Staff Software Engineer - AI

DroneDeploy; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 169,000 - 232,000; Full time

Job summary

Procore seeks a Staff Software Engineer - AI to join its Data and AI organization in Austin, TX. You will design and build production-grade AI capabilities to help construction professionals find information, make decisions, and complete work, providing technical leadership and turning advances in generative AI into secure, reliable customer experiences.

You will partner with product, design, data science, and software engineers to define technical strategy and deliver AI-powered features from

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience.
• 2+ years building and operating production AI/ML systems.
• Strong knowledge of generative AI, LLMs, retrieval-augmented generation, and agentic systems.
• Design distributed, cloud-native architectures using modern engineering practices.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical strategy and architecture for scalable, secure AI-powered products.
• Lead the design and delivery of production-grade generative AI, agentic, retrieval, and evaluation systems.
• Partner with product, design, data science, and engineering teams to translate customer needs into AI solutions.
• Establish engineering standards for AI quality, observability, security, privacy, and responsible use.
• Evaluate emerging AI models and techniques through experiments and measurement.
• Mentor engineers and provide technical guidance across teams.

Skills

Software engineering

AI systems

Distributed systems

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or equivalent

Job description

We're looking for a Staff Software Engineer - AI to join Procore's Data and AI organization. In this role, you'll design and build production-grade AI capabilities that improve how construction professionals find information, make decisions, and complete their work. Your primary goal will be to provide technical leadership and turn advances in generative AI into secure, reliable, and scalable customer experiences.

As a Staff Software Engineer - AI, you'll partner with product managers, designers, data scientists, and software engineers to define technical strategy and deliver AI-powered features from concept through production. Use your expertise in AI systems, software architecture, and cross-functional technical leadership to solve complex problems and raise engineering standards across the organization.

This hybrid position reports into the Engineering Manager and will be based in our Austin, Texas office. We're looking for someone to join us immediately.

What you'll do:

• Define the technical strategy and architecture for scalable, secure, and reliable AI-powered products.
• Lead the design and delivery of production-grade generative AI, agentic, retrieval, and evaluation systems.
• Partner with product, design, data science, and engineering teams to translate customer needs into technical solutions.
• Establish engineering standards for AI quality, observability, security, privacy, and responsible use.
• Evaluate emerging AI models, frameworks, and techniques through rigorous experimentation and measurement.
• Mentor engineers and provide technical guidance across teams and complex initiatives.
• Identify technical risks, resolve ambiguous problems, and make pragmatic trade-offs that accelerate delivery.
• Communicate technical decisions, outcomes, and recommendations clearly to engineering leaders and business stakeholders.

What we're looking for:

• Demonstrate 8+ years of software engineering experience, including experience leading complex, cross-functional technical initiatives.
• At least 2+ years hands-on experience building and operating production AI or machine-learning systems.
• Apply strong knowledge of generative AI, large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, agentic systems, and evaluation methods.
• Design distributed systems and cloud-native services using modern software engineering and architecture practices.
• Communicate effectively with technical and nontechnical partners while influencing decisions without direct authority.
• Approach ambiguous problems with curiosity, sound judgment, customer focus, and a collaborative mindset.
• Hold relevant cloud or machine-learning certifications where applicable; certifications are preferred but not required.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Additional Information

Base Pay Range:

168,560.00 - 231,770.00 USD Annual

This role may also be eligible for Equity Compensation and/or Bonus Incentive Compensation. Procore is committed to offering competitive, fair, and commensurate compensation. Actual compensation will be based on a candidate's job-related skills, experience, education or training, and location.

This position requires access to technology, software, and data that is controlled or restricted under U.S. law, regulation, executive order, or government contract.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:

Procore will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in accordance with the requirements of applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act.

A criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment: 1. appropriately managing, accessing, and handling confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information, as well as accessing Procore's information technology systems and platforms; 2. interacting with and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external customers, stakeholders, and/or colleagues; and 3. exercising sound judgment.