Staff Software Engineer AI
Overview
Join an amazing team that is consistently recognized for our achievements and culture, including our most recent Forbes award of being one of America's Best Midsize Employers for 2026!
The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in building, developing, and deploying production-grade conversational AI solutions—well beyond prototyping—ensuring scalable, real-world impact. Additionally, they possess a human-centered AI approach, effectively partnering with SMEs to incorporate domain expertise into evaluation frameworks, metrics, and continuous model improvement.
Position Summary:
As a Staff Software Engineer focused on Generative AI initiatives, you will provide technical leadership in identifying, implementing, and integrating Generative AI solutions to solve complex business problems. You will bridge the gap between traditional software engineering and AI technologies, leading teams to deliver AI-enhanced features and capabilities while mentoring engineers on practical AI adoption within existing software systems.
Geo-Salary Information
An in-person interview may be required during the hiring process
State specific pay scales for this role are as follows:
$101,167 to $204,439 (CA, NJ, NY, WA, HI, AK, MD, CT, RI, MA)
$91,970 to $185,853 (NV, OR, AZ, CO, WY, TX, ND, MN, MO, IL, WI, FL, GA, MI, OH, VA, PA, DE, VT, NH, ME)
$82,773 to $167,268 (UT, ID, MT, NM, SD, NE, KS, OK, IA, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, KY, IN, SC, NC, WV)
The expected base salary for this position will vary depending on a number of factors, including relevant experience, skills and location.
In CA: Typical hiring range is $137,523 to $191,004
Responsibilities
Essential Job Functions:
- Apply Generative AI techniques to solve complex business problems by identifying opportunities where AI can enhance existing software systems and create new intelligent features.
- Integrate Generative AI models and capabilities into production software applications, bridging the gap between Generative AI research and practical software engineering implementation.
- Evaluate and select appropriate Generative AI models, tools, and techniques for specific use cases, considering factors like performance, cost, maintainability, and business impact.
- Write high-quality code that combines traditional software engineering with AI components, ensuring robust integration, proper error handling, and comprehensive test coverage.
- Review and translate product requirements into technical solutions that leverage AI effectively, designing systems that seamlessly blend AI capabilities with core application functionality.
- Lead design and code reviews for AI-enhanced applications, ensuring best practices in both software engineering and AI implementation while maintaining Mercury standards.
- Lead multiple sprint teams to deliver AI-powered features and improvements, addressing technical challenges in integrating AI into existing software systems.
- Collaborate with product managers, data scientists, and engineering teams to identify AI opportunities and translate them into practical software solutions.
- Mentor engineers on how to effectively incorporate AI into their software development practices, promoting understanding of AI capabilities and limitations.
- Drive practical AI adoption across teams by demonstrating how to effectively combine software engineering principles with AI technologies.
- Collaborate with product managers to estimate effort for AI-enhanced features, prioritize AI integration opportunities, and deliver measurable business value through AI implementation.
Qualifications
Education:
Minimum:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or other related fields Or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Preferred:
- Master’s Degree in Data Science.
Experience:
Minimum:
- 7+ years software engineering experience with proven experience in cutting-edge Technologies and/or those used at Mercury.
- 3+ yea