Member of Technical Staff (Machine Learning Engineer, Search) at Perplexity (Belgrade, Serbia)
Perplexity· Belgrade, Serbia·
Role details
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
Perplexity AI is seeking an experienced Machine Learning Engineer to build advanced search technologies focusing on retrieval and ranking. The role involves architecting core platform components, training and evaluating LLMs and RAG pipelines, and deploying models at scale.
Job description
Perplexity is seeking an experienced Machine Learning Engineer to help build the next generation of advanced search technologies, with a focus on retrieval and ranking.
Responsibilities
- Relentlessly push search quality forward—through models, data, tools, or any other leverage available
- Architect and build core components of our search platform and model stack
- Train and evaluate retrieval, ranking and classification models, including LLMs
- Deploy models - from boosting to LLMs - in a scalable and performant way
- Build and optimize RAG pipelines for grounding and answer generation
- Collaborate with Data, AI, Infrastructure and Product teams to ensure fast and high quality delivery
Qualifications
- Deep understanding of search and retrieval systems, including quality evaluation principles and metrics
- Proven track record with large-scale search or recommender systems
- Self-driven, with a strong sense of ownership and execution
- Minimum of 5 years of working on search or recsys-related projects
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.