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Software Engineer, Applied AI (Staff)

LightfieldHQ: San FranciscoEngineering
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Salary
$220K – $300K
Job type
Full-time
Posted
23 Sept 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Lightfield is hiring a full-time Staff Software Engineer, Applied AI in San Francisco to build innovative, LLM-powered product experiences for a reimagined CRM platform. This onsite position suits an experienced technologist eager to design AI agents and shape the technical direction of a fast-growing startup.

Role Overview

Lightfield is looking for a driven, creative engineer to join the frontier of AI product development. In this role, you will leverage large language models to construct domain-specific AI assistants and solve critical customer problems. You will own projects from conception to impact while collaborating closely with cross-functional teammates in the San Francisco headquarters.

Key Responsibilities

Partner with product leaders to scope requirements and implement LLM-driven solutions.
Utilize large language models as reasoning engines for domain-specific AI assistants.
Build and optimize end-to-end retrieval-augmented generation pipelines and agent architectures using public and proprietary data.
Enhance prompt creation through few-shot learning and chain-of-thought methodologies.
Iterate on empirical evaluations to improve overall AI agent quality regarding relevance, fidelity, and latency.
Develop tools and systems that facilitate high-velocity experimentation and customized user experiences.
Integrate state-of-the-art techniques by staying updated on artificial intelligence research.
Shape engineering best practices and technical direction for application development.
Mentor colleagues and assist in building a world-class engineering team.

Requirements

Bring seven or more years of professional experience with the ability to quickly master a technology stack featuring TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Apollo GraphQL, and Aurora PostgreSQL.
Demonstrate practical experience working with large language models through professional projects or personal exploration.
Hold a degree in Computer Science or a related discipline with a solid foundation in software engineering principles.
Possess familiarity with machine learning and artificial intelligence concepts such as evaluation and training techniques.
Maintain a passion for tracking advancements in LLMs, open-source solutions, and LLMOps.
Excel at independently driving projects that start with ambiguous problem statements.
Balance ambitious long-term vision with the consistent delivery of practical user value.
Communicate technical reasoning and decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical teammates.

Nice to Have

Experience building software products that customers rely on directly for daily professional workflows.

Skills and Tools

React
Node.js
TypeScript
LLM
RAG
Next.js
Apollo GraphQL
Aurora PostgreSQL

Salary and Benefits

Competitive salary ranging from $220,000 to $300,000 per year
Meaningful early equity
Comprehensive health insurance covering medical, dental, and vision
Three weeks of paid time off
Eleven paid company holidays plus a winter holiday break
Three months of paid family leave
Wednesdays designated for working from home
Regular team dinners, events, offsites, and retreats
401k plan
Commuter and lunch stipends

About the Company

Lightfield is reimagining the CRM category as a living world model of business by learning from meetings, emails, and customer conversations. Over 5,000 companies have used the product since its launch, backed by more than $70 million raised from prominent investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Maverick Ventures, and Greylock. The founding team previously built Tome, reaching over 25 million users, and brings prior experience from top technology organizations like Google, Llama, Instagram, and Salesforce.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please visit the official company careers page on the Lightfield website and submit your application materials.

Skills and tech stack

LLMLLMsRAGTypeScriptReact

Questions candidates ask

What is the salary range for the Staff Software Engineer, Applied AI role?

The salary range for this position is $220,000 to $300,000 per year, accompanied by meaningful early equity.

Where is this job located?

This full-time role is located at the company headquarters in San Francisco, with Wednesdays available as a work-from-home day.

What level of experience is required?

Candidates must have 7+ years of experience along with a degree in Computer Science or a related field, plus a strong foundation in software engineering principles.

What technical stack will I be using?

The technology stack includes TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Apollo GraphQL, and Aurora PostgreSQL, alongside tools and frameworks for working with LLMs and RAG pipelines.

What benefits and perks are included?

Benefits include health insurance, 3 weeks of PTO, 11 paid company holidays plus a winter break, 3 months of paid family leave, a 401k plan, team offsites, commuter stipends, and lunch stipends.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Lightfield careers page.

Apply on company site