Senior Software Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: New York

Compensation: $180K – $185K • per annum

Employment Type: FullTime

About Firsthand

Firsthand has built the first AI-powered Brand Agent platform, transforming the way marketers and publishers engage consumers through their own AI agents, anywhere online.

While most AI applications in marketing and advertising focus on back-office automation, the Firsthand Brand Agent Platform™ powers front-line consumer engagement. Operating across both owned properties and paid media, Firsthand's Brand Agents make a company’s expertise accessible in real time, adapting to consumers’ interests and guiding them towards the information they need to take action. Central to the platform is Lakebed™, the company’s AI-first data and knowledge rights management system that ensures brands retain full ownership and control of their expertise.

Firsthand is led by Jon Heller, Michael Rubenstein, and Wei Wei, whose previous ventures helped build the foundations of modern digital advertising. Backed by Radical Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Aperiam Ventures, and Crossbeam Venture Partners, Firsthand is shaping the future of AI-driven consumer engagement.

Firsthand is headquartered in NYC, with team members working together in-office three days a week.

Responsibilities:

• Own full lifecycle management of advertising systems, from experimentation through deployment and continuous enhancement

• Design, implement, and deploy data-driven algorithms and computational models for intelligent advertising platforms

• Build scalable, high-performance software components that enable content personalization for publishers and brands

• Monitor and evaluate performance of deployed models to ensure high system reliability

• Analyze performance data and implement improvements to optimize accuracy and efficiency

• Conduct ongoing research into emerging algorithms and data processing techniques, aligning solutions with latest academic and industry advancements

• Proactively integrate new methodologies and technologies to strengthen and expand system capabilities

• Perform data wrangling and preprocessing using SQL and related tools to prepare structured training data

• Ensure data integrity and usability through best practices in validation, error handling, and resource management

Requirements:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or Communication and Information Systems

• 1 year of work experience in the offered position or a related role

JOBSITE & INTERVIEW: New York, NY

How to Apply

If you are ready to embark on an exhilarating journey at the forefront of AI, seize this incredible opportunity and apply here. We eagerly anticipate hearing from you!

Note: Compensation and equity will be market-competitive for well-capitalized, early stage startups and will be discussed during the interview process.