Applied AI Engineer

AssemblyAI•San Francisco, CA

10h•$150,000 - $250,000•Hybrid

About The Position

AssemblyAI builds best-in-class Voice AI models powering the next generation of voice applications. The company is seeking an Applied AI Engineer to join their team at the intersection of cutting-edge AI research and real-world customer applications. This is a dynamic, customer-facing technical role focused on building demos, troubleshooting production issues, and assisting customers in implementing Speech AI models. The role involves working directly with developers and technical teams at companies of all sizes, requiring rapid context-switching between building prototypes, debugging customer issues, and collaborating with various internal teams. Success in this role requires strong technical skills, excellent communication, and creativity to solve novel problems under pressure, with empowerment to use AI tools and modern development practices.

Requirements

Located in or willing to relocate to New York City or San Francisco
4+ years of customer-facing experience in highly technical environments, requiring strong software engineering skills, including roles such as Solutions Architect, Developer Advocate, Technical Solutions Engineer, or equivalent
Strong programming skills in Python and/or TypeScript/JavaScript, with the ability to read and debug code in other languages
Excellent written and verbal communication skills—you'll be writing customer emails, internal documentation, and technical guides regularly
Experience with web APIs, WebSockets, and real-time data streaming
Understanding of audio fundamentals (sample rates, encoding formats, codecs) or willingness to learn quickly
Ability to leverage AI tools creatively to move quickly—proficiency with tools like Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, or similar AI-assisted development tools to accelerate prototyping, debugging, and problem-solving
Problem-solving mindset—you can debug unfamiliar codebases, identify root causes, and propose creative solutions
Comfort with ambiguity and fast-paced work—you'll often be the first line of defense on novel problems
Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed (approximately 10-25% of the time)

Nice To Haves

Experience in a startup or high-growth environment
Understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) and deployment patterns
Experience building prototypes or MVPs quickly
Public speaking or conference presentation experience
You're independently driven and competitive—you take ownership of customer outcomes, push yourself to deliver exceptional results, and are motivated by the challenge of solving hard problems and winning customer trust
You can balance technical depth with customer empathy—you understand when to dive into the details and when to step back and explain concepts simply
You thrive under pressure and can context-switch between building a demo, debugging a production issue, and answering technical questions on a sales call
You're resourceful and self-directed—you know when to use AI tools, when to consult documentation, and when to ask for help
You have a "get it done" mentality and are comfortable wearing many hats
You're genuinely curious about AI and excited to see how customers apply our models in unexpected ways
You enjoy building relationships with customers and representing AssemblyAI in person
You're excited about being part of a tech hub (NYC or SF) and leveraging proximity to customers and the AI community

Responsibilities

Guide customers through their entire product journey—from initial implementation and technical onboarding, through development and testing, all the way to production deployment. Continue to provide support post-launch to ensure their implementation is performing optimally and meeting their business objectives
Build custom demos and prototypes that showcase how AssemblyAI's models can solve specific customer use cases
Lead technical discovery sessions with prospects and customers to understand their requirements and design optimal implementations
Assist with competitive evaluations by providing benchmarks, designing fair comparison tests, and helping customers evaluate our models against alternatives. Work closely with customers to ensure they have the data and support needed to make informed decisions
Troubleshoot production issues for customers using our streaming and async APIs, sometimes requiring you to debug code in languages you may not use daily (Java, Go, Ruby, etc.)
Provide technical guidance on architecture, scaling, data privacy, and best practices for integrating our APIs
Create proofs-of-concept that demonstrate the "art of the possible" with Speech AI
Travel to customer sites for technical workshops, implementation support, and relationship building with key accounts
Serve as the voice of the customer to our Product and Research teams—test and dogfood new products and features before they reach customers, providing feedback from a practitioner's perspective. Advocate for improvements and new capabilities based on real-world use cases you encounter, ensuring our roadmap aligns with customer needs
Contribute to documentation, guides, and example code that help developers integrate our APIs more effectively
Identify patterns in customer issues and work with Engineering to address root causes (SDK improvements, better error messages, new features)
Collaborate with Sales and Success teams to ensure smooth handoffs and consistent customer experience
Participate in team off-sites to align on strategy, share learnings, and build team cohesion
Stay current on AI/ML developments, particularly in speech recognition, NLP, and audio processing
Experiment with new use cases and applications of our models
Build and maintain an open-source repository of demos, integrations, and reference implementations
Represent AssemblyAI at conferences and industry events, delivering talks or running workshops when appropriate