---
title: 'Internship - Search Machine Learning Engineer at Perplexity'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/internship-search-machine-learning-engineer-perplexity-belgrade-v03cwyjvwps0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Internship - Search Machine Learning Engineer at Perplexity

- **Company:** [Perplexity](https://feeny.ai/companies/perplexity)
- **Location:** Belgrade, Serbia
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-01-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Perplexity/9246cf02-26fd-4ae8-90c5-639c6e85e9e2

## Job description

Perplexity is looking for a Search Machine Learning Engineer Intern to help build the next generation of advanced search technologies, with a focus on retrieval and ranking. You will work closely with experienced engineers to improve search quality, experiment with new models, and ship features that directly impact how users search and discover information. Internship program: 12 - 24 weeks, full-time, part-time, in-person in the Belgrade office. Responsibilities:

- Contribute to experiments that improve search quality through better models, data usage, and evaluation tools, under the guidance of senior engineers.
- Design and implement components of the search platform and model stack, including retrieval, ranking, and classification models.
- Train evaluating models (including LLM-based approaches) for retrieval, ranking, and classification tasks.
- Support deployment and monitoring of search and ranking models in a scalable and performant way.
- Help build and iterate on RAG pipelines for grounding and answer generation.
- Collaborate with Data, AI, Infrastructure and Product teams to deliver improvements quickly and learn best practices in production ML.

Qualifications:

- Strong foundation in machine learning and statistics, with coursework or projects related to information retrieval, ranking, or recommender systems.
- Experience with Python and common ML frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX) through academic, open source, or personal projects.
- Familiarity with evaluating model quality using offline metrics and/or A/B testing is a plus, but not required.
- Previous experience (internships, research, or significant projects) working on search, recommendation, or NLP is a plus, but not required.
- Self-driven and curious, with a strong sense of ownership, willingness to learn, and comfort working in a fast-paced environment
- Experience with Rust will be a plus

What we're looking for:

- You’ve built something you’re proud of: Not just a class assignment - we want to see a project you genuinely cared about and took the initiative to build and finish.
- You’re currently enrolled at a Serbian university: Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD program or you’re self-taught with a strong passion for software engineering and technology.
- You’re curious, persistent, and self-driven: you take ownership, work through challenges, and follow through on what you start.
- You’re eager to learn and improve: you’re willing to put in the work, develop your skills, and get better every week.
- You’re comfortable working in English: in a collaborative, professional environment.
- You thrive in a high-performance environment: you’re comfortable with high standards, direct feedback, and a fast pace.
- You’re willing to challenge and be challenged: You’re comfortable asking questions, sharing your perspective, and pushing back constructively when it matters.

## About Perplexity

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Perplexity builds an AI-powered answer engine that delivers accurate, real-time answers to any question, serving curious minds and professionals who demand precision and speed.
- **Entity Type**: Private (total funding $1.7B across 16 rounds)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, Andy Konwinski

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: AI-powered search and knowledge retrieval, Software Development
- **Target customers**: B2C (general users), B2B (enterprise API customers), and power users seeking reliable information
- **Mission**: “AI for people who expect more – more accuracy, more agency, more signal, less noise.”

## Products & Services
- **Perplexity AI (Free Tier)**: Real-time conversational search engine that synthesizes web results with citations, accessible via web and mobile app. *Type*: SaaS
- **Perplexity Pro**: Subscription offering enhanced features such as advanced AI models, multimodal search, and increased usage limits. *Type*: SaaS (subscription)
- **Perplexity API Platform**: Enables developers to integrate Perplexity’s search and reasoning capabilities into their own applications. *Type*: API
- **Perplexity Browser Extension**: Brings AI-powered search directly into the browser for quick answers without leaving the page. *Type*: Browser extension

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available in provided sources (prior reports indicate ~$9B valuation as of 2024, but not confirmed in this data set)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding $1.7B (16 rounds); annual revenue ~$50M (LinkedIn estimate)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not explicitly listed in provided search results; widely known investors include IVP, NEA, Jeff Bezos, and others (not sourced here)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 11.3% YoY to 1,152 employees; operates in 54 countries; LinkedIn followers grew 131.8% yearly to >1.6M; active hiring across 48+ open roles including AI Research, Engineering, and Go-to-Market teams

## Competitive Advantages
- **Real-time, cited answers**: Unlike traditional chatbots, Perplexity grounds answers in live web results with transparent sources, building trust and accuracy.
- **Multimodal and agentic capabilities**: Continuously pushes frontier research (e.g., query-aware context compression, agents for knowledge work) that differentiates from generic LLM interfaces.
- **Vertical integration from research to product**: In-house AI research team tackles open problems unique to Perplexity’s scale, enabling fast iteration on novel methods.
- **Strong brand and user base**: Rapid consumer adoption with millions of monthly active users and high engagement.

## Strategic Focus
- **Pushing the frontier of search**: Evolving from retrieval services to code generation, agents, and full autonomy in knowledge work.
- **Expanding enterprise and API revenue**: Growing B2B footprint with API platform and enterprise solutions.
- **Global hiring and office expansion**: Offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, Austin, Washington D.C., London, Berlin, and Belgrade, with “4 days in office” hybrid model.
- **Investing in AI research**: Dedicated research division (Perplexity Research) exploring reasoning, agents, and systems to redefine how people navigate the internet.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Environment**: “Thoughtful support” culture with emphasis on craftsmanship, ownership, entrepreneurship, scholarship, and partnership. Hybrid schedule (4 days in-office) based on location.
- **Perks**: Daily catered meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner in office), office snacks, ride home program, commuter benefits, home office reimbursement, fitness classes, gym memberships.
- **Compensation & Benefits**: Competitive salary and equity packages; retirement plans with company match; flexible PTO; holiday shutdown between Christmas and New Year; 12 weeks paid bonding leave; comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
- **Relocation & Visa Support**: Relocation assistance and visa/green card sponsorship for eligible roles. Partners with immigration firm to support the process.
- **Engineering Excellence**: “Technical assessment for relevant roles”; values hands-on contribution, broad skill sets, and merit-based evaluation. Frequent Tech Talks and exposure to greenfield AI research problems.

## Sources
1. [perplexity.ai/hub/careers](https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/careers)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity)
3. [perplexity.ai](https://www.perplexity.ai/)
4. [linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai](https://www.linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai)
5. [research.perplexity.ai](https://research.perplexity.ai/)

## Other roles at Perplexity

- [Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, AI Policy and Strategic Initiatives)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-software-engineer-ai-policy-and-strategic-initiatives-1tdc2gvedyzr) — San Francisco, CA
- [Counsel, Product](https://feeny.ai/job/counsel-product-perplexity-san-francisco-q83swsxegxar) — San Francisco, CA
- [University Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/university-recruiter-perplexity-san-francisco-77z7xrhe4ztq) — San Francisco, CA
- [Content Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/content-designer-perplexity-san-francisco-j3w5v8pcxh4t) — San Francisco, CA
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- [Engineering Manager (Agent Engine)](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-manager-agent-engine-perplexity-san-francisco-j6fhr41ey9d4) — San Francisco, CA
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- [Member of Technical Staff (Secure Intelligence Institute)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-secure-intelligence-institute-perplexity-san-francisco-ebfgf91vp8x8) — San Francisco, CA
- [Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Training Infrastructure)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-software-engineer-training-infrastructure-perplexity-5b4zhd4ngm97) — San Francisco, CA
- [Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, API Platform)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-software-engineer-api-platform-perplexity-san-6pef5wqhk2m5) — San Francisco, CA