Senior Software Engineer, Accessibility

About the role

Join Mozilla's Accessibility Team to enhance the web for everyone. This role focuses on improving the core accessibility engine of Firefox, ensuring a more inclusive internet experience. You will contribute to making web technologies accessible to users of all abilities. The position requires deep collaboration with cross-functional partners to define and execute on accessibility initiatives. You will be instrumental in shaping the future of assistive technology integration within the browser ecosystem. This is an opportunity to directly impact how billions of people interact with digital content. Your work will drive the evolution of web standards and implementation practices. The team values open source collaboration and global community engagement.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Overhaul the performance characteristics of the Gecko accessibility engine to eliminate bottlenecks.
• Architect robust solutions for stability issues within a multi-process, multi-threaded codebase.
• Diagnose and resolve operating system-specific challenges that impact user experience.
• Establish productive partnerships with engineering and leadership across teams to align on goals.
• Collaborate with design and front-end developers to identify and fix accessibility problems in prototypes.
• Advocate for web standards that improve access to emerging and future technologies.
• Operate effectively within an open-source development environment while engaging with the global Mozilla community.
• Engineer systems that seamlessly expose web platform features to assistive technologies.
• Enforce strict adherence to performance and memory usage standards within the Gecko rendering engine.
• Implement new web features to support diverse applications and content structures.
• Lead the technical investigation of complex accessibility regressions and edge cases.
• Mentor junior engineers on best practices for accessible code and testing methodologies.
• Drive the definition of technical requirements for accessibility features from conception to launch.

Requirements

• Hold a degree in Computer Science or a related field, or possess equivalent practical experience that demonstrates the required competencies.
• Demonstrate proven expertise in C++ through a portfolio of complex software projects.
• Show a deep understanding of web accessibility principles and the practical application of ARIA specifications.
• Illustrate familiarity with JavaScript, web technologies, and modern web applications through prior work experience.
• Provide evidence of experience developing cross-platform native applications for major operating systems.
• Exhibit strong analytical and debugging capabilities when tackling ambiguous and difficult problems.
• Have hands-on experience with multi-process, multi-threaded code development and troubleshooting in production environments.
• Prove the ability to quickly learn and navigate a large, complex codebase without extensive hand-holding.
• Communicate effectively in writing and verbally in English to articulate technical concepts clearly.
• Demonstrate the capacity to work effectively within a globally distributed, open development team across time zones.
• Show a genuine commitment to improving the web for individuals with diverse abilities through past contributions or projects.
• Be willing to engage in continuous learning to keep pace with evolving web standards and technologies.
• Understand the importance of inclusive design and its implementation in software development lifecycles.
• Be legally authorized to work in the country listed in the key facts without sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice to have

• Experience influencing web standards through participation in standards bodies or community groups.
• A history of contributions to major open source projects related to browsers or accessibility.
• Knowledge of automated testing frameworks for accessibility compliance.

Practical notes

• Salary Range: $104,000 - $139,000 CAD for Tier 1 Canada locations; $95,000 - $126,000 CAD for Tier 2 Canada locations.
• Benefits include performance-based bonuses, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, generous retirement contributions with immediate vesting, wellness days, paid time off, home office stipend, professional development budget, well-being stipend, parental leave, and referral bonuses.
• Mozilla is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Accommodations are available for individuals with disabilities during the application and interview process.