AI Systems Engineer — Build Next-Gen Agent Platform

Cognition (Software Development Applications); San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

401(k) Match

Private chef

Cozy slippers

Endless snacks

Job summary

Cognition is an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents. You will work on Devin and Windsurf, shipping systems used by millions of developers to write, debug, and ship code.

This role emphasizes reliability, speed, and close collaboration with researchers to push the frontier of AI-enabled software engineering. Ideal candidates have deep systems experience, strong Python skills, and a track record of delivering usable, impactful software in frontier AI environments.

Qualifications

• Experience building reliable, performant distributed systems.
• Track record shipping products people depend on.
• Comfort navigating ambiguous requirements with fast learning.

Responsibilities

• Build core agent infrastructure for long-horizon task execution and sandboxed code.
• Improve Windsurf as an AI-native IDE with editor intelligence and workflows.
• Translate model capabilities into shipped features with researchers.
• Own reliability and performance at scale for millions of tasks.
• Help define the future of AI software engineering directions.

Skills

Systems engineering depth

Product instinct

Comfort with ambiguity

Velocity without shortcuts

Curiosity about agents and AI

Strong Python proficiency

Relevant industry experience

Degree from top-tier university

Education

BS/MS in CS, Mathematics, Engineering or related field

Job description

Cognition is an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents. You will work on Devin and Windsurf, shipping systems used by millions of developers to write, debug, and ship code.

This role emphasizes reliability, speed, and close collaboration with researchers to push the frontier of AI-enabled software engineering. Ideal candidates have deep systems experience, strong Python skills, and a track record of delivering usable, impactful software in frontier AI environments.