Backend Software Engineer, Perplexity AI

$220-405k

Offers Equity

AWS

Docker

TypeScript

Python

Redis

Rust

FastAPI

Mid and Senior level

New York

San Francisco Bay Area

Conversational AI-powered search tool

Be an early applicant

Conversational AI-powered search tool

1001+ employees

B2CArtificial IntelligenceDeep TechMachine Learning

Be an early applicant

$220-405k

Offers Equity

AWS

Docker

TypeScript

Python

Redis

Rust

FastAPI

Mid and Senior level

New York

San Francisco Bay Area

1001+ employees

B2CArtificial IntelligenceDeep TechMachine Learning

Company mission

To advance the way people discover and share information.

Job

Company

Role

Who you are

Strong experience with Python
Strong experience with databases and caching
Experience with AWS cloud infrastructure at scale
Experience working with high-scale data and non-deterministic systems like LLMs
4+ years of engineering experience

What the job involves

Perplexity is looking for an experienced Backend Engineer to join our small team revolutionizing the way people search and interact with the internet
You will be responsible for leading design, implementation, and scaling of backend systems that power web, mobile, and browser products
Build scalable systems that ingest and process data from the web, files, and other sources
Optimize interfaces that interact with databases and caching systems
Collaborate with PMs, frontend engineers, and other stakeholders to understand product requirements
Work closely with AI, Search, and Data Science teams to iterate on non-deterministic systems
Manage a complex orchestration system with many moving parts and interfaces
Scale, optimize, and load balance multiple services with rapidly changing needs

Application process

AI is at the heart of what we build, and using it effectively is an expectation for every role here. During interviews, we want to see how you think and make decisions—qualities that will directly influence our AI development. With that in mind, please avoid using AI tools throughout the process unless we indicate otherwise

Our take

As AI continues to drive changes in both business operations and day-to-day lives, Perplexity AI delivers an intelligent search engine powered by conversational AI, to improve search outcomes and "unlock the power of knowledge" for all.

Reaching impressive heights of 22M monthly visits, Perplexity's "ask anything" method of search is clearly a popular one. And what sets it apart from other search engines is in its answers, which are concise and fully cited, responding to the user query rather than simply providing a place in which they can scroll to find it themselves.

The company has raised substantial funding, with contributions from former execs at companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Quora, demonstrating the interest that it has drummed up in the space. Having doubled its annual recurring revenue between 2023 and 24, this investment will allow Perplexity AI to continue building out its product, and accelerate growth into the future.

Kirsty

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle

Insights

Top investors

Trustpilot (1.5)

Company

Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)

Sep 2025

$200m

LATE VC

Jul 2025

$100m

LATE VC

Total funding: $1.7bn

Company HQ

Financial District, San Francisco, CA

Leadership

Aravind Srinivas

(Co-Founder, President & CEO)

Former Research Scientist at OpenAI, who has interned in Research at Google and Deep Mind. Obtained a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Denis Yarats

(Co-Founder & CTO)

Prior to co-founding Perplexity in 2022, Denis was an AI Research Scientist at Facebook AI Research, a Staff ML Engineer at Quora, and a Software Development Engineer at Microsoft.

Johnny Ho

(Co-Founder & CSO)

Previously a Quantitative Trader at Tower Research Capital, and Engineer at Quora.

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