Applied AI Engineer, Startups (Physical AI)

Anthropic•San Francisco, CA

16h•$280,000 - $320,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As an Applied AI Engineer on Anthropic’s Startups team, you will serve as a trusted technical advisor to AI-native startups building in the physical world, including companies in robotics, semiconductors, aerospace, manufacturing, and civil infrastructure. You will support startups as they grow from early product development to scale, whether they integrate Claude into their products or use it in their own hardware design, testing, and operations. You will lead technical engagements with startup software and hardware engineering teams, advising on implementation and agent design. Working with Applied AI Architects, Account Executives, and Anthropic’s Product, Engineering, and Research teams, you will help startups build with Claude, develop custom evaluation frameworks, design scalable architectures, and create technical resources. The role aims to help engineers apply AI to physical engineering work and to translate Claude’s capabilities into practical outcomes.

Requirements

Deep engineering experience in a physical discipline such as mechanical, electrical, aerospace, robotics, semiconductor, manufacturing, or civil engineering, gained through designing, building, or operating real hardware.
At least 4 years of technical experience as a software engineer, ML or research engineer, robotics or controls engineer, hardware or systems engineer, or technical founder.
Either production experience building LLM-powered applications—including prompting, context engineering, agent architectures, evaluation frameworks, and deployment at scale—or a track record of successfully applying AI to real engineering work in design, simulation, test, or production.
Strong technical communication skills, including the ability to translate complex AI concepts into architectural decisions and actionable implementation plans for software and hardware audiences.
Ability to run technical workshops, hackathons, or developer-focused events.
Collaborative approach to working across teams and ability to quickly get up to speed in new domains.
Passion for making powerful technology safe and beneficial.
Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience.
A field of study relevant to the role, demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience with startups or high-growth companies.
Enjoyment of working with founders and small, fast-moving teams.

Responsibilities

Serve as a deep technical advisor to startups building in the physical world, helping them apply AI across engineering, manufacturing, and operations.
Work hands-on with startup software and hardware teams through pair programming and architecture reviews, understanding their workflows from design and simulation through test, production, and operations.
Develop prototypes and technical documentation, including evaluation suites, benchmarks based on real engineering tasks, AI engineering techniques, and architecture diagrams.
Create reference implementations and sample code that companies can adopt, including integrations with CAD, simulation, design tools, or industrial automation.
Collaborate with Applied AI Architects to maintain context and continuity across customer engagements.
Identify recurring challenges in applying AI to physical systems and develop repeatable evaluations and solutions, contributing insights to Product, Engineering, Research, and the broader Applied AI team.
Create technical content for startup audiences, including documentation, tutorials, and sample code.
Foster community engagement through hackathons, webinars, technical office hours, and startup-focused events.
Travel to customer sites for workshops, implementation guidance, and relationship building.