Staff Engineer, Applied AI
We are seeking a Staff Engineer, Applied AI to lead the design and development of real-world solutions built on generative AI and LLMs. Unlike roles focused on training foundation models, this position emphasizes building applied systems like Slack bots, RAG applications, multi-agent workflows, and AI-integrated platforms to solve practical problems and improve productivity of the entire organization. As a Staff Engineer, you'll work across product, research, and engineering teams to ensure our AI strategy translates into impactful solutions. You will be leading the solutions building, mentor engineers, and establish best practices for building AI-powered applications that are reliable, cost-efficient, and safe.
Key Responsibilities :
- Lead the development of AI applications that integrate LLMs with APIs, databases, and enterprise systems.
- Oversee the design and optimization of AI agent & pipelines to enhance factuality.
- Build scalable agentic workflows and orchestration systems for enterprise use cases.
- Own the architecture and design of applied AI systems (bots, RAG, agents, integrations, MCP servers).
- Define patterns, frameworks, and reusable components to accelerate AI solution delivery across teams.
- Drive evaluation and guardrail frameworks for ensuring AI reliability, safety, and performance.
- Partner with product managers and stakeholders to translate ambiguous business needs into technical solutions.
- Mentor engineers, review designs / code, and guide teams in applied AI best practices.
- Collaborate with security, compliance, and data teams to ensure responsible AI adoption.
- Stay ahead of emerging LLM frameworks, orchestration tools, and AI agents.
- Identify opportunities for new AI-powered capabilities within existing systems.
- Contribute to long-term AI roadmap and platform strategy.
Qualifications :
Strong experience in Python, TypeScript / JavaScript, and distributed systems.Hands-on experience with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.), orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, LangGraph), and vector databases (Elasticsearch, Pinecone, etc.).Proven track record of building production-grade AI applications (bots, agents, RAG systems).8+ years of software engineering experience with 2+ in applied AI / ML.Prior experience as a tech lead or staff-level engineer, influencing technical direction beyond a single team.Strong ability to communicate AI concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.Exceptional ability to abstract problems into AI-powered workflows.Skilled at balancing rapid prototyping with building for scale and reliability.Nice-to-Have
Experience with enterprise SaaS integrations (Slack, Jira, etc.).Familiarity with operations of LLM apps (monitoring, cost optimization, guardrails, eval).Background in UX design for AI-driven interactions.Contributions to open-source AI tooling or frameworks.$270,000 - $295,000 a year
The salary range for this position is $270,000 - $295,000. Factors such as scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education / training, job-related skills, internal peer equity, as well as market and business considerations may influence base pay offered. This salary range is reflective of a position based in Palo Alto, CA. This salary will be subject to a geographic adjustment (according to a specific city and state), if an authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting.
Commitment to Inclusion
At Tinder, we don't just accept difference, we celebrate it. We strive to build a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of our members around the world, and we value unique perspectives and backgrounds. Even if you don't meet all the listed qualifications, we invite you to apply and show us how your skills could transfer. Tinder is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace where we welcome people of all sexes, gender identities, races, ethnicities, disabilities, and other lived experiences. Learn more here.