Staff Software Engineer - AI II

Staff Software Engineer (AI) – Forward Engineering

Build the future of AI-powered systems at Thomson Reuters

Join our Forward Engineering team and help reinvent how Thomson Reuters operates. As a Staff Software Engineer (AI), you'll architect and prototype AI-driven systems—multi-agent workflows, advanced RAG pipelines, intelligent automation—and work directly with business and product leaders to turn real problems into transformative, AI-first solutions.

This is a hands-on, high-influence role for an engineer who thrives at the intersection of systems design, applied AI, and cross-functional partnership.

About The Role

• Build enterprise-grade AI systems — including domain-specific agent frameworks and advanced RAG architectures.
• Drive AI innovation by leading proofs of concept, evaluating emerging techniques, and translating research into deployable solutions.
• Own architecture — converting business needs into scalable designs, defining patterns, and guiding engineering best practices (MLOps / LLMOps).
• Partner across TR — embedding with business units, SMEs, and product teams to co-create AI solutions and accelerate adoption.
• Scale prototypes into production and help shape engineering standards for TR's AI-first transformation.

About You

• 8+ years in software engineering, with 4+ years leading AI/ML system development.
• Deep expertise in Python and modern ML/AI frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX).
• Strong foundations in machine learning, distributed systems, and scalable architectures.
• Demonstrated ownership of AI lifecycle: deployment, monitoring, model management, evaluation.
• Experience with AWS/Azure/GCP and infrastructure tooling (Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform).
• Proven ability to integrate AI into production systems using APIs, pipelines, and cloud-native patterns.
• Experience designing and validating agentic systems, including evaluation frameworks for non-deterministic model behavior.

AI-Native Engineering Expectations

• Comfortable using AI coding tools (Copilot, Cursor, Cline, Claude Code) to quickly understand codebases, generate solutions, and accelerate development.
• Able to work with AI agents to scale output—parallelizing workstreams, speeding code review, and rapidly iterating based on feedback.
• Track record of rapid prototyping, moving from idea → proof of concept at startup speed.

Preferred

• Experience leading teams that build internal AI prototypes or agent-driven systems.
• Strong knowledge of vector DBs, embeddings, semantic search, or IR systems.
• History of launching and scaling AI solutions inside enterprise environments.
• Familiarity with AI governance, model-risk management, or regulated workflows.
• Publications, patents, or speaking experience in AI/ML.

What's in it For You?

• Hybrid Work Model: We've adopted a flexible hybrid working environment (2-3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office-based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.
• Flexibility & Work-Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset. This builds upon our flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year, empowering employees to achieve a better work-life balance.
• Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow's challenges and deliver real-world solutions. Our Grow My Way programming and skills-first approach ensures you have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI-enabled future.
• Industry Competitive Benefits: We offer comprehensive benefit plans to include flexible vacation, two company-wide Mental Health Days off, access to the Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programs, and resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
• Culture: Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance, and more. We live by our values: Obsess over our Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge (Y)our Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast, and Stronger Together.
• Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute. We offer employees two paid volunteer days off annually and opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
• Making a Real-World Impact: We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth, and transparency. Together, with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, turn the wheels of commerce, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world.

Our use of AI within the recruitment process Thomson Reuters utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our global recruitment process. Unless you opt-out, our AI system will assess the information provided by you and compare it to the requirements listed for the role, and present the result to our recruitment personnel for further review. The AI system acts as a supporting tool, but there is always a human making the decision if you will be considered for the role.

In the United States, Thomson Reuters offers a comprehensive benefits package to our employees. Our benefit package includes market competitive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance programs, as well as a competitive 401k plan with company match. In addition, Thomson Reuters offers market leading work life benefits with competitive vacation, sick and safe paid time off, paid holidays (including two company mental health days off), parental leave, sabbatical leave. These benefits meet or exceeds the requirements of paid time off in accordance with any applicable state or municipal laws. Finally, Thomson Reuters offers the following additional benefits: optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance paid 100% by the employee; optional life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee; Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts; fitness reimbursement; access to Employee Assistance Program; Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by employee; access to 529 Plan; commuter benefits; Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance; Tuition Reimbursement; and access to Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Thomson Reuters complies with local laws that require upfront disclosure of the expected pay range for a position. The base compensation range varies across locations. Eligible office location(s) for this role include one or more of the following: New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and/or Irvine, CA; McLean, VA; Washington, DC. The base compensation range for the role in any of those locations is $158,000 USD - $293,000 USD. For any eligible US locations, unless otherwise noted, the base compensation range for this role is $137,100 USD - $254,700 USD. Base pay is positioned within the range based on several factors including an individual's knowledge, skills and experience with consideration given to internal equity. Base pay is one part of a comprehensive Total Reward program which also includes flexible and supportive benefits and other wellbeing programs. This role may also be eligible for an Annual Bonus based on a combination of enterprise and individual performance.

About Us

Thomson Reuters informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. We serve professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Our products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news.

We are powered by the talents of 26,000 employees across more than 70 countries, where everyone has a chance to contribute and grow professionally in flexible work environments. At a time when objectivity, accuracy, fairness, and transparency are under attack, we consider it our duty to pursue them. Sound exciting? Join us and help shape the industries that move society forward.

As a global business, we rely on the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of all employees to deliver on our business goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age