Senior Software Engineer - AI Tooling

Job details

Work model

Hybrid

Salary

$190.8K - $262.8K

Location

San Francisco HQ

Occupation

Software Developers(O*NET 15-1252.00)

Company website

dashboard.plaid.com

Hiring context

How this role compares at Plaid

Plaid has 102 live roles in MeritLog’s catalog across 8 job families, and 36 of them are in engineering. 97 of those listings publish a pay range, a disclosure rate of 95%.

This role's posted range of $190.8K - $262.8K sits above 51% of the 96 other Plaid roles quoted over the same currency and period.

Counted across the job boards MeritLog tracks, at the time this page was served. Pay comparisons use only listings that publish a complete range in the same currency and period.

What the role asks for

Parsed by MeritLog from the employer’s own posting. The full description follows below.

Job description

We believe that the way people interact with their finances will drastically improve in the next few years. We’re dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and experiences that thousands of developers use to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. We work with thousands of companies like Venmo, SoFi, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. Plaid’s network covers 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Seattle, Washington D.C., Raleigh, London, and Amsterdam. Team: Plaid is becoming an AI-first company, and Intelligent Tooling builds internal platforms and tools to lead the transformation. Our biggest opportunity isn't just better tools for engineers, it's extending AI-native internal tooling to the rest of Plaid. Tools built for engineers assume things non-engineers don't have: local toolchains, monorepos, engineer credentials, PR-based workflows. That mismatch means Ops, Support, and other teams can't easily inherit what we build for engineering. They need their own path and we're building that path. Role: As a Senior Software Engineer on Intelligent Tooling, you will build and operate internal systems that empower non engineering teams to automate their workflows with AI. You will own the product and platform layer for internal tools, including the constraints and infrastructure that keep those tools safe and maintainable. There's no existing playbook for this at Plaid. You will define what the right non-eng AI surface looks like, ship its first durable versions, and partner closely with internal users to make sure it solves real problems. You will act as the engineering point of contact embedded with non-engineering teams, running discovery and translating their operational needs into shipped software. What you build here becomes how non-engineering teams at Plaid work with AI. Responsibilities: - Design, build, and operate internal tools and platform capabilities for high-leverage non-engineering workflows - Translate ambiguous internal pain points into simple, durable software products - Define platform constraints for auth, runtime, storage, deployment, and maintenance so internal tools are safe for broader use - Build with strong product judgment, balancing flexibility with clear boundaries between what belongs in Retool, Scaffold, and a new AI-native internal tool surface - Partner with Security, Infrastructure, and internal stakeholder teams to ship systems that are reliable in production - Own systems end-to-end, including implementation, rollout, support, and iterative improvement Qualifications: Must have: - 5+ years of professional software engineering experience - Strong experience building and operating production systems - Experience building internal tools, platforms, or workflow software - Strong product judgment and communication in ambiguous spaces - Hands-on experience using AI-powered development tools, agents, or automation - Strong builder mindset; comfortable creating the first version of a product surface that does not yet have a clear industry template Nice to have: - Experience with developer tooling, internal platforms, or infra-adjacent systems - Experience with auth, service accounts, constrained runtimes, or internal security boundaries - Experience building products for non-engineering users - Exposure to agentic workflows, automation, or AI-enabled internal applications Our mission at Plaid is to unlock financial freedom for everyone. To support that mission, we seek to build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable. We recognize that strong qualifications can come from both prior work experiences and lived experiences. We encourage you to apply to a role even if your experience doesn't fully match the job description. We are always looking for team members that will bring something unique to Plaid! Plaid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, military or veteran status, disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Plaid is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance with your application or interviews due to a disability, please let us know at accommodations@plaid.com. Please review our Candidate Privacy Notice here https://plaid.com/legal/#candidate-privacy-notice. Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity and/or commission are dependent on the position offered. Plaid provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay is based on factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience and skillset, and location. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.