Staff Software Engineer (SF/NY)

Ode with Anthropic•San Francisco, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Ode, Anthropic's services venture, is defining frontier AI by bringing cutting-edge AI systems into practice. The team tackles complex AI problems for companies with real stakes, collaborating with their Applied AI and Product teams to translate frontier technology into tangible 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 (individual contributors or managers) or founders who want to remain hands-on with code while owning end-to-end technical outcomes. You will join a small, high-caliber team (2-5 engineers and a PM) to build AI products for clients. Responsibilities include setting technical direction, writing code, and serving as a technical point person for challenging issues. Approximately 75% of the role involves coding, with 25% dedicated to client interaction, including understanding problems, discussing tradeoffs, and ensuring solutions meet client needs. The company emphasizes being the best place to learn Applied AI engineering practices, offering exposure to a wide range of challenging problems and 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, and 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.

Nice To Haves

Former engineering leaders (IC or EM) or founders.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end technical outcomes.
Work on a small, high-caliber team building AI products for clients.
Set technical direction.
Write code.
Serve as the technical point person for difficult challenges.
Spend approximately 75% of time coding.
Spend approximately 25% of time working directly with clients (often their CTOs) to understand problems, walk through tradeoffs, and ensure building meets their needs.
Apply software engineering discipline to the non-deterministic world of frontier AI.
Design systems around testable hypotheses.
Curate durable data sets.
Ensure shipped products continue working long after handover.