---
title: 'Software Engineer, Applied AI at State Affairs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-applied-ai-state-affairs-washington-qtsy87s5r92v'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Software Engineer, Applied AI at State Affairs

- **Company:** State Affairs
- **Location:** Washington, DC
- **Posted:** 2025-05-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/stateaffairs/jobs/4001354009

## Job description

[State Affairs](http://www.stateaffairs.com/) is the nation’s leading news and policy intelligence platform focused on state governments. We combine nonpartisan coverage of Statehouses across the country alongside state government data and AI-native tools into a singular platform.

We inform and empower decision makers, policy professionals and citizens through our award-winning journalism and data – delivering profound insights to help our customers decode and act on state politics and  policy. We’re building a category-defining business that will reshape America as we strengthen visibility into what’s happening and why at the state level.

We are hiring a Software Engineer, Applied AI to join our team located in Washington, DC.

As the Software Engineer, Applied AI, you will:

- Deliver machine learning solutions by designing and developing models for complex web applications while ensuring adherence to best practices and architectural standards
- Develop next generation algorithms to understand visual and textual content along with user interactions on the platform
- Create classification models that include text, image, and videos along with developing supervised and semi-supervised models that scale to hundreds of millions of sources and their content.

Essential Qualifications for this position include:

- Master’s degree or PhD in computer science, engineering, or related field
- Professional work experience in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithm development
- Knowledge of cloud-based infrastructure, such as AWS, for machine learning based application development
- Knowledge of various AI/ML concepts such as computer vision, image processing, statistical modeling/inference, data mining, natural language processing (NLP), prompt engineering, graph/geometric deep learning, large language models (LLM), and generative AI
- Ability to operate a Vector Database
- Ability to program in TypeScript and Python
- Ability to pre-train and fine tune large language models including recent generative set models

Preferred Qualifications for this position include:

- Prior professional work experience as a software architect or in a technical leadership position
- Knowledge of security best practices and compliance standards
- Prior professional work experience in a start-up organization

This is an onsite work opportunity and our teams operate from the Washington, DC office (located at L and 15th St. NW) five (5) days per week. State Affairs offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package to employees.

The annual salary range for this role as it is posted is $165,000 - $250,000 for candidates working from the State Affairs office in Washington, DC. The final job level and annual salary will be determined based on the education, qualification, knowledge, skills, ability, and experience of the final candidate(s), and calibrated against relevant market data and internal team equity.  Benefits listed in this posting may vary depending on the nature of your employment with State Affairs. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future company sponsorship.

State Affairs is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit and business needs.  State Affairs does not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic in accordance with federal, state, and local law.

State Affairs is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as they go through our job application and interview process. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at jobs@stateaffairs.com

By submitting your application, you affirm the content contained therein is true and accurate in all respects. Please note that prior to employment, State Affairs will obtain background checks for employment purposes that may include, where permitted by law, the following: identify verification, prior employment verification, personal and professional references, educational verification, and criminal history. For certain roles, further background checks covering additional information and activities may be initiated.

"By clicking "Submit Application" you are consenting to the use and retention of the information you have provided as set forth in the [State Affairs Privacy Policy](https://pro.stateaffairs.com/privacy).

## About State Affairs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: State Affairs is an AI-native policy intelligence platform that combines original nonpartisan statehouse journalism with a comprehensive data platform to track legislation, hearings, and regulations across all 50 U.S. states.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Founded 2021)
- **Headquarters**: United States (primary offices in San Francisco, CA; Washington, D.C.; and Miami, FL)
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed (CEO & Co-Founder and Co-Founder & Board Member listed on website but names not provided in available sources)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Government policy intelligence / Information services
- **Target customers**: B2B – policy teams, government affairs professionals, trade associations, corporations, and engaged citizens who need to track and influence state-level policy.
- **Mission or purpose**: “To be the policy intelligence and operating infrastructure that helps to facilitate American democracy.” The company is built for everyone who works in, tracks, and shapes state policy.

## Products & Services
- **State Affairs Platform (AI-native policy intelligence)**: An AI-powered platform that ingests thousands of hours of legislative hearings, bills, and regulations each month, filtering noise and delivering personalized, real-time policy intelligence. It covers every bill, hearing, vote, amendment, and regulation across all 50 states and Congress, organized into a knowledge graph around user issues. Includes an AI chat feature (launched June 2026).
- **Statehouse Journalism**: Original, nonpartisan reporting from journalists embedded in state capitols across the country. Subscribers get daily filed stories, political context, and early intelligence.
- **State Affairs Pro**: An enterprise-grade offering for organizations that need deeper analytics and dedicated support (mentioned in leadership roles).
- **Enterprise Solutions**: Customized data access and consulting for large organizations (GM, Enterprise role listed).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue of $4.3M (per LinkedIn) | Total funding not publicly available
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not disclosed in available sources. Partners include state government agencies and policy organizations (inferred from customer base).
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew 60.4% year-over-year to 131 employees (LinkedIn).
  - Active job postings increased 600% year-over-year (LinkedIn).
  - Opened new hubs in San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Miami.
  - Processes over 2M data points indexed daily, 180K+ bills annually, 55K+ original stories per year, 35K+ hours of hearings transcribed annually, 38K+ legislators/staff profiled.
  - AI chat feature launched in June 2026.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Nonpartisan integrity**: The platform and journalism operate strictly nonpartisan, building trust with users across the political spectrum.
- **Original data + AI**: Combines exclusive on-the-ground reporting with proprietary AI that structures and analyzes the entire state policy landscape — a moat difficult for pure-data aggregators to replicate.
- **Comprehensive coverage**: Tracks all 50 states and Congress, with a knowledge graph built around specific user issues, providing a single source of truth.
- **Network of statehouse journalists**: The nation’s premier network of statehouse newsrooms, providing context and insights that algorithms alone cannot generate.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the AI platform**: Continued investment in AI capabilities (e.g., AI chat, automated transcription, knowledge graph) to deliver faster, more personalized intelligence.
- **Expanding editorial footprint**: Hiring managing editors and reporters in additional states (e.g., Arizona, Wisconsin).
- **Growing go-to-market team**: Building out sales, customer success, and marketing teams to capture enterprise and advertising revenue.
- **Deepening enterprise offerings**: Product managers and enterprise account directors focused on large-scale deployments.

## Why Work Here
- **Meaningful mission**: Employees contribute to strengthening democratic participation, transparency, and informed policymaking.
- **Culture**: Described as collaborative, low-ego, intellectually curious, and humble. Values include “act with integrity,” “innovate with purpose,” “collaborate for results,” and “lead with humility.”
- **Engineering culture**: “Collective growth and zero ego; a deeply collaborative squad of problem-solvers.” Emphasis on building the best solution together.
- **Work environment**: Hybrid/office presence in San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Miami. No fully remote-only policy stated, but offices are available.
- **Benefits**:
  - Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage
  - Health Savings Account (HSA)
  - 401(k) with employer-supported fund options
  - Paid parental leave (up to 6 weeks for primary caregivers, including adoption)
  - Life insurance, disability, AD&D
  - Commuter benefits (pre-tax for public transportation)
  - Employee assistance program (Estate Planning, Wellness, ID Protection)
  - Continuing education and training sessions on AI, tech, media, government, and product
- **Growth opportunity**: Rapidly scaling company (60%+ headcount growth) with open roles across engineering, editorial, sales, and operations.

## Sources
1. [State Affairs About Page](https://www.stateaffairs.com/about)
2. [State Affairs Careers Page](https://stateaffairs.com/careers)
3. [State Affairs Homepage](https://stateaffairs.com/)
4. [State Affairs LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/stateaffairs)
5. [Greenhouse Jobs at State Affairs](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/stateaffairs)

## Other roles at State Affairs

- [Enterprise Business Development Representative (Enterprise BDR)](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-business-development-representative-enterprise-bdr-state-affairs-xy4j0n3b5btd) — Washington, DC
- [Sales Director](https://feeny.ai/job/sales-director-state-affairs-washington-zfss983sfbfh) — Washington, DC
- [Senior UX Designer, Interaction Design](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-ux-designer-interaction-design-state-affairs-washington-khvhdh7pr1pe) — Washington, DC
- [Enterprise Account Director](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-account-director-state-affairs-washington-3jkqa0613jqz) — Washington, DC
- [Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-state-affairs-washington-n1c2mfewhgrn) — Washington, DC
- [Product Manager, Enterprise](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-enterprise-state-affairs-washington-arq1c77pd0x4) — Washington, DC / San Francisco, CA
- [Business Development Representative (BDR)](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-representative-bdr-state-affairs-washington-hmcsgd9nkzv6) — Washington, DC
- [Software Engineer, Applied AI](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-applied-ai-mercor-new-york-29sf9gcj7j2s) — New York, NY
- [Software Engineer, Applied AI](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-applied-ai-fluidstack-san-francisco-027sc2j800an) — San Francisco, CA
- [Software Engineer, Applied AI](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-applied-ai-clay-labs-new-york-pa00r2bzbtqv) — New York, NY