Applied AI Engineer

OVERVIEW:

The D. E. Shaw group seeks exceptional software engineers with expertise in applied AI, AI agents, and agentic systems to join the firm. This role offers the chance to work directly with a variety of groups at the firm on innovative, greenfield projects that transform how teams operate—leveraging quantitative and programming skills to design, build, and deploy AI solutions that drive efficiency, enhance analytical capabilities, and accelerate decision-making across the firm.

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.

WHAT 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.