Staff-level engineer

We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer, Product to help shape and scale the user-facing systems at Pika. In this key role, you will bridge advanced engineering and product experience, taking ownership of the architecture and delivery of Pika’s product features-from intuitive user interfaces and collaboration tools to real-time interactions and generative AI-powered workflows.

As a Staff-level engineer, you will lead the design and implementation of robust, user-centric systems that enable millions of users to create and collaborate seamlessly with our AI-powered platform. Your high-impact architectural and product decisions will directly shape the end-user experience. You will also play a critical role in elevating the technical and product bar through architectural proposals, code reviews, technical mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration with product, design, and engineering teams.

What You’ll Do

• Lead User-Facing Product Engineering: Architect and develop intuitive, performant, and scalable user-facing features and applications for Pika’s web and multi-platform products.
• Shape Product Experiences: Collaborate closely with product and design teams to deliver features that delight users and solve real problems, ensuring a seamless and accessible creative workflow.
• Drive End-to-End Projects: Take ownership of product features from ideation and specification through development, launch, and ongoing improvement.
• Architect Real-Time Collaboration: Build and scale systems that support real-time multi-user interactions, messaging, and live collaboration.
• Integrate Advanced AI Workflows: Design and optimize product features that harness generative AI (LLMs, models, and agentic workflows) to power creative tools.
• Champion Technical Excellence: Write and review technical proposals, evaluate technical and product trade-offs, and mentor other engineers to drive best practices and align on great product outcomes.

• Experience: 5+ years of software engineering experience, with 2+ years in senior, product-focused roles building web or mobile products at scale.
• Product Mindset: Track record of delivering impactful user-facing features, balancing technical rigor with great product intuition.
• Technical Mastery: Deep proficiency in modern frontend and/or backend technologies (React, TypeScript, Node.js, Go, or similar) and scalable architecture patterns.
• Systems & Platform Knowledge: Strong understanding of distributed systems, cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP), and building reliable, high-traffic services.
• User-Centric Focus: Passion for delivering polished, accessible, and responsive end-user experiences; comfortable collaborating with designers and product managers.
• Ownership & Initiative: Proven ability to lead projects independently, identify product bottlenecks, and ship high-impact solutions with little direction.
• Communication & Collaboration: Strong written and verbal communication; thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative, team-first environment.

Nice to Have

• Experience with real-time collaboration, creative tools, or media-rich applications
• Familiarity with generative AI and agentic product patterns
• Experience at fast-growing startups or in ambiguous, high-velocity environments
• Competitive coding, hackathon, or open-source experience

• Competitive salary in the AI industry
• Equity in a rapidly growing startup shaping the future of AI and creativity
• Comprehensive health benefits, monthly stipends, and company retreats
• A supportive, collaborative office culture-we’re all building and launching together