Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Agent Capabilities)
WFA Digital Insight
The demand for skilled software engineers in AI-powered products has surged, with over 25% of companies investing in AI technologies. Perplexity stands out for its craftsmanship and ownership-driven approach, making it an attractive destination for professionals seeking autonomy and impact. As the remote job market continues to evolve, candidates with expertise in languages like Python, Go, and PostgreSQL are in high demand. With the AI market expected to reach
Job Description
About the Role
As a Member of Technical Staff on the Capabilities team at Perplexity, you will play a crucial role in building the Skills, Workflows, and Artifacts that power the company's AI agent, Computer. Your day-to-day responsibilities will involve designing, building, and owning the primitives at the heart of Computer, ensuring they compose into a coherent user experience. You will work closely with the agent engine layer to turn frontier capabilities into reliable primitives, collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive projects forward.The Capabilities team is responsible for building the systems that enable users and agents to reuse skills and workflows, aiming to make Computer the go-to platform for knowledge-driven work. As a technical staff member, you will have the opportunity to define the technical direction on ambiguous problems, driving innovation and excellence in the company's products.
Perplexity's approach to software development is centered around craftsmanship, ownership, and entrepreneurship. The company fosters a culture of scholarship, encouraging employees to pursue knowledge and truth, upleveling themselves, their teams, and the products. By working at Perplexity, you will be part of a talented team that amplifies each other's strengths, breaks down silos, and gives selflessly to help colleagues deliver excellence.
What You Will Do
- Build a deep understanding of how frontier LLMs reason and where they break, turning that insight into better engine and primitive design
- Bring each new model capability into the product as it reaches the frontier, including planning, long-running tasks, autonomous execution, and self-evolving skills and agents
- Collaborate with the agent engine layer to turn frontier capabilities into reliable primitives
- Design, build, and own the primitives at the heart of Computer, ensuring they compose into one coherent experience
- Develop the evaluation systems that make each capability best-in-class before broad rollout
- Set technical direction on ambiguous problems, driving innovation and excellence in the company's products
- Work closely with cross-functional teams to drive projects forward, ensuring seamless integration and deployment
- Participate in design reviews, mentorship, and example-setting to raise the bar for technical excellence
- Define the metrics and evaluations that prove a system works, iterating on them to drive continuous improvement
What We Are Looking For
- 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, shipping and owning complex systems end-to-end
- Strong backend and full-stack engineering skills, with experience in designing and building scalable and reliable distributed systems
- Demonstrated technical leadership, scoping ambiguous problems, setting direction, and driving cross-team projects to durable outcomes
- Strong product judgment and ownership instincts, turning vague needs into simple, reliable systems
- Comfort with data-informed decisions, defining metrics and evaluations that prove a system works
- Genuine interest in AI products, with hands-on adoption and a willingness to learn quickly
- Experience with Python, Go, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, AWS, TypeScript, and React
Nice to Have
- Experience building agentic systems, including tool calling, subagents, long-running or autonomous task execution
- Experience building developer platforms or reusable-capability primitives, such as SDKs, plugin systems, or workflow engines
- Experience with evaluation, benchmarking, or quality systems for ML/LLM-powered products
- Time spent at a fast-growing startup or on a high-ownership engineering team
Benefits and Perks
- Competitive compensation package
- Equity options
- Flexible PTO policy
- Comprehensive health insurance
- Remote work stipend
- Professional development opportunities
- Access to cutting-edge technologies and tools
- Collaborative and dynamic work environment
How to Stand Out
- Tip: Showcase your expertise in Python, Go, and AWS, and be prepared to discuss your experience with complex systems and distributed architectures.
- To stand out, highlight your passion for AI innovation and your willingness to learn quickly, adopting new technologies and frameworks.
- Prepare to discuss your approach to technical leadership, including scoping ambiguous problems and driving cross-team projects.
- Be ready to provide examples of your experience with data-informed decision-making, including defining metrics and evaluations that prove a system works.
- Consider creating a portfolio that demonstrates your technical skills, including examples of your work with AI-powered products and systems.
- When negotiating salary, be prepared to discuss your experience, skills, and market value, and be open to discussing equity options and other benefits.
- Red flag: Be cautious of companies that lack a clear vision or strategy for AI innovation, or those that do not prioritize technical excellence and craftsmanship.
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