Staff Software Engineer, AI

FloQast; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

FloQast is seeking a Staff AI Engineer on our Core AI team. You will architect, build, and scale AI products powering our accounting automation platform and drive FloQast's AI transformation with distributed execution standards.

You will lead production AI product development, integrate with accounting systems and APIs, and ensure robust monitoring, security, and governance. You will mentor the AI team and set technical direction.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering with 4+ years backend for production apps.
• Mastery of Python and familiarity with AI frameworks and context engineering.
• Experience designing cloud-native products with APIs and multiple data sources (AWS preferred).
• Hands-on with LLM APIs, RAG, conversational AI, and MCP integrations.
• Ability to lead tech product initiatives and communicate complex designs to technical and business stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead production AI product development including chatbots and document processing.
• Design and implement a centralized AI platform with model routing, provider management, and vector search.
• Build scalable AI products that integrate with accounting systems, document repositories, and external APIs with robust observability.
• Master context engineering for effective information retrieval and multi-turn conversations.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Security to ensure compliant, robust AI products aligned with business goals.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship, establishing best practices for AI product development and governance.

Skills

Backend software engineering

Python

AI frameworks

Context engineering

Cloud-native design

APIs & integrations

Leadership

LLM APIs

RAG

MCP integrations

Tools

AWS

Vector search

Monitoring & observability

Job description

As a Staff AI Engineer on our Core AI team, you will be a cornerstone of FloQast's AI transformation. You will architect, build, and scale the AI products that power our accounting automation platform and enable our vision of an AI accountant teammate. This role requires deep expertise in production AI systems and a passion for solving complex accounting workflow challenges. You will not only build AI applications but also shape the technical direction of AI across FloQast, establishing the platform and standards that enable distributed AI execution company-wide.

What You'll Do

• Architect and lead development of production AI products including intelligent chatbots, document processing systems, and agentic workflows using Python and modern AI frameworks
• Design and implement our centralized AI platform including model routing, provider management, vector search, and AI application frameworks with seamless MCP (Model Context Protocol) integrations
• Build scalable AI products that integrate with diverse technologies including accounting systems, document repositories, and external APIs while maintaining robust monitoring and observability
• Master context engineering and system design for AI applications, ensuring optimal information retrieval, context assembly, and multi-turn conversation management
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Security teams to ensure AI products are robust, compliant, and aligned with business objectives in the regulated accounting space
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to the growing AI team, establishing best practices for AI product development, deployment, and governance

What You'll Bring

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience with 4+ years focused on building backend for production applications
• Mastery of Python, Familiarity with some AI application frameworks, context engineering, and scalable system design for AI products
• Expertise in designing products that integrate with multiple technologies, APIs, and data sources in cloud-native environments (AWS preferred)
• Strong desire to develop deep hands‑on experience with LLM APIs, retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), conversational AI, document processing, and MCP integrations
• Proven ability to lead tech product initiatives, establish technical standards and communicate complex system designs to both technical and business stakeholders

Nice To Haves/Other

• Experience building chatbots or conversational AI products in production
• Background in system integration, API design, or enterprise software platforms
• Familiarity with accounting workflows and financial data processing
• Experience with AI observability, debugging tools, and production AI monitoring
• Hands‑on experience with advanced RAG architectures, reranking systems, and retrieval optimization techniques
• Knowledge of reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) or other RL techniques for improving AI product performance
• Experience building AI platform components like embedding pipelines, semantic search systems, or multi-modal processing frameworks

About FloQast

FloQast is the leading AI-powered Accounting Transformation Platform, uniquely built by former accountants for accountants. We automate complex, recurring accounting workflows—transforming preparers into strategic reviewers and relieving accountants from tedious manual work. Our cloud-based solution is trusted by over 3,500 world-class accounting teams, including Lululemon, Doordash, and the MLB, to drive collaboration and financial accuracy. Driven by a mission to continuously elevate the profession, FloQast is redefining both the practice and the perception of accounting on a global scale.

Our Values Act As a Guiding Compass, Shaping Every Decision We Make, And Are Non-negotiable, Particularly In Our Hiring Process. Alongside Our Employees, Partners, And Customers, We Embody These Values Every Day

• Unwaveringly Authentic
• Ambitious with Integrity
• Empowered to Grow
• Committed to Collaboration
• Customer Obsessed in All Ways

FloQast is regularly rated as a Best Place to Work!

• Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces in 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021
• Best Places to Work by LA Business Journal since 2017 (that’s 9 years!)
• Built In’s Best Place to Work in Los Angeles 7 years in a row!

FloQast, Inc is committed to operating fair and unbiased recruitment procedures allowing all applicants an equal opportunity for employment, free from discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, color, ethnic or national origin, or any other classification as may be protected by applicable law.

We aim to recruit the right people for the jobs we have to offer, and to assess applications on the basis of relevant skills, education, and experience.

We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives.

We are an equal opportunity employer and strive to provide a professional and welcoming workplace for all employees.

Link to FloQast Recruiting AI Usage Policy

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.