Staff Software Engineer

Senior / Staff Software EngineerLocation - San Mateo, CA (On-site) - 4 days/week in-office in San Mateo. Flexible hours — the team typically works 10:30am–6:30pm.Compensation - $300,000 – $350,000 Base + Competitive EquityVisa - Open to Visa Transfers (OPT, H1B Transfers)Company Stage - Seed / Series A in ProgressIndustry - Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous AI Research, Agentic AI, ML Infrastructure, AI Research Automation, Enterprise SoftwareAbout the CompanyAutoscience Institute is building AI systems that autonomously conduct AI research.The company is developing autonomous research agents capable of discovering, evaluating, and improving AI systems with minimal human intervention. Autoscience has already demonstrated autonomous AI research capabilities, including an AI agent that autonomously created peer-reviewed literature at the ICLR 2025 Workshops.The company's commercial product, Mira, is an autonomous research agent already deployed at top-three global quantitative trading firms and has delivered 20%+ model performance improvements.Backed by General Catalyst, Perplexity Fund, S32, MaC Ventures, and Toyota Ventures, Autoscience has raised $14M and is currently progressing toward a Series A. The company operates with a tiny, highly technical team of approximately 10 people.As a Senior / Staff Software Engineer, you'll join one of the company's earliest senior engineering hires and work directly on the systems powering autonomous AI research.This is a high-leverage individual contributor opportunity where you'll write production Python, build recursive self-improvement systems, improve agentic discovery infrastructure, and translate research ideas into reliable production software.The team operates with exceptional autonomy and iteration speed. Engineers are expected to own complex projects end-to-end, make architectural decisions independently, and operate without significant handholding.What You'll DoBuild and optimize the recursive self-improvement pipeline powering MiraDevelop production systems that enable autonomous AI researchBuild and improve the agentic discovery search systemDevelop robust post-training infrastructure for customer-specific AI modelsBuild systems for training and fine-tuning models based on customer requirementsWrite high-performance Python algorithms focused on improving autonomous research speedOptimize production systems for performance, reliability, and scalabilityTranslate experimental research ideas into production-ready engineering systemsCollaborate closely with AI researchers and engineers on new autonomous research capabilitiesDesign and implement backend infrastructure supporting autonomous AI workflowsImprove the reliability and observability of AI research systemsDebug complex production systems and identify performance bottlenecksOwn major technical projects from initial architecture through production deploymentMake architecture and technical direction decisions as one of the earliest senior engineersBuild infrastructure capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated AI research agentsWork closely with the founding team to shape the technical roadmapEstablish engineering practices that maintain code quality as the company scalesOperate with high autonomy and move quickly from experimentation to productionHelp define the engineering foundation for recursive AI research systemsIdeal Candidate BackgroundExperience Requirements5+ years of professional software engineering experienceStrong experience building production software systemsExperience owning complex technical projects end-to-endExperience building backend or infrastructure systemsExperience working on AI/ML systems or AI-powered productsExperience operating production systems at scaleExperience translating research or experimental concepts into production softwareExperience working effectively in small, high-performing engineering teamsStrong ownership mentality with demonstrated technical autonomyExperience making architecture and system design decisions independentlyComfortable operating without extensive processes or handholdingExperience working closely with research and engineering teamsTechnical RequirementsExpert-level Python engineering experienceStrong backend engineering fundamentalsExperience building production AI/ML infrastructureExperience with ML training, post-training, or model fine-tuning systemsExperience building agentic AI systems or autonomous workflowsExperience with AI research infrastructureStrong understanding of algorithms and performance optimizationExperience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or comparable cloud infrastructureExperience designing scalable backend infrastructureExperience with production observability and monitoringStrong debugging and performance optimization skillsExperience building reliable production systemsStrong software architecture and system design capabilitiesAbility to write clean, maintainable, high-performance production codeExperience working with AI models, inference systems, or ML infrastructure preferredEducationBachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or related technical field preferredStrong computer science and software engineering fundamentalsAdvanced technical depth in algorithms, systems, AI/ML, or infrastructure preferredSoft SkillsExceptional engineering ownershipStrong technical judgmentExtremely high attention to code qualityExcellent problem-solving abilityComfortable working independentlyHigh execution velocityStrong research-to-production mindsetComfortable operating in ambiguous environmentsStrong communication and collaboration skillsComfortable working directly with researchers and foundersLow-ego collaborative mentalityStrong curiosity around AI and autonomous researchPassion for solving difficult technical problemsAbility to rapidly iterate and improve systemsComfortable working in a tiny, highly technical startup environmentCompensation & BenefitsBase Salary: $300,000 – $350,000Competitive Equity PackageCompensation competitive with major frontier AI labsUnlimited PTOFlexible working arrangementsConference attendancePublication supportOpportunity to work directly on autonomous AI research systemsHigh ownership as one of the company's earliest senior engineering hiresDirect collaboration with founders and AI researchersOpportunity to shape architecture and technical directionExposure to cutting-edge agentic AI and recursive self-improvement systemsWhy JoinThis is a rare opportunity to work on AI systems designed to autonomously conduct AI research.You'll be one of the earliest senior engineering hires at a highly technical AI startup, working directly on the infrastructure behind Mira and helping build systems capable of recursive self-improvement.You'll have substantial ownership over architecture, production systems, performance optimization, and the translation of cutting-edge research ideas into real-world software.If you enjoy writing exceptional production code, solving difficult AI infrastructure problems, working closely with researchers, and operating with extreme autonomy, this role offers exceptional technical scope and impact.