Staff Software Engineer, Applied AI
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- San Francisco, California
- Work setup
- Remote
- Seniority
- Staff
- Employment
- Contract
- Experience
- 8+ years
- Category
- Ai engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Technical foundation: 8+ years of experience in software engineering, AI/ML, data-intensive systems, AI/ML development (ideally including a Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, ML, Data Science, or
- AI systems mindset: Familiarity with language systems (e.g., NLP, conversational interfaces, IR) and comfort reasoning about model behavior, context, and evaluation - both theoretical and practical kn
- Data tooling & analysis: Experience with core data science tools such as NumPy, scikit-learn, Pandas, PySpark, plus SQL and common visualization tools (e.g., matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly, or BI tools)
- Cloud & deployment experience: Comfortable developing and deploying services in cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure) and working with containerization/orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Engineering excellence: Strong software engineering skills, including writing maintainable code, debugging distributed systems, and collaborating in cross-functional teams.
- Growth orientation: Eagerness to tackle unfamiliar problems, learn new technologies, and contribute to shaping our platform and culture.
- Communication: Ability to explain technical ideas clearly and work effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Nice-to-have (but not required): experience with ML lifecycle tools (e.g., MLflow, Weights & Biases), familiarity with Cloud ML services, or past work building generative AI applications.
Full description
Valence has built the only first-to-market AI native coaching platform for enterprise, offering personalized, expert, and human-like guidance and support to any leader or employee. We’re not just talking about the future of work — we’re building it now, with the most innovative Fortune 500 companies across healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and technology.
Learn more about our work with Microsoft: Valence Brings AI Coaching More Deeply Into the Flow of Work with Microsoft 365
Our focus is on the problems that actually decide whether AI changes how organizations operate — the ones with no playbook, no obvious answers, and no guarantee of success. If you want to be part of the small group that defines how AI transforms the future at a global scale, this is your chance.
And this isn’t for everyone. We’re not looking for people who want predictability or incremental progress. We only want those who are restless at the edge of what’s possible, who get bored when things feel “done,” and who are driven to redefine what AI can mean for leaders, companies, and the world. Because at Valence, the work worth doing is the kind that redefines work itself.
The Role
As a founding Applied AI Engineer at Valence, you will help define and build the future of AI-powered leadership coaching, working directly with our Head of AI and cross-functional product and engineering teams. You’ll be at the intersection of generative AI research and product execution - helping design, build, and refine intelligent systems that deliver context-aware, personalized coaching at enterprise scale. This role is purposefully broad and adaptable: we don’t expect any one candidate to check every technical box, but we do look for engineers who are eager to learn, iterate rapidly, and contribute meaningfully across a range of challenges from model behavior to production systems.
You’ll tackle real-world AI problems - from transforming enterprise data into actionable context, to optimizing conversational experiences, to shaping how AI engages with users in meaningful and responsible ways. Your work will directly impact how our platform performs in high-stakes enterprise deployments and how leaders around the world grow through AI-facilitated insights.
About Valence
We're the only company pioneering leadership coaching for large enterprises in an AI-first way. Our mission is to transform how the world's biggest companies approach learning and development, helping teams work better together through AI-powered personalization that adapts to individual goals and organizational culture using the latest advances in machine learning and natural language processing.
We've been featured in Harvard Business Review, TIME, World Economic Forum, Financial Times, Forbes and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America. Our clients represent the most diverse and sophisticated enterprise AI implementations globally, including Coca-Cola, Delta, Nestlé, General Mills, Schneider Electric, Deutsche Telekom, AstraZeneca, Prudential, CVS and Bristol Myers Squibb.