Jobs / United States / Cargurus INC
Principal Software Engineer, Algorithmic Traffic Acquisition
Cargurus INC · 🇺🇸 Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 20 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest May 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 13 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Cargurus INC paid sponsored hires in similar roles11 certified filings for “Senior Software Development Engineer” (Software Developers) in MA: $150k–$193k, median $173k. Most were filed at wage level III (36%) — 3 lottery entries, ≈46% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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Sponsor Radar — Cargurus INC
The US Department of Labor certified 20 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest May 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 13 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Cargurus INC →
About the role
Who we are At CarGurus (NASDAQ: CARG), our mission is to give people the power to reach their destination. We started as a small team of developers determined to bring trust and transparency to car shopping. Since then, our history of innovation and go-to-market acceleration has driven industry-leading growth. In fact, we’re the largest and fastest-growing automotive marketplace, and we’ve been profitable for over 15 years. What we do The market is evolving, and we are too, moving the entire automotive journey online and guiding our customers through every step. That includes everything from the sale of an old car to the financing, purchase, and delivery of a new one. Today, tens of millions of consumers visit CarGurus.com each month, and ~30,000 dealerships use our products. But they're not the only ones who love CarGurus—our employees do, too. We have a people-first culture that fosters kindness, collaboration, and innovation, and empowers our Gurus with tools to fuel their career growth. Disrupting a trillion-dollar industry requires fresh and diverse perspectives. Come join us for the ride! Role overview The Algorithmic Traffic Acquisition team at CarGurus is looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer to help define and deliver the next generation of car recommendations for millions of shoppers. The Recommendations Team helps shoppers find the right cars by surfacing relevant vehicles, and helpful next steps across search, listings, saved cars, and AI-powered experiences. In this role, you will provide technical leadership across the recommendation domain, from shopper understanding and preference signals to ranking, personalization, experimentation, reliability, and the product experiences that make recommendations useful and trustworthy. You will work closely with Data Science, Product, and other engineering teams to turn advances in machine learning and AI into intuitive consumer experiences that help shoppers find the right car faster. You’ll shape architecture and technical strategy, write code, mentor engineers, and work closely with teams across CarGurus. What you’ll do • Set the technical direction for our recommendation platform and drive architecture across multiple teams. • Build scalable recommendation systems using shopper, vehicle, inventory, and behavioral signals. • Partner with Data Science to productionize models and continuously improve recommendation quality. • Drive personalization, ranking, experimentation, and AI-powered recommendation experiences throughout the shopper journey. • Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives from technical design through delivery and measurement. • Improve the reliability, scalability, observability, and operational excellence of recommendation services. • Influence technical decisions across the organization, mentor engineers, and raise the engineering bar through design and code reviews. • Leverage AI-assisted development to accelerate delivery while maintaining high standards for quality, security, and reliability. What you’ll bring • 10+ years of software engineering experience building and operating large-scale, customer-facing systems. • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or similar field. • Deep expertise in software architecture, distributed systems, APIs, and production engineering. • Experience leading technical direction across teams and driving complex, multi-quarter initiatives. • Strong experience with Kotlin, Java, C#, Python, or similar languages; Kotlin is preferred. • Strong SQL and relational database experience, including performance considerations. • Experience partnering with Data Science or ML teams to bring models into production. • Excellent communication and influence skills, with a track record