Staff Engineer, Tinder
Applied Artificial Intelligence
$270-295k
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
Swipe-based dating app
Be an early applicant
Swipe-based dating app
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
$270-295k
Office located in Palo Alto, CA
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To power and inspire realconnectionsby making meeting easy and fun for every new generation of singles.
Role
Who you are
- Strong experience in Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, and distributed systems
- Hands-on experience with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.), orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, LangGraph), and vector databases (Elasticsearch, Pinecone, etc.)
- Proven track record of building production-grade AI applications (bots, agents, RAG systems)
- 8+ years of software engineering experience with 2+ in applied AI/ML
- Prior experience as a tech lead or staff-level engineer, influencing technical direction beyond a single team
- Strong ability to communicate AI concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Exceptional ability to abstract problems into AI-powered workflows
- Skilled at balancing rapid prototyping with building for scale and reliability
Desirable
- Experience with enterprise SaaS integrations (Slack, Jira, etc.)
- Familiarity with operations of LLM apps (monitoring, cost optimization, guardrails, eval)
- Background in UX design for AI-driven interactions
- Contributions to open-source AI tooling or frameworks
What the job involves
- We are seeking a Staff Engineer, Applied AI to lead the design and development of real-world solutions built on generative AI and LLMs
- Unlike roles focused on training foundation models, this position emphasizes building applied systems like Slack bots, RAG applications, multi-agent workflows, and AI-integrated platforms to solve practical problems and improve productivity of the entire organization.As a Staff Engineer, you’ll work across product, research, and engineering teams to ensure our AI strategy translates into impactful solutions
- You will be leading the solutions building, mentor engineers, and establish best practices for building AI-powered applications that are reliable, cost-efficient, and safe
- Lead the development of AI applications that integrate LLMs with APIs, databases, and enterprise systems
- Oversee the design and optimization of AI agent & pipelines to enhance factuality
- Build scalable agentic workflows and orchestration systems for enterprise use cases
- Own the architecture and design of applied AI systems (bots, RAG, agents, integrations, MCP servers)
- Define patterns, frameworks, and reusable components to accelerate AI solution delivery across teams
- Drive evaluation and guardrail frameworks for ensuring AI reliability, safety, and performance
- Partner with product managers and stakeholders to translate ambiguous business needs into technical solutions
- Mentor engineers, review designs/code, and guide teams in applied AI best practices
- Collaborate with security, compliance, and data teams to ensure responsible AI adoption
- Stay ahead of emerging LLM frameworks, orchestration tools, and AI agents
- Identify opportunities for new AI-powered capabilities within existing systems
- Contribute to long-term AI roadmap and platform strategy
Our take
In today's society, online communication is rapidly replacing face-to-face interaction across various aspects of life, including professional, platonic, and even romantic relationships. Dating apps like Tinder, with their quick sing-ups and swipe-based interface, have revolutionized the way people connect.
Tinder's innovative approach has significantly reduced the social stigma associated with online dating. This, coupled with the global rise of smartphones, has created a strong tailwind for the app. However, Tinder faces new challenges from competitors like Hinge, Bumble, and Thursday, who all capitalize on similar "swipe-based" mechanics, potentially attracting users away from the platform.
To address this, Tinder is actively seeking ways to reinvent its core product. The company is exploring the development of "Tinderverse", a shared virtual reality experience. Additionally, it is testing "Tinder Coins", an in-app currency earned through positive user behavior, allowing access to premium features. These initiatives demonstrate Tinder's commitment to remaining at the forefront of the ever-evolving online dating landscape.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Company benefits
- Mind & Body: Take care of yourself with benefits to keep you physically and mentally healthy.
- Company Perks: As winners of Comparably’s 2022 Best Company Perks and Benefits Award, we’re proud to say we provide perks that make a difference
- Life @ Tinder: We support each other— from informal check-ins to snacks + catered lunches at HQ to the flexibility to take time off when you need it
Company HQ
Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, CA
Leadership
Jonathan Badeen
(Co-Founder)Previously Director of Design at Casting Networks before starting Tinder in 2012. Served as the Chief Strategy Officer at Tinder from 2016 to 2022.
Sean Rad
(Co-Founder)Received an honorary degree from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. Founder of Rad Fund.
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