Staff Platform Engineer - Applied AI
Afterquery · San Francisco
- On site
- Fulltime
- San Francisco
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Subject: Interested in the Staff Platform Engineer - Applied AI role at Afterquery
Hi Riley — I came across the Staff Platform Engineer - Applied AI opening and wanted to reach out directly. I've spent the last few years doing exactly this kind of work, and Afterquery stood out because…
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About the role
About AfterQuery
AfterQuery is an applied research lab curating data solutions for foundation model development.
We serve every frontier AI lab with the mission of delivering the best data to power the best models. In doing so, we can make expertise that once took a lifetime to build available to anyone who needs it. Our customers are the ones building the foundation models themselves and our work sits directly in the loop of how those systems improve.
This is a rare opportunity to join a company at a defining moment in AI. Since raising our $30M Series A at a $300M valuation, AfterQuery has grown well over a $100M revenue run rate.
We're based in San Francisco and backed by leading investors including Altos Ventures, BoxGroup, and Y Combinator and angels from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta Superintelligence Labs, and Microsoft AI.
Staff Platform Engineer - Applied AI
Location: San Francisco
Type: Full-time, On-site
We’re hiring an Staff Platform Engineer - Applied AI who’s a strong IC and manager. You’ll lead engineers, stay hands-on in the code, and drive execution across critical systems. This is an ownership role, not a coordination role.
Responsibilities
Team Leadership: Manage a small group of engineers and own their output end-to-end
Hands-on Development: Write code, review systems, and contribute directly to critical builds
Execution: Drive projects forward quickly while maintaining a high bar for quality
Hiring & Mentorship: Recruit, mentor, and develop engineers to raise the overall team bar
Technical Ownership: Ensure systems are scalable, clean, and reusable
Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with ops, domain experts, and customers
60/40 Split between building + managing engineers
Required Qualifications
Strong background as a staff-level or higher engineer
Experience managing or leading high-performing engineering teams (5–15 engineers)
Proven ability to ship production systems in fast-paced environments
Comfort operating in ambiguous, rapidly changing contexts
Desire to remain hands-on with code and system design
Not a Fit If
You don’t want to code anymore
You need a lot of process or structure
You’ve been far from the code for a while