New

Staff Software AI Agent Engineer

Vaco
$225,000.00 - $250,000.00 / yr
United States, North Carolina, Raleigh
Jan 16, 2026
Staff Software Engineer - AI Agent Systems Hybrid or Remote-Friendly Role About the Opportunity This role centers on redefining how software teams leverage AI to improve productivity, collaboration, and delivery speed. Instead of conventional dashboards or static insights, the focus is on building intelligent, adaptive AI agents that work directly within real engineering workflows. This is a pivotal moment to shape how agentic systems transform the future of software development. Role Overview As a Staff Software Engineer specializing in AI agent architectures, you will lead the creation of next-generation agentic systems that integrate deeply with engineering tools, codebases, and team processes. You'll combine technical depth with product-level impact-designing agents developers not only trust, but rely on. This is a senior-level position with broad influence over technical strategy, architectural direction, and the evolution of the organization's AI capabilities. What You'll Do Architect and implement advanced AI agent systems that interact seamlessly with developer tools, repositories, and team workflows Work extensively with leading LLM APIs (e.g., Claude, Gemini, Llama, and others), exploring capabilities, constraints, and optimal usage patterns Drive reliability and accuracy of agent behaviors through robust testing, safety controls, and continuous feedback from real users Shape the developer experience around AI-driven interactions, ensuring they feel natural, intuitive, and dependable Lead technical strategy around agent patterns, model selection, integration methods, and long-term architectural decisions Mentor other engineers through code reviews, design guidance, and sharing best practices in agentic system development What We're Looking For Required Significant hands-on experience building AI agents or agentic systems in production environments Strong understanding of modern LLMs, including comparative strengths and limitations across multiple model families Deep expertise in prompt engineering, tool-use/function calling, and model selection Proven ability to design scalable, reliable, and maintainable systems Demonstrated staff-level impact: leading major technical initiatives and elevating team capabilities Preferred Experience working with multi-step reasoning, chain-of-thought workflows, or complex agent orchestration Familiarity with evaluation frameworks for agent performance and reliability Background in developer tools, engineering platforms, or productivity-focused software Understanding of real-world trade-offs in production AI agent deployment Why This Role Matters You'll join at a crucial phase where the organization is shifting toward deeply integrated, AI-native development You'll collaborate with technical leadership focused on sustainable velocity and long-term AI strategy Existing AI-driven features are already deployed-you'll accelerate, refine, and expand these capabilities rather than starting from zero Competitive compensation with meaningful ownership opportunities A remote-first culture that prioritizes focus, deep work, and engineering excellence What Success Looks Like Delivery of 2-3 impactful AI agent capabilities that are actively used and valued by engineering teams Architectural patterns and code you build become reference points for future agentic development Demonstrated ability to help the team move quickly while maintaining safety, stability, and quality Successful mentorship of teammates and development of internal expertise in AI agent systems Vaco by Highspring values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply. EEO Notice Vaco by Highspring is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by federal, state or local law. Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact HR@vaco.com . Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal. By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. You also agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal. Privacy Notice Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries ("we," "our," or "Vaco by Highspring") respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies. California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here. Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here. Residents of all other states may access our policies here. Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here. Residents of countries governed by GDPR may access our policies here. Pay Transparency Notice Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to: the individual's skill sets, experience and training; licensure and certification requirements; office location and other geographic considerations; other business and organizational needs. With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses.