Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Computer)

Software Engineer · Senior · Full Time

San FranciscoUSD 220k – 405k3mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

Perplexity AI is seeking a Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer) to build innovative AI-powered products that transform knowledge into action. The ideal candidate will be a passionate engineer who can design, implement, and ship complex systems for the Computer product, working across product, infrastructure, and cutting-edge technology domains.

Responsibilities

  • Product System Development: Design, build, and own product and platform systems for Computer AI product
  • End-to-End Project Leadership: Lead features and products from problem definition through technical design, implementation, and launch
  • Continuous Improvement: Iteratively solve complex technical challenges and optimize systems
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with engineers, product managers, designers, data scientists, and go-to-market teams
  • AI System Design: Build sophisticated systems accounting for AI nuances including agents, context, evaluation, personalization, and ground truth

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Programming Proficiency

    Minimum 4 years of professional software engineering experience

  • Language Expertise

    Strong skills in at least one general-purpose programming language

  • System Architecture

    Experience building scalable production systems

Education

  • Computer Science

    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field preferred

Experience

  • Software Development

    Proven track record of shipping complex technical products

  • AI Technology

    Demonstrated experience or strong interest in AI product development

Skills

Required

  • Programming Languages

    Proficiency in at least one general-purpose language like Python, Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, Swift, Rust, Java, or C++

  • System Design

    Experience building and operating production systems at meaningful scale

  • Product Thinking

    Strong ability to translate user problems into effective technical solutions

  • AI Product Adoption

    Genuine interest and quick learning in AI technologies

Preferred

  • AI Technologies

    Nice to have

    Experience with LLMs, AI agents, retrieval systems, personalization, or evaluation frameworks

  • Startup Experience

    Nice to have

    Background in fast-growing startups or high-ownership engineering teams

  • Entrepreneurial Background

    Nice to have

    Founded a company or significant technical initiative

Tech stack

Languages

PythonTypeScriptGo

Frameworks

AI FrameworksWeb Frameworks

Databases

Scalable Databases

Tools

AI Development ToolsCloud Platforms

Other

AI Agents

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·USD 220,000 – 405,000

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Equity

    Stock options package for company growth participation

  • Innovation Culture

    Opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI technologies

  • Entrepreneurial Environment

    High-ownership team with founder-like approach

  • Learning Opportunity

    Work with highly talented peers in AI research and development

Process

Interview steps.

  1. 01

    Initial Screening

    Resume and background review

  2. 02

    Technical Phone Screen

    Discussion of technical skills and experience

  3. 03

    Technical Interview

    Coding challenges and system design assessment

  4. 04

    Onsite/Virtual Interviews

    Multiple rounds with engineering team members

  5. 05

    Final Leadership Interview

    Alignment with company mission and culture

Full posting

Original listing.

By applying to this role, you will be considered for engineering roles across all teams at Perplexity.

We are hiring builders to join our highly leveraged engineering team for creating new products that innovate and accelerate human productivity

In 2026, we launched Computer, the defining product for the new era of agentic AI. We’ve scaled beyond the millions of people using Perplexity every day for research, shopping, investing and curiosity into a new paradigm of using AI to transform knowledge into action.

As an engineer at Perplexity, your role will be to build products and systems that define how AI empowers humans to think, decide and act. You’ll ship fast and work between product, infrastructure and frontier level advancements in technology.

Why Perplexity is Different

  • Craftsmanship. We build high quality, tasteful products targeting both the AI native and AI curious.

  • Ownership. You identify the problem, design the solution and ship it.

  • Entrepreneurship. We think like founders, act with urgency, and hustle to deliver for each other and our users.

  • Scholarship. Work among highly talented peers, pursuing knowledge and truth, upleveling ourselves, our teams, and our products.

  • Partnership. We amplify each others’ strengths, break down silos, and give selflessly to help our colleagues deliver excellence.

What you'll do

  • Design, build, and own product and platform systems for Computer

  • Lead features, projects and products end-to-end, from problem definition to technical design, implementation, and launch.

  • Hill climb on hard problems, continuously iterating to improve for ourselves and customers.

  • Partner closely with engineers, product managers, designers, data scientists, and go-to-market teams.

  • Build systems that take into account the nuances of AI, working with agents, context, evaluation, personalization and the ground truth.

Qualifications

  • 4+ years of professional software engineering experience.

  • Strong experience in at least one general-purpose programming language such as Python, Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, Swift, Rust, Java, or C++.

  • Experience building and operating production systems at a meaningful scale.

  • Strong product judgment and the ability to translate user problems into simple, effective technical solutions.

  • Genuine interest and adoption of AI products and willingness to learn quickly.

Nice to have

  • Experience with LLMs, agents, retrieval systems, personalization, or evaluation frameworks.

  • Time spent at a fast-growing startup or on a high-ownership engineering team.

  • Founded a company or initiative.

Our Mission

Perplexity’s mission is to power curiosity. Curious people are the people who drive change in the world. Driving change is a continuous cycle of learning, building, and integrating.

Learn: curious people constantly learn new things by asking more. They question the status quo in their own expertise and they constantly learn outside of it. Research is essential to them and never ending.

Build: curious people make and create things, to show the world their new answers to problems no one else ever questioned. They take action on what they’ve learned. Makers need tools to create their products, their companies, their reality.

Integrate: they must interact with the world as it is to drive change and adoption. True leaders do not simply build something and hope. They must have armies of agents and workers who can constantly work in millions of small ways.

Repeat. For curious people this is a cycle that never ends.

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