A Software Development Engineer (SDE 1) role at is a strong career opportunity for early-career engineers who want to work on high-scale consumer technology platforms. This opening is suitable for 2023, 2024, and 2025 pass-outs with around 1 year of experience, looking to build a solid foundation in backend, frontend, or full-stack engineering.
This role offers exposure to real-world distributed systems, high-traffic applications, and product-driven engineering, making it ideal for candidates who want long-term growth in software development.
Company Overview
Swiggy is one of India’s leading technology-driven consumer platforms, operating in food delivery, quick commerce, and logistics. The company handles millions of daily transactions, requiring highly reliable, scalable, and performant systems. Engineers at Swiggy work closely with product, data, and business teams to build features that directly impact users at scale.
Working in such a product-first organization helps engineers develop strong ownership, system design skills, and a deep understanding of building software for real users.
Role Overview – Software Development Engineer 1 (SDE 1)
The SDE 1 role is designed for early-career engineers who are ready to contribute to production systems while continuing to learn core engineering principles. Engineers in this role work on feature development, system improvements, bug fixes, and performance optimizations.
Key role details:
- Role: Software Development Engineer 1 (SDE 1)
- Eligible Batches: 2023, 2024, 2025 pass-outs
- Experience: Around 1 year
- Employment Type: Full Time
- Location: India (as per team requirements)
- Domain: Software Engineering / Product Development
This role provides hands-on exposure to production-grade systems and collaborative engineering practices.
Role Purpose and Impact
The primary purpose of the SDE 1 role is to build, maintain, and improve software systems that power large-scale consumer applications. Engineers contribute directly to customer-facing features and internal platforms that support operations, logistics, and growth.
Your work impacts:
- Application performance and reliability
- Feature delivery speed and quality
- User experience at scale
- Platform stability during high traffic
This makes the role both technically challenging and business-critical.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable software components
- Write clean, efficient, and maintainable code
- Collaborate with senior engineers on system design and implementation
- Fix bugs and improve performance of existing systems
- Participate in code reviews and technical discussions
- Work closely with product managers and designers to deliver features
- Ensure software quality through testing and monitoring
- Take ownership of assigned modules or services
These responsibilities help engineers grow from task execution to system ownership.
Skills Required
Candidates applying for this role should have strong fundamentals in software development.
Core skills include:
- Proficiency in at least one programming language (Java, Python, C++, Go, or similar)
- Solid understanding of data structures and algorithms
- Knowledge of object-oriented design and coding best practices
- Familiarity with databases (SQL or NoSQL)
- Understanding of REST APIs and backend services
- Basic knowledge of system design concepts
- Experience with version control tools like Git
- Strong problem-solving and debugging skills
Hands-on project or internship experience adds significant value.
Who Can Apply
This opportunity is suitable for:
- 2023, 2024, and 2025 graduates
- Engineers with around 1 year of experience
- Candidates from Computer Science, IT, or related technical backgrounds
- Developers passionate about building scalable products
- Professionals looking to move into product-based engineering roles
A strong foundation and learning mindset are more important than prior company brand.
Work Culture and Engineering Environment
Swiggy follows a product-driven and ownership-oriented engineering culture. Engineers are encouraged to take responsibility for end-to-end features, from design to deployment and monitoring. The environment promotes fast iteration, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
Learning happens through:
- Real production challenges
- Mentorship from senior engineers
- Design discussions and post-incident reviews
- Exposure to large-scale distributed systems
This culture accelerates technical and professional growth.
Career Growth Opportunities
Starting as an SDE 1 opens multiple long-term growth paths, such as:
- Software Development Engineer 2 (SDE 2)
- Senior Software Engineer
- Tech Lead or Module Owner
- Backend / Platform Specialist
- Engineering Manager (with experience)
Product-based engineering experience at this level significantly boosts long-term career prospects.
Why This Role Is Career-Strong
This role remains highly valuable because it:
- Builds real product engineering experience
- Involves high-scale, real-world systems
- Strengthens core software fundamentals
- Offers strong long-term salary growth
- Keeps skills relevant across tech companies
Engineers with such experience are consistently in demand across the industry.
Selection Process
The typical hiring process includes:
- Online application
- Resume shortlisting
- Technical interviews focusing on DSA and problem-solving
- Coding and system design discussions
- Behavioral or HR interview
Clear coding logic, strong fundamentals, and structured thinking improve selection chances.
