Jobs Companies Perplexity Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Applied AI)

About this Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Applied AI) role at Perplexity

Perplexity · Onsite · San Francisco

Perplexity is looking for an Applied AI Engineer to design, build, and iterate on cutting-edge agents powering our core experience in Perplexity Computer. Working in this mission critical team, you will develop frontier context layer applications - fulfilling the curiosity of millions of users across the globe.

Key Responsibilities

  • Apply state-of-the-art ML and LLM techniques to solve problems spanning:

    • Personalization (LLM memory, context summarization, retrieval and ranking);

    • Contextual recommendations and Monetization applications

    • Build frontier agent capabilities on top of Perplexity Computer

  • Build auto research harness for both offline and online techniques, designing experiments and metrics that provide deep insight into quality and impact.

  • Own the entire model lifecycle from research to production: data analysis, modeling, evaluation, offline/online A/B testing, and iterative improvement and build autonomous harness for agent squad to explore different problem spaces.

  • Collaborate cross-functionally with engineers, PMs, data scientists, and designers to ensure our AI drives meaningful product improvements.

  • Stay at the forefront of ML/AI innovation by evaluating and incorporating emerging research and algorithms into the product lifecycle.

Preferred Qualifications

  • 5+ years experience building and shipping robust AI products for large-scale, user-facing or data-driven products.

  • Strong software engineering skills (Python, production-quality codebases, collaborative development) and experience using agentic coding tools for large scale parallel developments.

  • In-depth experience with the full AI lifecycle: data analysis, rigorous evaluation, and ongoing monitoring/improvement.

  • Proven collaborator and communicator; excels in high-velocity, cross-functional teams.

  • Curious, driven by end-user/product impact, and passionate about advancing the state of applied ML and AI.

  • BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).

Bonus Points For

  • Experience with LLM context engineering or harness engineering.

  • Experience in mid-training or post-training frontier open source models

  • Experience in large scale user-centric and content-centric personalization challenges (user modeling, retrieval, content ranking, etc).

 

Ready to apply to Perplexity?
Apply to Perplexity

How this Staff Engineer salary compares

This role pays $312,500/yrabove the typical range for Staff Engineer roles.

$194,772 median $247,700 $362,500

Typical range $221,175–$285,500/yr, from 693 comparable Staff Engineer listings on JobsRadar (pay annualized to USD). See Staff Engineer salary insights →

Similar jobs

Meter
Model Engineer - Member of Technical Staff
Meter
⚡ Apply early San Francisco Onsite $190,000–$295,000
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 3h ago
Clay Labs
Software Engineer (Prior Staff / Principal Experience)
Clay Labs
⚡ Apply early New York Hybrid $240,000–$300,000
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 3h ago
Goodleap
Staff Software Engineer
Goodleap
⚡ Apply early San Francisco, CA Hybrid $188,300–$212,900
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 3h ago
TA
Staff Software Engineer, Inference / Compute Infrastructure Engineering
Together AI
⚡ Apply early San Francisco Onsite
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 3h ago
Amplitude
Staff Software Engineer - DevX
Amplitude
⚡ Apply early Remote - USA; San Francisco, C... Hybrid $173,000–$238,000
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 4h ago
Redwood Materials
Staff BESS Electrical Design Engineer, EPC
Redwood Materials
⚡ Apply early San Francisco, California, Uni... Onsite $190,000–$252,500
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 5h ago
Redwood Materials
Staff Electrical Engineer, Balance of Plant
Redwood Materials
⚡ Apply early San Francisco, California, Uni... Onsite
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 5h ago
Redwood Materials
Staff Mechanical Design Engineer, EPC 
Redwood Materials
⚡ Apply early San Francisco, California, Uni... Onsite $187,500–$247,500
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 5h ago
Motive
Staff Platform Engineer
Motive
⚡ Apply early Hybrid - San Francisco, Califo... Hybrid $189,000–$236,000
● New 👁 Seen ✓ Applied 5h ago

Sign up for suggestions tailored to the jobs you open and the searches you save.

More jobs at Perplexity

See all jobs at Perplexity →

Apply now
🤖

Whoa — hold up

JobsRadar was built for real people having a rough time in their job search — not for automated requests. You're clicking way too fast and you're now temporarily blocked.

Come back later. If you're genuinely job hunting, we've got your back — just act like a human.

Catch your next role the second it’s posted.

Create a free account and we’ll watch the boards for you — the instant a job matches your search, it lands in your inbox or Telegram. No digging, no refreshing.

Create free account

Free forever · takes 30 seconds · already have one?

Get an edge on your job hunt.

Join our Telegram channel for the stuff that helps you land the role — salary benchmarks, the weekly market pulse, and new-feature drops. No spam, just signal.

Join the channel — it's free