---
title: 'Member of Technical Staff (AI Policy and Strategic Initiatives) at Perplexity'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-ai-policy-and-strategic-initiatives-perplexity-san-s1yq4fvk8jdc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-01'
---

# Member of Technical Staff (AI Policy and Strategic Initiatives) at Perplexity

- **Company:** [Perplexity](https://feeny.ai/companies/perplexity)
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $220k–$405k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-10-31
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-01
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity/7e4a95c3-6322-4300-9455-96c511ab2621

## Job description

Perplexity is seeking an intrepid Member of Technical Staff to take on one of the AI industry's most unique engineering roles. You'll work directly with Perplexity's senior leadership to spearhead a broad portfolio of strategic technology initiatives across policy, law, operations, and corporate affairs. As a Member of Technical Staff in the Policy & Strategic Initiatives group, you'll occupy a front-row seat to the foremost policy issues animating the AI ecosystem. You'll also get a panoptic view of how leading AI companies operate, make decisions, and engage with broader society. Those seeking to marry technical expertise and broader interests in law, policy, and corporate affairs will find a home in this role. You'll make contributions to Perplexity that defy traditional boundaries, with a bench of mentors who will push you to learn and grow day after day.

What you'll do: Your work will be both highly interdisciplinary and firmly grounded in engineering rigor. On any given day, you might:

- Harness AI agents to research high-stakes policy and regulatory issues pertaining to Perplexity.
- Build automated platforms for harvesting, prioritizing, and patenting Perplexity's inventions, in collaboration with our AI researchers and intellectual property attorneys.
- Work hands-on with our Legal team and outside counsel in support of high-tech litigation matters in U.S. federal court.
- Engineer privacy and compliance systems that efficiently scale with our growing portfolio of frontier AI products (such as [Comet](https://www.perplexity.ai/comet) and [Computer](https://www.perplexity.ai/products/computer)).
- Contribute to regulatory filings and responses that require impeccable command of AI technology, Perplexity's own systems, and the broader policy landscape.
- Embed with our People team to implement first-party software solutions for recruiting, labor compliance, and performance management.
- Participate in meetings with Capitol Hill, executive branch officials, international partners, and civil society as a subject-matter expert on both AI technology and policy.

The above is a small sampling of activities; no two days will be the same, and your work will take you to all corners of our company. You'll interact each day with Perplexity's senior leaders, who will come to rely on you as a creative problem solver for simple and complex matters alike.

Who we're looking for: No single profile defines our ideal candidate for this role. Here are some examples of people who might thrive here:

- Exceptionally talented early-career engineers (new grads welcome) who are (1) well-read in law, tech policy, or economics, and (2) wish to grow in both technical and non-technical disciplines.
- We welcome candidates who plan to attend law school or PhD programs in the future; we ask for a minimum 2-year commitment (i.e., you would apply for the entering class of 2028 or later).
- Experienced engineers at top tech companies who wish to develop policy, business, and operations chops.
- Lawyers or economists (new JD or PhD grads welcome) who've kept their engineering skills sharp and are excited to reimagine their fields in the age of AI.
- This is a non-exhaustive list; other profiles may also be great fits.

No matter which profile describes you, we'll also be looking for:

- Evidence of exceptional ability and 99th-percentile work ethic.
- Strong technical skills at or above Perplexity's hiring bar for software engineers.
- Fluency with frontier intelligence tools (such as Perplexity [Computer](https://www.perplexity.ai/products/computer)).
- High intrinsically-enforced standards for the craft and quality of your work.
- Strong communication and writing skills, ideally demonstrated via samples of past written work product.
- Curiosity and excitement about new and unfamiliar fields; eagerness to redefine your job every 3-6 months.
- Ability to quickly dive deep in any given field and develop mastery rivaling that of domain experts.
- Unimpeachable judgment, integrity, and discretion to be entrusted with the company's most important matters.
- A service-oriented attitude that continually questions how company systems and processes might better serve stakeholders.

## 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

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