# Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Computer Monetization)
**Company:** [Perplexity AI](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/perplexity)
Perplexity AI is seeking a skilled Software Engineer to lead the development of their critical Computer Monetization billing platform. The role focuses on designing and implementing robust, scalable billing systems that power Perplexity's AI-driven products, handling complex usage-based pricing and monetization strategies across consumer and enterprise platforms.
**Role:** Software Engineer
**Seniority:** Senior
**Locations:** San Francisco
**Salary:** 220000–405000 USD
[Apply](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity/043d6a58-87a1-4e3c-bf47-4dc351b94cf4)
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/jobs/perplexity/member-of-technical-staff-software-engineer-computer-monetization
---
## Responsibilities

- Billing Platform Development: Design and own the billing platform powering Perplexity Computer and paid experiences
- Feature Leadership: Lead end-to-end feature development from problem definition through technical design, implementation, and launch
- Billing System Operations: Build and operate subscription, invoicing, and usage-based billing systems serving millions of users
- Reliability Engineering: Implement proactive monitoring, alerting, and tiered SLOs to ensure billing system reliability
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Finance, Data Science, Growth, Security, and Support teams to maintain billing accuracy and compliance

## Requirements

### education

- {"name":"Computer Science","description":"Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field preferred"}

### technical

- {"name":"Backend Engineering","description":"Strong Python skills for developing complex distributed systems"}
- {"name":"Database Management","description":"Proficiency with PostgreSQL and data-driven decision making"}
- {"name":"Payment System Architecture","description":"Experience designing scalable billing and monetization platforms"}

### experience

- {"name":"Software Engineering","description":"4+ years of professional software engineering experience"}
- {"name":"Billing Systems","description":"Direct experience building or scaling billing, payments, and subscription systems"}

## Skills

### required

- {"name":"Python","description":"Strong backend engineering skills with proficiency in Python for complex distributed systems"}
- {"name":"Payment Systems","description":"Direct experience building or scaling billing, payments, and subscription systems"}
- {"name":"PostgreSQL","description":"Experience with relational databases and data-informed decision making"}
- {"name":"Distributed Systems","description":"Ability to reason about and design complex distributed system architectures"}

### preferred

- {"name":"Stripe API","description":"Hands-on experience with Stripe APIs and SDKs"}
- {"name":"Usage-Based Billing","description":"Experience with metered billing models and agent action monetization"}
- {"name":"Full-Stack Development","description":"Frontend experience with Next.js, React, and TypeScript"}
- {"name":"Compliance Billing","description":"Experience in regulatory or compliance-heavy billing environments"}

## Tech stack

### tools

- {"name":"Stripe","description":"Payment processing and billing platform"}
- {"name":"AWS","description":"Cloud infrastructure and services"}
- {"name":"Docker","description":"Containerization platform"}

### others

### databases

- {"name":"PostgreSQL","description":"Primary relational database management system"}

### languages

- {"name":"Python","description":"Primary backend programming language"}
- {"name":"Go","description":"Secondary systems programming language"}

### frameworks

- {"name":"Next.js","description":"Frontend web framework"}
- {"name":"React","description":"UI component library"}
- {"name":"TypeScript","description":"Typed JavaScript superset"}

## Benefits

### benefits

- {"name":"Equity Compensation","description":"Stock options or equity compensation as part of total package"}
- {"name":"Innovative Work Environment","description":"Opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI technologies and transform knowledge platforms"}
- {"name":"High-Impact Role","description":"Ability to own critical infrastructure and directly influence product monetization strategies"}
- {"name":"Learning Culture","description":"Work among highly talented peers with emphasis on continuous learning and knowledge pursuit"}

## Compensation

- **max:** 405000
- **min:** 220000
- **currency:** USD
- **stockOptions:** true

## Interview process

### steps

- {"name":"Initial Screening","description":"Phone or video call with recruiting team to assess basic qualifications"}
- {"name":"Technical Phone Interview","description":"Deep dive into technical skills, billing system experience, and problem-solving approaches"}
- {"name":"System Design Challenge","description":"Architectural design interview focusing on billing platform scalability and complex monetization models"}
- {"name":"Onsite/Virtual Interviews","description":"Multiple rounds with engineering team, including technical deep dive, system design, and team fit assessment"}
- {"name":"Final Leadership Interview","description":"Discussion with senior leadership to evaluate strategic thinking and alignment with company vision"}

## Full description
Perplexity is AI for people who expect more.

In 2026, we launched Computer, the defining product for the new era of agentic AI. Millions of people now use Perplexity to transform knowledge into action, and every action an agent takes is metered, budgeted, and settled through the billing platform this role owns.

As a monetization engineer at Perplexity, you'll own the abstractions that let product teams ship new SKUs, run pricing experiments, and convert users into paying customers, without needing to understand billing internals. The usage-based billing system this team owns is foundational to Perplexity Computer and our agentic products: metering every agent action in real time, enforcing credit budgets, and settling costs across entirely new interaction models. You'll work across subscriptions, usage-based billing, and enterprise contracts to ensure every revenue path is reliable, observable, and easy to extend.

**Tech Stack:** Python | Go | Stripe | PostgreSQL | AWS | Docker

### 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 the billing platform and monetization systems that power Computer and every paid experience across Perplexity.
* Lead features end-to-end, from problem definition through technical design, implementation, and launch, including the billing API abstractions that let product teams ship new SKUs, pricing models, and monetization experiments with minimal friction.
* Build and operate the subscription, invoicing, and usage-based billing systems that serve millions of users across consumer and enterprise plans.
* Hill-climb on reliability: tiered SLOs organized by customer impact, proactive monitoring, and alerting to catch revenue-affecting issues before customers do.
* Partner closely with Finance, Data Science, Growth, Security, Support, and go-to-market teams to keep billing data accurate, auditable, and compliant, and to expand payment method coverage and optimize authorization rates globally.
* Build internal tooling that empowers Support and Finance to diagnose and resolve billing issues quickly.

### Qualifications

* 4+ years of professional software engineering experience.
* Direct experience building or scaling billing, payments, subscription, or monetization systems.
* Deep familiarity with payment processors (Stripe, Square, etc.), including subscriptions, invoicing, disputes, refunds, and webhooks.
* Demonstrated experience and appetite for building in-house billing solutions that rival leading best-in-class buy options.
* Strong backend engineering skills in Python with the ability to reason about complex distributed systems.
* Experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL) and making data-informed decisions to prioritize work.
* Strong product judgment, you translate user and stakeholder problems into simple, effective technical solutions.
* Self-motivated with strong ownership instincts, you ship major features ahead of schedule and drive improvements without asking for permission.
* Track record of cross-functional collaboration with Finance, Support, or Growth stakeholders.
* Genuine interest and adoption of AI products and willingness to learn quickly.

### Nice to have

* 2+ years of hands-on experience with the Stripe APIs and SDKs.
* Experience with usage-based or metered billing models, especially metering agent actions, tokens, or other non-traditional units.
* Experience with Apple and Google Play in-app purchase billing.
* Familiarity with growth experimentation and PLG/self-serve SaaS monetization.
* Experience building platform constructs that support pricing experiments and A/B testing.
* Full-stack experience (our frontend is Next.js/React/TypeScript).
* Experience in a regulatory or compliance-heavy billing environment.
* Time spent at a fast-growing startup or on a high-ownership engineering team.