Staff Software Engineer, Applied AI (Remote, US)

About Sayari: Sayari is the judgment infrastructure for trustworthy AI in economic security and commercial risk. The Sayari Commercial World Model resolves 11.7B+ primary-source records from 250+ jurisdictions forming the ground truth of global commerce. A Judgment Ontology, encoding over a decade of investigative tradecraft, and Superconductor, an agentic orchestration platform, deliver AI that reasons like an expert analyst, shows its work, and traces every finding to its source. Trusted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, HM Revenue & Customs, and Fortune 500 enterprises, Sayari is used by thousands of professionals across 35+ countries to secure supply chains and dismantle illicit networks. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Tel Aviv. ABOUT SAYARI Sayari is a venture-backed and founder-led global corporate data provider and commercial intelligence platform, serving financial institutions, legal and advisory service providers, multinationals, journalists, and governments. Thousands of analysts and investigators in over 30 countries rely on our products to safely conduct cross-border trade, research front-page news stories, confidently enter new markets, and prevent financial crimes such as corruption and money laundering. We at Sayari define our culture by a dedication to our mission of using open data to prevent illicit commercial and financial activity, a passion for finding novel approaches to complex problems, and an understanding that diverse perspectives create optimal outcomes. We embrace cross-team collaboration, encourage training and learning opportunities, and reward initiative and innovation. If you like working with supportive, high-performing, and curious teams, Sayari is the place for you. POSITION DESCRIPTION Sayari is looking for a Staff Software Engineer to lead one of our application team squads. You'll own technical architecture, drive code quality, and ship production systems, while working closely with Product and Engineering leadership to execute on the roadmap. You're a builder first. You also understand that the best engineers today use AI tools fluently, know when to apply them and when not to, and have built at least a few things with LLMs, whether at work, on the side, or both. We're not looking for an AI researcher or ML engineer. We're looking for a strong engineer who keeps up. JOB RESPONSIBILITIES Design and build robust, scalable, well-tested systems. Lead architecture decisions for your squad and contribute directly to the codebase. Translate ambitious product goals into cleanly scoped technical roadmaps. Collaborate with Product and Design to identify capacity/technical constraints and inform sequencing and prioritization. Be a technical multiplier for your team. Elevate those around you through hands-on mentoring, deep code reviews, and knowledge sharing. Evaluate and apply AI capabilities (RAG, agentic workflows, prompt engineering) where they add genuine value to the product, not as a default, but as a deliberate engineering choice. Establish engineering best practices and evaluation frameworks for accuracy-critical features, ensuring our LLM-backed systems are dependable and deterministic. SKILLS & EXPERIENCE Required Skills & Experience: 10+ years of software engineering experience, including time as both an individual contributor and a technical lead or mentor. You’ve built and shipped something using LLMs (either in production or a deeply realized personal project) and understand the nuances of RAG, prompt engineering, or agentic frameworks. You actively use AI tools (for code gen, debugging, documentation, or research) to accelerate your own output, and you're excited to bring that fluency to the broader team. Deep proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases, including Postgres, Cassandra, Elasticsearch, and/or graph databases. Proficiency in TypeScript and backend web development (REST APIs) Experience shipping and managing software in cloud environments (GCP, AWS, or Azure). Track record of rigorous code reviews and disciplined testing practices. Desired Skills & Experience: Experience with Graph databases and query optimization for large-scale data. Experience working on both front end and back end code bases Experience with container orchestration via Kubernetes Interest in data visualization, or how to visually present large, complex datasets Exposure to batch processing frameworks like Spark The target base salary for this position is $200,000-$225,000 plus annual bonus and equity. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including location, local market variances, candidate experience and expertise, internal peer equity, and may vary from the amounts listed above. Benefits: 100% fully paid medical, vision, and dental for employees and their dependents Generous time off; we observe all US federal holidays, close our office for a winter break (12/24-12/31), in addition to granting 18 PTO days and 10 sick days Outstanding compensation package; competitive commissions for revenue roles and bonuses for non-revenue positions A strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion Eligibility to participate in additional benefits such as 401k match up to 5%, 100% paid life insurance (up to $100,000 coverage),, and parental leave A collaborative and positive culture - your team will be as smart and driven as you Limitless growth and learning opportunities Sayari is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages diverse candidates to apply. We believe diversity and inclusion mean our team members should reflect the diversity of the United States. No employee or applicant will face discrimination or harassment based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status, genetics, or political affiliation. We strongly encourage applicants of all backgrounds to apply. Pay Range $200,000—$225,000 USD