Staff Software Engineer, Full Stack AI Systems (Search, Ranking, LLMs) New York (Hybrid – 3 days/week)

Staff Software Engineer – Full- Stack AI Systems (Search, Ranking, LLMs)New York (Hybrid – 3 days/week)The OpportunityWe’re building a next-generation intelligence platform that structures messy real-world data into something useful, searchable, and decision-ready.This is not a “chatbot” role.This is about designing systems that answer:What information matters? What should be shown? And why?You’ll work at the intersection of:Search & ranking systemsLLM + retrieval (RAG) architecturesHigh-scale distributed backend systemsIf you’ve worked on:recommendation systemssearch relevanceML inference pipelinesor real-time decision systemsthis will feel familiar, but with far more ownership and impact.What You’ll OwnYou won’t just contribute, you’ll shape core systems:Architect and scale data-intensive, distributed backend systemsDesign retrieval + ranking pipelines that determine what information is surfacedBuild and evolve LLM-powered workflows (RAG, agents, structured reasoning)Develop low-latency APIs and services powering real-time decision-makingDrive system design, architecture decisions, and technical directionPartner cross-functionally to translate ambiguous problems into scalable systemsMentor engineers and raise the overall technical barThis is a high-impact IC role, not maintenance work, not incremental.What We’re Looking ForYou will likely have:7–10+ years building distributed systems or backend infrastructureStrong experience with production ML / AI systems (not just experimentation)Hands-on work with:data pipelinesevent-driven systemshigh-throughput servicesExperience building or supporting:search / ranking / recommendation systemsOR ML-driven decision systemsYou’ll stand out if you’ve:Built or scaled search, recommendation, or ranking systemsWorked on LLM + retrieval (RAG) systems in productionDesigned systems that directly impact user experienceDemonstrated technical leadership or mentorshipWhy Join the teamMassive real-world impactHelp route billions in capital more efficiently through better intelligence systemsProven momentumStrong product-market fit with 100%+ annual growthEarly, high-leverage roleShape foundational systems, not just maintain themHighly competitive compensation$210k – $280k base + meaningful equityWho Thrives HereEngineers who like hard, ambiguous problemsPeople who care about what systems decide, not just how they runBuilders who want real ownership at system levelThose who enjoy combining ML + backend + product thinkingInterested?If you're currently working on:rankingsearchML systemsor LLM infrastructure…and want to apply that experience to a high-impact, real-world intelligence problem, I’d love to chat.Not a Fit If…You’ve only worked on analytics, dashboards, or offline ML modelsYour LLM experience is limited to prompting / wrappers / demosYou haven’t built or scaled production systemsYou prefer fully remote (this role is NYC hybrid, 3 days/week)