Job Details

Air is a Creative Ops System for creative teams. Our product automates the mindless tasks that creatives and marketers do every day to manage content and unlocks creativity through image recognition, automated versioning, and approval workflows. We launched in March 2021 and have raised +$70m from world-class venture capital groups including Avenir, Tiger Global, Headline Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, WndrCo, and Slack Ventures.

The Role

Help shape the future of creative work as our Staff Software Engineer, Applied AI.

At Air, we're redefining how creative teams organize and access their work. As a Staff Engineer, you'll play a pivotal role in building intelligent systems that power our platform, delivering cutting-edge search and discovery capabilities to teams worldwide. You'll join a talented team of engineers and work closely with our cofounders, product, and other cross-functional teams. You'll have the opportunity to lead the design of robust, scalable systems that integrate AI capabilities into our core platform, balancing strong engineering fundamentals with a practical understanding of product goals and constraints.

We work almost entirely in TypeScript. Our web app is built in React, desktop app in Electron, and backend in Node. We're built on AWS, so familiarity with their product suite is a major plus. Additionally, recent experience with Applied AI (semantic and vector search, Elasticsearch, and working with, modifying, and deploying custom AI/ML solutions) would be ideal. Familiarity with major open-source and hosted AI providers will set you up for success in this role.

Critical to this role is the ability to have long-term focus, strong communication skills, and a deep awareness of creative trends and competitive dynamics. If you thrive in fast-paced, unstructured environments and love solving challenging problems, this is the role for you.

To help us filter genuine candidates, include the code AIR-ENG-2025 in the designated field of the application form.

Requirements

• 6+ years working in production applications with real-world users
• 5+ years of hands-on backend experience in Node.js environments
• 3+ years in an applied AI/ML supporting role
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams (engineers, product managers, designers) and providing technical leadership
• Demonstrates ability to architect, deploy, and maintain complex systems at scale
• Proven track record of evaluating, implementing, and leveraging both open-source and hosted AI solutions

A strong background in the following:

• Python for ML development and tooling with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
• ML Ops practices (Docker/Kubernetes, AWS SageMaker, MLFlow)
• CI/CD pipelines and version control best practices (Git & GitHub)

Familiarity with some or all of the following:

• Major open-source and hosted AI providers (OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Hugging Face, LangChain, etc.)
• Knowledge of semantic or vector search techniques leveraging a search engine (Elasticsearch, Lucene, Solr, etc.)
• Large-scale data pipeline tools (Airflow, Kafka, Spark)
• Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Distributed systems including event-driven and service-oriented architectures

Benefits

Our company culture was built around a tireless pursuit to be the best at what we do. We're entrepreneurial and focused: tackling problems head-on without ego. We communicate with empathy. We speak directly, listen thoughtfully, and ask questions. We previously worked out of a cozy warehouse in Brooklyn, but are currently distributed around the globe. This is a remote role.

Air contributes 90% to medical, dental, and vision insurance and 75% to dependent coverage. Employees also have life insurance, disability insurance, and membership to One Medical. We offer a generous work from home stipend, professional development reimbursement, and unlimited vacation days. Although we are still early stage, we are always seeking ways to invest in the long-term health, wellness, and continued education of our employees.

At Air, we believe that it takes a diversity of thought, culture, race, sexual orientation, and outlook to build a world-class business. We value unique contributions and welcome people of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to join us at Air.

If based in the US, the compensation range for this role is USD $160,000 to $264,000.

If based in Canada, the compensation range for this role is CAD $176,000 to $292,000.