user behavior, experiment results, and platform performance.

• A/B Testing Frameworks: Experience with or ability to learn and utilize Roblox's internal A/B testing infrastructure.

• Data Warehousing/Querying: Familiarity with SQL or similar query languages for data analysis might be beneficial.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a CRM role, understanding how user data is managed and utilized is important.

• Internal Development Tools: Roblox will have its own suite of internal tools for development, deployment, and monitoring.

📝 Enhancement Note: The prompt explicitly mentions React, TypeScript, and JavaScript. The "flexibility to work across areas such as backend systems and data infrastructure" suggests that familiarity with related technologies or a willingness to learn them is a plus. The emphasis on A/B testing and data analysis implies the need for strong analytical tools and potentially SQL or similar data querying skills.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User Focus: A deep commitment to understanding and serving the Roblox community (players and creators) through exceptional user experiences.

• Data-Driven Decisions: Prioritizing data, analytics, and experimentation to guide product development and measure success.

• Collaboration & Inclusivity: Fostering a supportive and respectful environment where diverse perspectives are valued and teamwork is paramount.

• Innovation & Iteration: Encouraging creative problem-solving, embracing new technologies, and continuously improving features and processes.

• Ownership & Impact: Taking responsibility for features from conception to deployment and focusing on delivering tangible value to users and the business.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Engineers work closely with Product Managers, UX Designers, and other engineering disciplines, actively participating in design discussions and providing technical input.

• Open Communication: Encouraging candid feedback through code reviews, design critiques, and team meetings.

• Shared Learning: A culture of knowledge sharing, where engineers mentor each other, present learnings, and contribute to a collective understanding of best practices.

• Agile Teamwork: Working in iterative cycles, with frequent stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives to ensure alignment and continuous improvement.

📝 Enhancement Note: Roblox's mission to connect billions of people with optimism and civility strongly suggests a culture that values positive social impact, safety, and inclusivity. For engineers, this means building responsibly and collaboratively.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Scale of Operations: Working with a massive user base and complex infrastructure presents unique challenges in performance, scalability, and reliability.

• Balancing Innovation and Stability: The need to constantly innovate and introduce new features while maintaining the stability and performance of a globally used platform.

• Cross-Team Dependencies: Navigating and managing dependencies with numerous other engineering and product teams within a large organization.

• Data Interpretation: Effectively translating large volumes of user data and experiment results into actionable insights and concrete product improvements.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Frontend Development: Opportunities to master cutting-edge frontend technologies, architectural patterns, and performance optimization techniques.

• Data Science & Analytics: Develop deeper expertise in data analysis, experimentation design, and statistical modeling through hands-on work and potential training.

• Product Acumen: Gain a strong understanding of product strategy, user research, and the business drivers behind feature development.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Potential to mentor junior engineers, lead technical initiatives, and grow into a technical leadership role within the Discovery UX team or across Roblox.

• Industry Conferences & Training: Access to resources for attending tech conferences, workshops, and pursuing relevant certifications.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are inherent to working at a large-scale tech company like Roblox, particularly in a user-facing product area. The growth opportunities are geared towards advancing technical skills, product understanding, and leadership capabilities within the engineering domain.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Frontend Architecture: "How would you design a scalable and performant recommendation engine for game discovery on Roblox?" or "Describe the architecture of a complex frontend application you've worked on and why you chose that approach."

  • Preparation: Focus on component-based design, state management, API integration strategies, lazy loading, code splitting, and performance optimization techniques.

• A/B Testing & Data Analysis: "Imagine we want to test a new UI for the 'Play' button. How would you design this A/B test, what metrics would you track, and how would you analyze the results?" or "Describe a time your data analysis led to a significant product change."

  • Preparation: Understand hypothesis formulation, defining primary/secondary metrics, sample size calculation basics, statistical significance, and interpreting results for actionable insights.

• Problem Solving & Debugging: "You're seeing a spike in page load times on the Home page. How would you investigate and resolve this issue?"

  • Preparation: Outline a systematic debugging process, including using browser developer tools, logging, performance profiling, and isolating the root cause.

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Roblox and this specific role?"

  • Preparation: Research Roblox's mission, products, and recent news. Connect your skills and career goals to the company's vision and the Discovery UX team's objectives.

• "Describe a challenging cross-functional collaboration you've experienced and how you navigated it."

  • Preparation: Use the STAR method to highlight communication, conflict resolution, and teamwork skills.

• "How do you stay updated on the latest frontend technologies and UX trends?"

  • Preparation: Mention blogs, conferences, online courses, personal projects, and following industry leaders.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling: Frame each project as a narrative: the problem, your unique solution, the technical challenges you overcame, and the quantifiable impact.

• Code Walkthrough: Be prepared to share your screen and walk through key parts of your code, explaining your design choices, and demonstrating your understanding of best practices.

• Data Visualization: If your projects involve data, be ready to explain how you visualized it and what insights you derived.

• Focus on Impact: Continuously tie your work back to user value and business objectives. For this role, emphasize how your contributions improved user discovery and engagement.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview questions for this role will heavily weigh technical skills in React/TypeScript, A/B testing, and data analysis, alongside behavioral aspects demonstrating collaboration and problem-solving aligned with Roblox's culture. A strong portfolio review is crucial for validating practical application of these skills.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Software Engineer, Discovery UX position:

• Submit your application through the official Roblox Careers portal via the provided link.

• Portfolio Customization: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature projects demonstrating your expertise in React, TypeScript, A/B testing, and data-driven UX improvements. Ensure each project includes a clear articulation of the problem, your solution, your specific contributions, and quantifiable outcomes.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight keywords and experiences directly relevant to frontend development, UX, A/B testing, and data analysis. Quantify achievements wherever possible (e.g., "Improved conversion rates by X%").

• Interview Preparation: Thoroughly prepare for technical interviews by practicing coding challenges, reviewing system design principles for frontend applications, and rehearsing answers to behavioral questions using the STAR method.

• Company Research: Deeply understand Roblox's mission, values, and the specific goals of the Discovery UX team. Be ready to articulate why you are a strong cultural and technical fit for the company and the role.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.