Member of Technical Staff (AI Policy and Strategic Initiatives)

About the Position

Perplexity is seeking an intrepid Member of Technical Staff to take on one of the AI industry's most unique engineering roles. You'll work directly with Perplexity's senior leadership to spearhead a broad portfolio of strategic technology initiatives across policy, law, operations, and corporate affairs.

Responsibilities

As a Member of Technical Staff in the Policy & Strategic Initiatives group, you'll occupy a front-row seat to the foremost policy issues animating the AI ecosystem. You'll also get a panoptic view of how leading AI companies operate, make decisions, and engage with broader society.

Your work will be both highly interdisciplinary and firmly grounded in engineering rigor. On any given day, you might:

• Harness AI agents to research high-stakes policy and regulatory issues pertaining to Perplexity.
• Build automated platforms for harvesting, prioritizing, and patenting Perplexity's inventions, in collaboration with our AI researchers and intellectual property attorneys.
• Work hands-on with our Legal team and outside counsel in support of high-tech litigation matters in U.S. federal court.
• Engineer privacy and compliance systems that efficiently scale with our growing portfolio of frontier AI products (such as Comet and Computer).
• Contribute to regulatory filings and responses that require impeccable command of AI technology, Perplexity's own systems, and the broader policy landscape.
• Embed with our People team to implement first-party software solutions for recruiting, labor compliance, and performance management.
• Participate in meetings with Capitol Hill, executive branch officials, international partners, and civil society as a subject-matter expert on both AI technology and policy.

Requirements

• Evidence of exceptional ability and 99th-percentile work ethic.
• Strong technical skills at or above Perplexity's hiring bar for software engineers.
• Fluency with frontier intelligence tools (such as Perplexity Computer).
• High intrinsically-enforced standards for the craft and quality of your work.
• Strong communication and writing skills, ideally demonstrated via samples of past written work product.
• Curiosity and excitement about new and unfamiliar fields; eagerness to redefine your job every 3-6 months.
• Ability to quickly dive deep in any given field and develop mastery rivaling that of domain experts.
• Unimpeachable judgment, integrity, and discretion to be entrusted with the company's most important matters.
• A service-oriented attitude that continually questions how company systems and processes might better serve stakeholders.

Nice to Have

• Exceptionally talented early-career engineers (new grads welcome) who are (1) well-read in law, tech policy, or economics, and (2) wish to grow in both technical and non-technical disciplines.
• Experienced engineers at top tech companies who wish to develop policy, business, and operations chops.
• Lawyers or economists (new JD or PhD grads welcome) who've kept their engineering skills sharp and are excited to reimagine their fields in the age of AI.

We Offer

• Competitive salary range: $220K – $405K
• Offers Equity
• Comprehensive benefits program including equity, health, dental, vision, retirement, fitness, commuter, and dependent care accounts.

About the Company

Perplexity is at the forefront of AI technology, dedicated to shaping the future of AI through innovative policy and strategic initiatives. Our team is composed of forward-thinking individuals who are passionate about the intersection of technology, policy, and corporate affairs.

U.S. Benefits

Full-time U.S. employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits program including equity, health, dental, vision, retirement, fitness, commuter, and dependent care accounts, and more.

International Benefits

Full-time employees outside the U.S. enjoy a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region of residence.

USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions. International salaries are set based on the local market. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors, including experience and expertise, and may vary from the amounts listed above.