Senior Software Engineer - AI Platform

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies • Irvine, CA

2d • $149,800 - $187,200

About The Position

As a Senior Software Engineer specializing in agentic applications, you will be a key technical leader helping shape the GenAI platform's architecture and strategy. You will integrate large language models (LLMs) with internal and customer-facing applications at scale, using them to drive cognitive automation, streamline workflows, and improve decision-making. You will also promote best practices for resilient, scalable, and observable distributed systems and develop production-grade tools that are reliable and maintainable across the organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
• At least 8 years of hands-on software engineering experience, with a deep focus on designing and building large-scale distributed systems.
• Extensive hands-on experience building and deploying complex agentic applications using LLMs in production environments.
• Proficiency in Python or similar programming languages.
• Deep expertise with cloud and container frameworks such as AWS and Kubernetes.
• Proven experience designing and building scalable, fault-tolerant, and observable distributed systems.
• Expert-level understanding of machine learning principles, algorithms, and evaluation metrics, as well as distributed-systems software engineering practices.
• Demonstrated success leading the design, deployment, and operation of scalable backend software in high-stakes production environments.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with the ability to influence senior engineering peers, build consensus, and align cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders on complex technical decisions.
• Genuine interest in machine learning and natural language processing advancements and applying them to impactful business challenges at scale.

Nice To Haves

• Expertise in Golang is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead the development of scalable intelligent agents that use LLMs to automate workflows, optimize operations, and improve user experiences in internal and customer-facing applications.
• Help define and drive the technical vision and long-term strategy for integrating LLMs with the company's software ecosystem.
• Collaborate with product managers and technical leaders to identify and prioritize cognitive automation opportunities, including information extraction, summarization, and question answering.
• Own the development lifecycle for critical machine-learning-powered tools and applications, from conceptualization and design through implementation and deployment.
• Define, implement, and uphold engineering standards for production-grade distributed machine learning solutions, including scalability, reliability, and maintainability.
• Research and experiment with emerging trends in machine learning, AI agents, and distributed systems.
• Work with machine learning engineers, product teams, and senior leadership to gather requirements, define project scope, deliver solutions, and align teams on technical direction.
• Mentor and guide senior engineers and technical leads, fostering technical excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary.
• Eligibility for an annual company performance bonus program for full-time positions; payments are discretionary and not guaranteed.
• Eligibility for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units, subject to board approval and the applicable equity incentive plan terms and vesting requirements.
• Comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees, including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs; offerings vary by country.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior