Member of Technical Staff (AI Policy and Strategic Initiatives)

Details

Perplexity is seeking a Member of Technical Staff to take on a broad, interdisciplinary engineering role within the Policy & Strategic Initiatives group. The role works directly with senior leadership on strategic technology initiatives spanning AI policy, law, operations, and corporate affairs.

The position combines technical expertise with interests in law, policy, economics, and corporate affairs. It offers exposure to major policy issues affecting the AI ecosystem and to how leading AI companies operate, make decisions, and engage with broader society.

Responsibilities

• Use AI agents to research high-stakes policy and regulatory issues related to Perplexity.
• Build automated platforms for harvesting, prioritizing, and patenting Perplexity's inventions in collaboration with AI researchers and intellectual property attorneys.
• Work hands-on with the Legal team and outside counsel on high-tech litigation matters in U.S. federal court.
• Engineer privacy and compliance systems that scale with Perplexity's frontier AI products, including Comet and Computer.
• Contribute to regulatory filings and responses requiring a strong command of AI technology, Perplexity's systems, and the broader policy landscape.
• Work with the 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 in AI technology and policy.
• Serve as a creative problem solver for Perplexity's senior leaders across simple and complex matters.

Requirements

• Exceptional ability and a 99th-percentile work ethic.
• Strong technical skills meeting or exceeding Perplexity's software engineering hiring bar.
• Fluency with frontier intelligence tools, such as Perplexity Computer.
• High standards for the craft and quality of work.
• Strong communication and writing skills, ideally demonstrated through samples of past written work.
• Curiosity and enthusiasm for unfamiliar fields, with the ability to redefine the role every 3–6 months.
• Ability to quickly develop deep expertise in new fields, potentially rivaling that of domain experts.
• Unimpeachable judgment, integrity, and discretion.
• A service-oriented approach to improving company systems and processes.

Potential candidates include exceptionally talented early-career engineers, including new graduates, who are well-read in law, technology policy, or economics; experienced engineers from top technology companies seeking to develop policy, business, and operations expertise; and lawyers or economists with strong engineering skills. Candidates planning to attend law school or PhD programs in the future are welcome, subject to a minimum two-year commitment.

Benefits

Full-time U.S. employees receive benefits including equity, health, dental, vision, retirement, fitness, commuter, and dependent-care accounts. International employees receive benefits tailored to their region of residence.