Staff Engineer, AI Native

Sony•San Diego, CA

4d•$200,000 - $240,000•Remote

About The Position

Sony Engagement Platform Services (SEPS) is seeking a highly skilled and experienced AI-Native Staff Software Engineer to develop applications for the Sony Engagement Platform. The role focuses on designing and building secure, scalable, high-performing solutions that deliver user experiences across Sony’s global ecosystem. The engineer will contribute hands-on to front-end and back-end systems, including architecture and implementation, and provide technical leadership. Working as part of an AI-native tiny team, the engineer will direct and govern AI agents throughout the delivery lifecycle. The role involves close collaboration with product managers, designers, and other engineering teams to build robust, maintainable applications in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment. The position is eligible to be performed remotely. Compensation varies by geographic location; the anticipated annual base salary is $220,000–$240,000 for the Los Angeles, California office location and $200,000–$220,000 for San Diego, California. Remote salary offerings are determined based on the candidate’s work location within the applicable range.

Requirements

At least 8 years of professional experience working with medium or large complex codebases.
Experience in full-stack development.
Experience with one or more of Java, Go, or Python.
Experience designing and implementing REST APIs.
High proficiency in HTML, CSS, the JavaScript ecosystem, and familiarity with frameworks and tools such as React, Angular, Ember, Jest, Babel, and TypeScript.
Knowledge of UI/UX design principles.
Demonstrated proficiency with AI-native coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot as a primary delivery vehicle, rather than as a productivity add-on.
Working knowledge of prompt engineering, context management, and structured output patterns.
Familiarity with agent development concepts, tool use, function calling, approvals, and workflow chaining.
Awareness of secure AI coding practices, including prompt injection, sandbox basics, and access control.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Willingness to collaborate and develop strong, positive team relationships.
Attention to detail, organizational skills, a strong work ethic, and ability to work independently.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or at least three years of proven experience in lieu of a degree.
Demonstrated ability to write clean, maintainable, well-documented code.
Database management, cloud technologies such as AWS, and containerization with Docker or Kubernetes.
Knowledge of React best practices.
Familiarity with DevOps tools and practices, including CI/CD pipelines.
Experience with automated deployment tools such as Terraform, Ansible, or Jenkins.
Experience with an AI-native development framework such as BMad Method.
Familiarity with MCP, A2A concepts, tool-connection patterns, and agent skill configuration.
Knowledge of evaluation basics, writing test cases, applying LLM-as-judge concepts, and defining acceptance criteria for AI-generated output.
Experience tracing and debugging prompt chains, tool calls, and agent failures.
Understanding of hallucination reduction techniques, prompt caching, and model fallback strategies.
Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
Experience with Agile development methodologies such as SAFe or Scrum.

Responsibilities

Architect, design, and develop RESTful API endpoints for performance, scalability, and maintainability.
Collaborate with front-end engineers to build dynamic, responsive, user-centric web applications.
Define data models and database schemas, and manage relational or NoSQL databases with an emphasis on data integrity and performance optimization.
Direct and govern AI coding agents across the delivery lifecycle, setting context, reviewing agent-generated output, and enforcing SEPS delivery standards at every gate.
Design and maintain agent workflows using agentic coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, and Copilot, along with the AI-native development framework.
Configure and maintain prompt engineering patterns, structured output schemas, rules, and guardrails to align agent behavior with SEPS platform standards.
Trace, debug, and triage agent tool calls, prompt failures, and unexpected outputs, maintaining visibility into AI-assisted delivery.
Create and maintain documentation for application architecture, design, configuration, and ongoing maintenance.
Provide task estimates and delivery timelines to support sprint planning and execution.
Participate in the on-call rotation, respond to production issues, and support system stability and uptime.
Mentor and support junior engineers and foster AI-native ways of working, learning, and continuous improvement.
Conduct responsibilities with honesty, trustworthiness, and ethical conduct.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage, including coverage for spouses/domestic partners and child dependents.
Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
Employee assistance plan and behavioral health benefits.
Fertility benefits, including surrogacy, and adoption assistance programs.
Basic and supplemental life insurance for employees, and supplemental life insurance for spouses/domestic partners and children.
Voluntary benefits, including group legal, identity theft protection, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance.
Short-term and long-term disability plans.
Up to 12 weeks of paid parental and caregiver leave.
401(k) plan with pre-tax, Roth, and after-tax options, company match, and immediate vesting.
Education assistance and student loan programs.
Flexible work arrangements, including hybrid work schedules.
Vacation, paid holidays, sick leave, Summer Fridays, and a winter break between Christmas and New Year’s Day, based on business needs.
Referral bonuses, subject to eligibility.
Matching gift program.
Employee business resource groups.
Special discounts on Sony products.
Employee stock purchase plan, with Sony covering commissions and fees for purchases made through after-tax payroll deductions.