Member of Technical Staff (Backend/Infrastructure Engineer, Search) at Perplexity (Belgrade, Serbia)

Perplexity· Belgrade, Serbia·5d ago

Role details

Employment

Full-Time

Skills

Cloud InfrastructureAWSSystems DesignAutomationLinuxCI/CDPythonGoRustC/C++Java

Perplexity at a glance

AI-powered answer engine that returns real-time, cited answers, now expanding into an agentic browser and on-device agents.

Perplexity runs an AI answer engine that searches the live web and returns direct, cited answers instead of a page of links. It has extended that core into an AI browser (Comet), an on-device agent (Computer), a developer API, and vertical tools like patent search.

$1.7B raised · latest: Series E extension · $200M · 2025 (reported $20B valuation) · backed by Accel, IVP, NEA, SoftBank Vision Fund 2

Summary

The Infrastructure Engineer will build and maintain scalable cloud-native infrastructure, primarily on AWS, to support high-performance search systems. This role involves developing internal tools, optimizing CI/CD pipelines, and contributing to product codebases using Python and other systems languages.

Job description

Perplexity is looking for an Infrastructure Engineer to own and improve the backend systems behind our latency-sensitive search stack. You’ll work across high-QPS Rust and Go services, distributed retrieval systems, cloud infrastructure, observability, and deployment tooling.

This role combines infrastructure expertise with software engineering. You’ll take systems from design through production operation and use AI-native tools where they meaningfully improve engineering and operational workflows

Responsibilities

Build and operate scalable, low-latency infrastructure for search serving and retrieval.
Design and improve distributed backend systems that handle high request volumes.
Debug and optimize Linux systems, containers, networking, and production services.
Improve reliability through observability, capacity planning, performance profiling, and incident response.
Design, deploy, and operate cloud-native systems, primarily on AWS and Kubernetes.
Build internal tools and automation for development, testing, debugging, and infrastructure operations.
Improve CI/CD pipelines, release processes, and production rollout safety.
Contribute directly to product codebases across Rust, Go, and other systems languages.
Own systems end to end, from architecture and implementation to deployment and production operation.

Requirements

Strong experience with cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, and automation.
Deep understanding of Linux internals, performance analysis, and production debugging.
Experience building or operating latency-sensitive, high-throughput backend systems.
Experience with containers, orchestration, observability, and infrastructure as code.
Experience building or maintaining CI/CD systems and release tooling.
Fluency in at least one systems language, such as Rust, Go, C++, or Java.
Comfort working across infrastructure and application-level code.
Strong ownership and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment.

Nice To Have

Experience with search, retrieval, ranking, or other large-scale data-serving systems.
Experience operating Rust services in production.
Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, and modern observability systems.
Experience with profiling, capacity planning, and performance optimization.
Experience building AI-assisted developer or operational tooling.

Why work at Perplexity

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.

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.

Sources