Software Engineer, AI R&D

About Hightouch

Hightouch’s mission is to empower everyone to take action on their data. Through our Reverse ETL platform, business and data users can seamlessly sync data from where it resides, such as warehouses and databases, to where it is needed, including operational systems and SaaS tools. Traditionally, acting on data has required engineering time and bandwidth, and left most business users stuck with charts and reports that are unable to take automated action on their data. With Hightouch, every business user, without writing any code, can activate data to streamline critical processes, improve marketing performance, and scale operations.

Our team operates with a focus on making a meaningful impact for our customers. We believe in approaching challenges with a first principles thinking mindset, moving quickly and embracing our value of efficient execution, and treating each other with compassion and kindness. We look for team members that are strong communicators, have a growth mindset, and are motivated and persistent in achieving our goals.

Hundreds of companies use Hightouch, including Spotify, Ramp, Grammarly, NBA, Plaid, and Betterment. We’re based in San Francisco, are remote-friendly, and backed by leading investors such as Amplify Partners, ICONIQ Growth, Bain Capital Ventures, Y-Combinator, and Afore Capital.

About The Role

From our core reverse ETL product to our no-code customer data platform, Hightouch's mission has always been to provide business teams with the tools to access and activate their customer data. The emergence of AI and large language models has introduced a new way for users to comprehend, analyze, and leverage their data.

The process of building audiences and experiments, which was previously hindered by the need to understand complex data schemas and query languages, can now be simplified to attributes and goals. Additionally, one-to-one personalization, previously unfeasible due to the large customer scale, is now possible through the scaled generation of content.

As a founding engineer on the AI R&D team, you will work closely with our CTO to drive the technical strategy around implementing AI across Hightouch’s product suite. On a given day, you can expect to be:

• Quickly iterating and developing proofs of concept (POCs) to explore the maximum potential of integrating AI into data workflows
• Making key decisions about the choice of AI architecture and frameworks
• Actively engaging with the AI community to stay updated and incorporate the latest advancements
• Developing a deep understanding of user workflows to create seamless AI-assisted user experiences

We're seeking talented, intellectually curious, and motivated individuals interested in exploring the forefront of AI. While no prior experience with LLMs and AI is required, strong technical skills, particularly in backend architecture, and product intuition are essential for understanding and executing these projects from start to finish.

This is a senior role, but we focus on impact and potential for growth more than years of experience. The salary range for this position is $170,000 - $240,000 USD per year, which is location independent in accordance with our remote-first policy.

Interview Process

Our interview process focuses on evaluating fit for the most important dimensions of the role: product sense, ability to architect backend systems, and alignment with Hightouch’s values. Notably, we don’t do any programming interviews as we believe they are low signal to noise and aren’t a good evaluation mechanism.

• Intro Call [15-30m]: Introductory call with either a member of our recruiting team or the hiring manager to get to know each other and see if the role could be a good mutual fit.
• Architecture Interview [90m]: Starting from a real customer use-case, collaborate with the interviewer to flesh out the product requirements, high level architecture, technical tradeoffs.
• AI Application Interview [60m]: Take a day-to-day user workflow and superpower it with AI. This will involve discussing how AI can be integrated into existing processes to improve efficiency and output.
• Hiring Manager Interview [30m]: Chat with hiring manager about past experiences and future operating preferences to assess fit on company values and operating principles.