Staff AI Engineer
People In AIAbout the role
Staff AI Engineer
$250,000 – $310,000 base + strong equity
San Francisco (Hybrid)
We're partnering with a mission-led SaaS startup that is redefining how the audit and advisory world works, using applied AI to modernize one of the most manual, overlooked industries.
This Series B company, with a Series C on the horizon, is backed by world-class investors and undergoing a full-stack rebuild. AI copilots and intelligent automation are already in flight, with strong executive alignment and a mandate to transform legacy workflows into intuitive, intelligent systems.
About the Role
As a Staff AI Engineer, you will play a lead role in building the infrastructure and user-facing systems that power intelligent professional tools. From backend orchestration to frontend delivery, you’ll help ship AI-first features to production, scale internal platforms, and set technical direction. This is a hands-on, high-impact role at the intersection of AI product development and robust software engineering.
What You’ll Do
Build full-stack systems that integrate applied LLM features into core product experiences
Design and scale backend services for RAG pipelines, vector search, and AI orchestration
Develop intuitive frontend interfaces for AI copilots using modern React patterns
Lead architecture and implementation of AI-powered workflows across teams
Strengthen internal tooling for prompt iteration, evaluation, and observability
Collaborate closely with product, design, and ML teams to bring features to life
Mentor engineers and influence engineering best practices across the org
What You’ll Bring
Deep experience with TypeScript, React, Node.js, and AWS
Strong software engineering fundamentals and backend design skills
Experience integrating LLMs or building AI-powered features
Familiarity with RAG, vector databases, and prompt engineering
Track record of taking complex systems from concept to production
Bonus: experience with evaluation frameworks, observability, or ML infra
Tech Stack
TypeScript (React, Node.js)
AWS (Lambda, ECS, S3, etc.)
Open-source LLM frameworks and orchestration tooling
CI/CD, observability, and cloud-native infrastructure
Why Join?
High ownership, lead end-to-end systems from infra to UI
AI-first mission, reshape a legacy industry with modern tools
Engineering rebuild, build greenfield systems on a clean, modern stack
Strong culture, smart and humble teammates who move fast
About People In AI
We help top engineers find high-impact roles at the most exciting AI-native startups. Every opportunity we share is vetted for technical quality, team strength, and real-world impact. No fluff, just great jobs with great people solving meaningful problems.
Responsibilities
- Build full-stack systems that integrate applied LLM features into core product experiences
- Design and scale backend services for RAG pipelines, vector search, and AI orchestration
- Develop intuitive frontend interfaces for AI copilots using modern React patterns
- Lead architecture and implementation of AI-powered workflows across teams
- Strengthen internal tooling for prompt iteration, evaluation, and observability
- Collaborate closely with product, design, and ML teams to bring features to life
- Mentor engineers and influence engineering best practices across the org
Qualifications
- Deep experience with TypeScript, React, Node.js, and AWS
- Strong software engineering fundamentals and backend design skills
- Experience integrating LLMs or building AI-powered features
- Familiarity with RAG, vector databases, and prompt engineering
- Track record of taking complex systems from concept to production
- Bonus: experience with evaluation frameworks, observability, or ML infra
Benefits
- High ownership, lead end-to-end systems from infra to UI
- AI-first mission, reshape a legacy industry with modern tools
- Engineering rebuild, build greenfield systems on a clean, modern stack
- Strong culture, smart and humble teammates who move fast
Skills mentioned
About People In AI
People In AI is a specialist search firm focused on artificial intelligence, machine learning, data, and software engineering. We partner with venture-backed AI companies, established technology businesses, and global investment firms to hire exceptional technical talent across the United States and Canada. Our recruiters operate within clearly defined specialist markets, giving clients access to deeper talent networks and candidates a more informed search experience. We support hiring across: • AI and Machine Learning Engineering • Research and Applied Science • Forward Deployed Engineering • Data Science, Data Engineering, and Analytics • Software and Platform Engineering • Product, Technical, and Executive Leadership • Quantitative and Investment Data Our services include contingent search, retained search, and tailored hiring partnerships for individual mandates and multi-role growth initiatives. We are particularly experienced in complex, senior, and difficult-to-fill searches where technical understanding, market access, and candidate engagement are critical. View our current opportunities: www.peopleinai.com/jobs