Software Engineer, Developer Productivity, AI Tools

Thinking Machines Lab Inc.; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 350,000 - 475,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Unlimited PTO

Paid parental leave

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Thinking Machines Lab Inc. in San Francisco is hiring a developer productivity engineer to advance how we build software safely and quickly, with a focus on AI tools and coding agents.

You’ll partner with platform, security, and product engineers to standardize tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, Codex), create secure agent sandboxes, and enable researchers to optimize their AI-enabled workflows while maintaining code quality. The role also involves tracking usage and costs to improve efficiency.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent industry experience in computer science, engineering, or similar.
• Experience developing productivity tools and best practices for large codebases.
• Ability to communicate clearly and work with researchers to build and manage a variety of internal tools.

Responsibilities

• Enable researchers and engineers to leverage AI to improve coding productivity without compromising code quality.
• Standardize AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex; configure and maintain org-wide settings.
• Build secure, reproducible agent sandboxes for remote dev and CI testing.
• Set up golden-path dev environments and guardrails for secrets/PII.
• Help contributors develop their personalized AI-enabled workflows.
• Track tool usage, reliability, and cost.

Skills

Rust

Python

Linux networking

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS or related

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

GitHub Actions

Buildkite

uv

Job description

The mission of Thinking Machines is to build AI that extends human will and judgment.

About the Role

We are hiring a developer productivity engineer to advance how we build software internally: safely, quickly, and with delight. The main focus are AI tools and coding agents. You’ll partner with platform, security, and product engineers to build state-of-the-art tooling for AI-assisted software development, and make our inner loop dramatically faster.

The scope of this role includes both setting up company-wide platforms and working with developers to accelerate their individual workflows.

What You’ll Do

• Enable our researchers and engineers to leverage AI to improve coding productivity without compromising code quality

• Standardize AI coding tools, such as Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex. You will help configure, harden, and maintain the best tools, integrating org-wide configurations with individual preferences.

• Build secure, reproducible agent sandboxes for remote dev & CI testing.

• Set up golden-path dev environments and guardrails for secrets/PII.

• Help individual contributors develop their personalized AI-enabled workflow.

• Track tool usage, reliability, and cost.

Skills and Qualifications

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent industry experience in computer science, engineering, or similar.

• Experience developing productivity tools and best practices for large codebases.

• Ability to communicate clearly and work with researchers to build and manage a variety of internal tools.

Preferred qualifications — we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all preferred qualifications, but at least some:

• Hands-on experience with container platforms (e.g. Docker/Kubernetes), modern CI (GitHub Actions/Buildkite), and package management tools (uv).

• Practical experience with AI coding tools and model APIs (e.g. OSS via vLLM / SGLang / TGI).

• Solid Linux/networking fundamentals; comfort with secrets management and safe egress.

• Proficiency in systems programming languages (e.g. Rust) and scripting languages (e.g. Python).

Logistics

• Location: This role is based in San Francisco, California.

• Compensation: Depending on background, skills and experience, the expected annual salary range for this position is $350,000 - $475,000 USD.

• Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas. While we can't guarantee success for every candidate or role, if you're the right fit, we're committed to working through the visa process together.

• Benefits: Thinking Machines offers generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, and relocation support as needed.