Software Engineer, Applied AI Research

Hightouch; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 180,000 - 400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Remote-first policy

Job summary

Hightouch is seeking senior applied AI research engineers to push the frontier of agentic marketing tools, with a strong emphasis on image and video generation. You will ground your work in customer and product applications and thrive on creative experimentation.

The role focuses on building proofs of concept, evaluating autonomous systems, and prototyping methods to align generated assets with a company’s look and feel. This is a remote, high-impact position.

Qualifications

• Strong technical skills in backend design and probabilistic systems.
• Experience with LLM-based applications is a plus.
• Ability to translate complex AI concepts into product features.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop proofs of concept to explore AI integration.
• Build evaluation and improvement systems for autonomous progress.
• Prototype AI-generated video assets aligned to brand/look and feel.

Skills

Backend architecture

Probabilistic systems

LLM applications

Product intuition

Experimentation

Job description

About The Role
We’re looking to add applied AI research engineers to the team. The ideal candidate will have strong probabilistic and quantitative thinking, the ability to be highly creative and experimental with LLM applications, and ground their work in potential customer and product applications.
Our applied research team focuses on finding new and innovative techniques to improve the frontier of what is possible in agentic AI marketing applications, with a particular focus on image and video. We focus less on theory or writing research papers, and more on experimenting, prototyping, and exploring new methods for applying generative AI to help our customers grow their companies.
Example Workstreams Include

• Quickly iterating and developing proofs of concept (POCs) to explore the maximum potential of integrating AI into data and marketing workflows
• Design and develop evaluation and improvement systems that can make advancements autonomously
• Expanding the frontier of what is feasible with AI generated video (e.g. making generated humans maximally realistic)
• Experiment with different approaches for generating brand assets that stay aligned to a particular company’s look and feel

We're seeking talented, intellectually curious, and motivated individuals interested in exploring the forefront of AI. While no prior experience with LLMs and AI is required, strong technical skills, particularly in backend architecture or probabilistic systems, and product intuition are essential for understanding and executing these projects from start to finish.
This is a senior role, but we focus on impact and potential for growth more than years of experience. The salary range for this position is $180,000 - $400,000 USD per year, which is location independent in accordance with our remote-first policy. We also offer meaningful equity compensation.
Interview Process
Our interview process focuses on evaluating fit for the most important dimensions of the role: product sense and creativity with LLMs, ability to architect backend systems, and alignment with Hightouch’s values. Notably, we don’t do any programming interviews as we believe they are low signal to noise and aren’t a good evaluation mechanism.

• Recruiter Screen [30m]: Introductory call with our recruiting team to get to know each other and see if the role could be a good mutual fit.
• System Design Screen [60m]: Designing a data processing or machine learning feature end-to-end (depending on background).
• Hiring Manager Interview [30m]: Chat with hiring manager about past experiences and future operating preferences to assess fit on company values and operating principles.
• Agent Building Systems Interview [75m]: Work with the interviewer to architect an agentic system at a conceptual level. The problem will be at a pretty high level - and have both product and customer requirements as well as technical.