---
title: 'Member of Technical Staff (New Grad) at Perplexity'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-new-grad-perplexity-san-francisco-njvpbpg4r10p'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Member of Technical Staff (New Grad) at Perplexity

- **Company:** [Perplexity](https://feeny.ai/companies/perplexity)
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-09-29
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Perplexity/5a4cec8b-5688-497c-a5ec-884f75d09511

## Job description

## APPLICATIONS CLOSED

The general application portal has closed for 2026. We will reopen applications at some point in 2027. Thank you for your interest in Perplexity careers!

Welcome! This is the general application portal for university students and recent graduates who wish to be considered for full-time Member of Technical Staff positions at Perplexity. Our elite new grad cohorts enjoy unparalleled mentorship, top-of-market compensation, and the chance to tackle some of the [deepest, thorniest challenges in frontier intelligence](https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/category/research).

NOTE: if you attend one of our focus schools listed below, please do not apply via this portal as it is infrequently monitored due to high volume. Apply instead via the school-specific application portal below to ensure your application receives priority attention.

Focus schools (United States) - application portals [Caltech](https://pplx.ai/2026Caltech) | [Columbia](https://pplx.ai/2026Columbia) | [Cornell](https://pplx.ai/2026Cornell) | [CMU](https://pplx.ai/2026CMU) | [Duke](https://pplx.ai/2026Duke) | [Georgia Tech](https://pplx.ai/2026GATech) [Harvard](https://pplx.ai/2026Harvard) | [MIT](https://pplx.ai/2026MIT) | [Michigan](https://pplx.ai/2026Michigan) | [Northwestern](https://pplx.ai/2026Northwestern) | [NYU](https://pplx.ai/2026NYU) | [Penn](https://pplx.ai/2026Penn) [Princeton](https://pplx.ai/2026Princeton) | [Purdue](https://pplx.ai/2026Purdue) | [Stanford](https://pplx.ai/2026Stanford) | [UC Berkeley](https://pplx.ai/2026Berkeley) | [UChicago](https://pplx.ai/2026UChicago) [UCLA](https://pplx.ai/2026UCLA) | [UIUC](https://pplx.ai/2026UIUC) | [UNC Chapel Hill](https://pplx.ai/2026UNC) | [UT Austin](https://pplx.ai/2026UTAustin) [UWashington](https://pplx.ai/2026UW) | [Yale](https://pplx.ai/2026Yale) Focus Schools (Canada) - application portals [McGill](https://pplx.ai/2026McGill) | [UBC](https://pplx.ai/2026UBC) | [UToronto](https://pplx.ai/2026UToronto) | [Waterloo](https://pplx.ai/2026Waterloo)

Early Career Talent @ Perplexity ​Perplexity believes that exceptionally talented individuals at any stage can thrive in our high-velocity, high-ownership culture. ​Our early career talent program revolves around:

- ​Breadth: New grads at Perplexity work across the stack, from Perplexity's agent harnesses to our AI inference and training systems. Many of our most beloved features and most important systems were shipped by individuals fresh out of school.
- ​Depth: New grads are entrusted (and expected) to dive deep into whatever problem domains you work on. Often, your work will require you to become a world expert in some problem space that few others in the world have encountered.
- ​Mentorship & Growth: We keep the size of our entering new grad cohorts at well below 10% of our technical team. Each individual enjoys a rich network of mentors to help them grow, and our new grads have a track record of becoming some of Perplexity's most senior and prolific team members.
- ​Recognition: We select for the best and we recognize them accordingly. We set our early career compensation to rise well above that of top tech companies and startups. Post-hire, we aggressively recognize and reward growth in role.
- ​Mission: Perplexity is AI for people who expect more. Our mission is to build frontier intelligence for the world's most discerning users, and each contribution you make will directly advance that mission.

Academic requirements If you're not applying from a focus school listed above, we typically require you to possess the following qualifications:

- GPA of ≥3.92, averaged across all CS and Math classes; and
- Grade of A or A+ in your school's upper-level algorithms course.

Additional advanced coursework in areas such as systems, AI/ML, advanced math, and other rigorous subjects is highly welcome.

Non-qualifying applications - evidence of exceptional ability While you're welcome to submit your application if you don't meet these criteria, we will be looking for other evidence of exceptional ability. You are encouraged to briefly describe this evidence in response to the "Anything Else" question at the bottom of the application form.

Note on fellowship opportunities This portal accepts applications for full-time roles at Perplexity. Internship applications are not accepted via this portal. If you're interested in short-term opportunities with our team, you may instead be interested in the Perplexity Research Fellowship. The Fellowship has a separate application process detailed [here](https://pplx.ai/fellowship). Note that Fellowship applications are extremely competitive; in particular, we don't expect to admit any undergraduate students to the Fellowship before their final year of study.

## 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
- [Member of Technical Staff (GTM Engineer, Growth)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-gtm-engineer-growth-perplexity-san-francisco-qhwedagf9trz) — San Francisco, CA
- [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