Staff AI Agent Engineer

Shortwave | We're Hiring!; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative firm is seeking a talented engineer to lead the development of its core AI agent. This role involves pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities and enhancing user experiences through advanced technology. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in software development, exceptional programming skills across various technologies, and a passion for creating products that users adore. Join a dynamic startup environment where your contributions will directly impact the evolution of AI-driven experiences, and help shape the future of technology in a collaborative team setting.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in designing and owning complex software systems.
• Hands-on experience with large language models and agentic systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of core AI agent ensuring a delightful user experience.
• Integrate cutting-edge AI models and enhance functionality.

Skills

Programming Skills

Problem-Solving Abilities

Leadership Potential

Communication Skills

AI Tools Utilization

Tools

Typescript

Kotlin

React

GCP

Kubernetes

PostgreSQL

Elasticsearch

Pinecone

Job description

Note: to apply, you must follow the instructions on our official jobs page here -- do not apply via Wellfound as we do not monitor our inbox here

Our AI agent is the heartbeat of our product—a sophisticated system combining advanced LLMs, powerful search infrastructure, and intuitive UI to deliver a magical experience for our users. We're looking for a talented, driven, and experienced engineer to elevate our AI agent to its full potential.

The compensation for this role ranges from $210k to $260k salary, with equity between 1% and 2%.

This is a leadership role intended for a truly exceptional, senior candidate.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of our core AI agent, ensuring it consistently delivers a delightful, reliable user experience.
• Continuously push the boundaries of what's possible, rapidly integrating cutting-edge AI models and new reasoning capabilities.
• Expand the AI agent's functionality by introducing innovative tools and capabilities.
• Enable other engineers to successfully build upon the AI agent by developing robust abstractions, APIs, and tooling.
• Own the end-to-end process of building and iterating on AI-driven experiences, from customer requirements through to live validation.
• Step up to solve challenges wherever needed—this is a startup, and we're all in it together!

Qualifications

• Proven track record designing, building, and owning complex software systems end-to-end.
• Exceptional programming skills with the versatility to contribute across the entire stack. Our tech stack includes Typescript, Kotlin, React, GCP, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, and Pinecone.
• Hands-on experience developing agentic systems using state-of-the-art large language models.
• An AI-first mindset, proactively leveraging the latest AI tools to enhance productivity in coding, research, communication, and beyond.
• Passionate about delivering exceptional products that users love.
• Outstanding problem-solving abilities, strong leadership potential, and excellent communication skills.
• Bonus points: Experience training your own AI models.

How to Apply

For more details about our company, Shortwave, and to see application instructions, please visit our careers page.