Applied AI Engineer

What you'll do day-to-day

• Collaborate directly with internal groups and end users across various functions to build bespoke AI agents and user-facing applications tailored to nuanced, real-world business needs.
• Lead and contribute to greenfield AI projects, taking full ownership from concept through production, including hands-on coding, iteration, and deployment, while helping shape internal AI strategy and adoption.
• Build, evaluate, and deploy AI coding agents and developer tooling that meaningfully accelerate software development workflows across the firm.
• Rapidly prototype and integrate emerging AI tools and model capabilities across platforms, moving quickly from experiment to production to enhance usability, scalability, and effectiveness.
• Scale the adoption of AI tools firmwide by developing best practices, frameworks, and reusable components that drive innovation and productivity.
• Build foundational AI components, such as agent frameworks, reusable "skills," and large-scale retrieval systems, to support AI tools and applications.
• Design, develop, and maintain shared AI infrastructure and agentic applications, ensuring firmwide data integration and enhancing software development efficiency.

Who we're looking for

• A bachelor's degree in any field, along with an extensive background in software development and hands-on experience building and scaling AI solutions at the product, system, or company level.
  
• Deep, practical experience with AI agents and agentic frameworks, including orchestration, tool use, memory, and multi-step reasoning in production environments.
  
• Solid understanding of AI technologies and a genuine interest in developing advanced AI applications and frameworks.
  
• Comfort working in fast-moving environments where rapid prototyping and iterative experimentation are core parts of the job.
  
  
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in technical or entrepreneurial environments, along with the capability to solve complex challenges and lead projects from inception to deployment.
  
• An impressive record of academic or professional achievement, with analytical depth and creativity in AI-related projects.
  
• The expected annual base salary for this position is $225,000 to $275,000. Our compensation and benefits package includes substantial variable compensation in the form of a year-end bonus, guaranteed in the first year of hire, a sign-on bonus, and benefits including medical and prescription drug coverage, 401(k) contribution matching, wellness reimbursement, family building benefits, and a charitable gift match program.
  

The D. E. Shaw group is an equal opportunity employer.

The applicable annual base salary or hourly rate paid to a successful applicant will be determined based on multiple factors, including without limitation the nature and extent of prior experience and educational background.

European Union (EU) , United Kingdom (UK) , California , Hong Kong , Singapore , or Shanghai candidates should refer to the corresponding linked privacy notice.

The D. E. Shaw group may collect, use, hold, transfer, and process candidates' resumes and associated information (including personal information contained therein) for purposes reasonably related to their application, including without limitation: review and management of employment applications and supporting materials; administration and management of offers to and communication with candidates; and administration, management, and improvement of the recruiting operations of the D. E. Shaw group; and/or where reasonably required in connection with a proposed sale, spin-out, reorganization, or outsourcing of all or some of the business of the D. E. Shaw group. The D. E. Shaw group will not use such information for purposes unrelated to the foregoing, such as direct marketing of third-party products to candidates, without candidate consent. As used herein, the term "personal information" is meant to broadly describe information identifying or relating to a specific individual; it is intended to encompass "personal data," "sensitive personal data," and "personally identifiable information" and similar terms, as those terms are defined by law in the jurisdictions in which the D. E. Shaw group operates.

The D. E. Shaw group may transfer such personal information within and outside the country and jurisdiction of the locations where the D. E. Shaw group maintains offices, to other D. E. Shaw group affiliates, to government and regulatory authorities, and to third parties which provide or may provide support and/or services to the D. E. Shaw group and for the purposes set forth above. The persons who may have access to this personal information are other employees of the D. E. Shaw group, in connection with the performance of their duties of employment, and the other parties listed above, in connection with the business of the D. E. Shaw group. (Of course, candidates will be considered for employment opportunities only in those countries in which they express interest.)

The D. E. Shaw group will use reasonable care to maintain the confidentiality of personal information (including appropriate technical measures against unauthorized or unlawful processing and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, such information) and will retain such data as required by applicable law or regulation. Candidates have the right to request access to, and correction of, their personal information in accordance with applicable law; any such request should be submitted to View email address on click.appcast.io . Candidates who have submitted a resume to the D. E. Shaw group and do not wish to proceed with their applications should email View email address on click.appcast.io . Personal information of candidates who have been the subject of background checks may have been transferred in accordance with applicable regulations, and any concerns with such transfers should be submitted to View email address on click.appcast.io .

The D. E. Shaw group may retain candidates' information for prospective recruiting activities, including sourcing candidates for employment opportunities and for organizing events with prospective candidates, in accordance with our internal data retention procedures. Candidates who do not agree to such future use should email View email address on click.appcast.io .