Staff Software Engineer (SF)

Ode with Anthropic•San Francisco, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Ode, Anthropic's services venture, is defining frontier AI by tackling complex AI problems for companies. The team focuses on bringing frontier AI into practice, working closely with clients' Applied AI and Product teams to turn frontier technology into real-world impact. Ode is backed by prominent investors and has offices in SF, NYC, Raleigh-Durham, and Dubai. This role is designed for experienced engineering leaders (IC or EM) or founders who want to remain individual contributors and focus on coding. You will work on a small, high-caliber team building AI products for clients, setting technical direction, writing code, and solving difficult problems. Approximately 75% of your time will be spent coding, and 25% will involve direct client interaction, including with CTOs, to understand problems, discuss tradeoffs, and ensure client needs are met. The company emphasizes being the best place to learn Applied AI engineering practices, offering exposure to diverse and challenging problems across various domains within the first year.

Requirements

8+ years of engineering experience, with deep care for the craft.
Shipped multiple complete products end-to-end.
Write elegant, production-ready code across multiple disciplines.
Specific interest in applying software engineering fundamentals to AI systems.
Care about balancing frontier model capabilities with good system design.
Comfort talking with senior technical stakeholders.
Navigate conversations skillfully.
Care about people using what you build.
High ownership mindset.
Jump in without instruction.
Embrace a 'no job too big, no job too small' mindset.
Want to shape strategy and culture.
Low ego, high integrity.
Help others and ask for help.
Hold a high bar for honesty–with yourself and your team.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end technical outcomes.
Work on a small, high-caliber team building AI products for clients.
Set technical direction.
Write code.
Be the person the team looks to when something is hard.
Spend roughly 75% of your time in code.
Spend 25% of your time working directly with clients, understanding problems, walking through tradeoffs, and ensuring building meets their needs.
Apply standard software engineering discipline to the non-deterministic world of frontier AI.
Design systems around testable hypotheses.
Curate durable data sets.
Ensure shipped products keep working long after handover.