Software Engineer
Software Engineer roles at AI companies cover generalist software engineering work that does not neatly fall into frontend, backend, fullstack, ML, or other specialized tracks—often because the job is generalist by design, or because the title has not yet been segmented into a more specific role. The day-to-day is classical software engineering: designing and building software systems, writing well-tested production code, debugging across the stack, participating in the full development lifecycle, and partnering with cross-functional counterparts on what to build. AI-specific surfaces appear in many of these jobs—integrating models, building ML-adjacent infrastructure, working in AI-aware codebases—but the canonical role is software engineering as practiced across any high-growth technology company. These engineers sit across a wide range of teams depending on the company, with the title often serving as a default for engineers whose scope spans multiple areas.
Measured across 185 of 200 open postings.
This role is advertised at 5 levels, so a single figure for the role would describe none of them. Experience and pay are the midpoints for each level on its own.
| Level | Share | Median years | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intern | 17%(31) | — | — |
| Entry | 14%(25) | — | — |
| Mid | 19%(35) | 4 | $209k |
| Senior | 15%(28) | 5 | $202k |
| Staff / Principal | 36%(66) | 7 | $276k |
A dash means too few postings stated it to report a midpoint. Most companies do not publish a salary band, so pay is indicative rather than a market rate.
“AI tooling is already part of how you work — you use it to write, debug, and learn faster”
“Build multi-layered guardrails that keep agents safe and predictable in high-stakes federal environments”
“You have demonstrated usage of AI tools in your day-to-day work, and be excited about experimenting, learning, and harnessing the potential of new AI tools”
“Hands-on experience with LLM APIs and tool/function-calling patterns; direct experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol)”
Requirements are a share of every open posting, so a role missing from this list is one where almost nobody asks. Work mode is different: many postings never say, so that figure counts only the ones that do. A posting stops being advertised when it is filled, cancelled or reorganised, so read the last figure as how long these stay on the market, not as time to hire.
Skills
What companies are looking for in this role.
Backend and API engineering
Distributed systems architecture
Full-stack product engineering
Systems performance optimization
Hardware and embedded systems
Technical program management
Data pipeline engineering
ML systems development
Frontend interface engineering
Monitoring and observability
Robotics systems engineering
Agent system architecture and development
AI-assisted development workflow
AI autonomy safety assurance
AI evaluation design
Cross-functional collaboration
Mentoring and code review
Ownership in ambiguity
Technology
The tools and technologies that define this role.
Open Jobs
200 open Software Engineer jobs across 55 companies.
Other Engineering roles
Engineers focused on server-side systems, APIs, services, and data processing pipelines. Includes roles explicitly labeled as backend or server-side development.
Engineers specializing in user-facing interfaces, web applications, and client-side development. Includes UI/UX engineering and web development roles.
Engineers working across the entire application stack, handling both frontend and backend responsibilities.
Engineers building and maintaining internal platforms, cloud infrastructure, compute systems, and developer tooling.
Engineers embedded with customers or deployed on-site to solve domain-specific technical problems. Combines engineering skills with direct client interaction.