Staff Software Engineer, AI Foundations – AI Agent Optimization

Temporal Technologies

Staff engineer optimizing AI agents for Temporal’s open-source workflow platform. Designing reliable agentic coding systems that reduce token spend and response time while preserving quality.

Posted 8/5/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $224,000 - $302,400 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in AI application development, particularly in optimizing AI systems and designing APIs. Proficient in concurrent programming and technical communication, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality outputs and enhancing developer experience.

Highest-signal resume keywords

AI System OptimizationConcurrent ProgrammingAPI Design and DocumentationTechnical Communication SkillsGenerative AI Expertise

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Machine LearningAI Application DevelopmentConcurrent ProgrammingAPI DesignProgramming LanguagesAgentic CodingSystems TechniquesData ScienceModel TrainingDistributed Systems Architecture

Soft Skills

Technical CommunicationCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

Temporal Programming ModelPublic Technical Documentation

Certifications & Qualifications

BS in Computer ScienceMS in Computer Science

Industry Keywords

Generative AIOpen Source SoftwareDeveloper CommunityExpert-Level Debugging

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Distributed SystemsOpen Source

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead agent optimization efforts for Temporal users
Design tools and mechanisms that optimize AI agents for token spend and response time while maintaining result quality
Design and build trustworthy agentic coding systems that deliver high-quality outputs
Develop expertise in AI application development patterns, emerging approaches, and architectures
Own new features end-to-end and collaborate with other teams to deliver reliability and developer experience
Maintain and expand understanding of agentic coding
Serve as a domain expert on AI design patterns and provide best practices and canonical examples
Work directly with the developer community to debug expert-level issues and gather feedback on Temporal features and APIs
Write public technical documentation for Temporal concepts and APIs
Provide occasional engineering expertise to customers
Travel to meet coworkers once or twice a year
Attend occasional developer conferences to discuss Temporal (optional)

Requirements

What you’ll need

8+ years of professional work experience
Proven experience optimizing AI systems using machine learning and systems techniques
Experience and passion for generative AI, particularly agents and coding
Understanding of using AI to improve quality, not only quantity
Fluency in multiple programming languages and ability to learn new ones
Deep experience with concurrent programming, including mutexes, atomics, and other concurrency primitives
Experience designing APIs and documenting publicly available libraries or modules
Strong written and verbal technical communication skills in English
BS or MS in Computer Science or a closely related degree, or equivalent work experience writing production-grade software
Familiarity with Temporal’s programming model (nice to have)
Open source software contributions (nice to have)
Large-scale distributed systems architecture and design experience (nice to have)
Background in machine learning, model training, data science, or machine learning systems (nice to have)
Graduate degree in Computer Science (nice to have)

Benefits

Comp & perks

Equity plan
Unlimited PTO
12 Holidays + 2 Floating Holidays
100% premiums coverage for Medical, Dental, and Vision
AD&D, LT & ST Disability, and Life Insurance (Standard & Supplemental Available)
Empower 401K Plan
Learning & Development perks
Lifestyle Spending account
Home Office Setup
Professional Memberships
Work-from-home meals
Internet Stipend
Access to the Calm app for mental wellness
International PTO and benefits vary by country and are issued in partnership with Remote.com
Occasional travel for company events, team offsites, and other meaningful moments