Staff Software Engineer, Applied AI

Valence has built the only first-to-market AI native coaching platform for enterprise offering personalized expert and human-like guidance and support to any leader or employee. Were not just talking about the future of work were building it now with the most innovative Fortune 500 companies across healthcare financial services manufacturing and technology.

Our focus is on the problems that actually decide whether AI changes how organizations operate the ones with no playbook no obvious answers and no guarantee of success. If you want to be part of the small group that defines how AI transforms the future at a global scale this is your chance.

And this isnt for everyone. Were not looking for people who want predictability or incremental progress. We only want those who are restless at the edge of whats possible who get bored when things feel done and who are driven to redefine what AI can mean for leaders companies and the world. Because at Valence the work worth doing is the kind that redefines work itself.

The Role

As a founding Applied AI Engineer at Valence you will help define and build the future of AI-powered leadership coaching working directly with our Head of AI and cross-functional product and engineering teams. Youll be at the intersection of generative AI research and product execution - helping design build and refine intelligent systems that deliver context-aware personalized coaching at enterprise scale. This role is purposefully broad and adaptable: we dont expect any one candidate to check every technical box but we do look for engineers who are eager to learn iterate rapidly and contribute meaningfully across a range of challenges from model behavior to production systems.

Youll tackle real-world AI problems - from transforming enterprise data into actionable context to optimizing conversational experiences to shaping how AI engages with users in meaningful and responsible ways. Your work will directly impact how our platform performs in high-stakes enterprise deployments and how leaders around the world grow through AI-facilitated insights.

About Valence

Were the only company pioneering leadership coaching for large enterprises in an AI-first mission is to transform how the worlds biggest companies approach learning and development helping teams work better together throughAI-powered personalization that adapts to individual goals and organizational culture using the latest advances in machine learning and natural language processing.

Weve been featured inHarvard Business Review TIME World Economic Forum Financial Times Forbes and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in clients represent the most diverse and sophisticated enterprise AI implementations globally includingCoca-Cola Delta Nestlé General Mills Schneider Electric Deutsche Telekom AstraZeneca Prudential CVS and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Working at Valence means youll work directly with Fortune 500 technology leaders building expertise through the most complex enterprise deployments while gaining insight into diverse organizational approaches to AI arent just any enterprise clients - theyre the companies defining whatAI-first business transformationlooks like across every major industry.

What Youll Do

• Architect and build enterprise-grade AI and conversational systems that power coaching workflows and user experiences.

• Develop evaluate and refine LLM-based components - balancing performance scalability and reliability in real use cases.

• Integrate and manage diverse sources of structured and unstructured data to improve contextual understanding and output quality.

• Partner closely with product engineering and design to translate user needs into impactful technical solutions.

• Rapidly prototype and iterate on systems that span backend services data pipelines and frontend interactions as needed.

• Build tooling tests and automation to support reliable model deployment observability and continuous improvement.

• Help streamline data and science workflows enabling fast experimentation and data-driven decisions.

• We recognize that not every candidate will have experience in every area above - we value growth potential curiosity and the ability to learn on the job.

What Were Looking For

• Technical foundation: 8 years of experience in software engineering AI/ML data-intensive systems AI/ML development (ideally including a Masters or Ph.D. in Computer Science ML Data Science or a related field).

• AI systems mindset: Familiarity with language systems (e.g. NLP conversational interfaces IR) and comfort reasoning about model behavior context and evaluation - both theoretical and practical knowledge.

• Data tooling & analysis: Experience with core data science tools such as NumPy scikit-learn Pandas PySpark plus SQL and common visualization tools (e.g. matplotlib Seaborn Plotly or BI tools) to explore and communicate insights.

• Cloud & deployment experience: Comfortable developing and deploying services in cloud environments (AWS GCP Azure) and working with containerization/orchestration (Docker Kubernetes).

• Engineering excellence: Strong software engineering skills including writing maintainable code debugging distributed systems and collaborating in cross-functional teams.

• Growth orientation: Eagerness to tackle unfamiliar problems learn new technologies and contribute to shaping our platform and culture.

• Communication: Ability to explain technical ideas clearly and work effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Nice-to-have (but not required): experience with ML lifecycle tools (e.g. MLflow Weights & Biases) familiarity with Cloud ML services or past work building generative AI applications.

What Youll Get

• Ownership & Rapid Growth

• Outsized missions from day one with direct responsibility for company-defining projects

• Work alongside the executive team with transparency into strategy and decision-making

• Influence on direction through real-time customer feedback and market insights

• AI-First Operator

• Work directly with cutting-edge AI models and next-generation platforms

• Build expertise in enterprise AI implementation across Fortune 500 companies and multiple industries

• Establish yourself as a recognized leader among peers in shaping how AI transforms work at a global scale

• Compensation

• Competitive salary including base bonuses

• Comprehensive health coverage (medical dental vision) from day one

• Generous PTO company-wide R&R shutdowns and paid parental leave

• Retirement plan support for US and global employees

• Equity

• Meaningful ownership in a venture-backed company at a growth inflection point

• Financial upside that comes from scaling fast

• Top-up grants as we scale and you deliver exceptional performance your compensation grows alongside your impact

• Top-Performing Culture

• A culture built for top talent: intensity to win growth without limits and a team that solves hard problems and celebrates big wins together

Learn more about us and meetourteamhere

Location and Work Environment

If candidates are based in NYC or Toronto they can work hybrid in our offices otherwise this role can be remote. Candidates must be comfortable working with colleagues in different time zones (UK) and have valid travel documents without work authorization restrictions in the US.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and supported. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and offer accommodations upon request throughout the hiring process. If you have any questions please reach out to Allison Langille Head of People at

Employment Verification & Commitment

We use third-party services to verify employment history education and other information relevant to your candidacy. Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of these verification checks. This is a full-time role that requires a high level of focus availability and commitment. Employees may not hold concurrent full-time employment with another organization while employed at Valence. Any outside consulting advisory freelance or other professional work must be disclosed and approved in advance and must not interfere with job responsibilities availability performance or create a conflict of interest - including risks related to confidentiality intellectual property or competition.

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Required Experience:

Staff IC