Applied AI Engineer, Startups (Physical AI)

Anthropic’s Startups (Physical AI) team is building tools and guidance to help high-potential physical-world companies bring AI into real engineering and operations. As an Applied AI Engineer, you will act as a deep technical advisor, pairing hands-on support with architecture reviews, prototypes, and evaluation frameworks so startups can build and scale products using Claude across software and hardware workflows.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a deep technical advisor to startups building in the physical world, supporting Claude-based implementations whether Claude is embedded in the product or integrated into design, testing, and hardware operations.
• Work hands-on with startup software and hardware teams through pair programming and architecture reviews, supporting end-to-end engineering workflows from design and simulation to test, production, and operations.
• Develop prototypes and technical documentation, including evaluation suites, benchmarks grounded in real engineering tasks, AI engineering techniques, and architecture diagrams to support building, operating, and scaling with Claude.
• Create reference implementations and sample code that other organizations can adopt without starting from scratch, including integrations such as Claude with CAD, simulation, design tools, or industrial automation.
• Collaborate with Applied AI Architects to maintain context and continuity across customer engagements.
• Identify patterns across engagements, including challenges in applying AI to physical systems such as reading drawings, 3D geometry, board layout and routing, GD&T, latency and on-premise constraints, and physical safety; develop repeatable evaluations and solutions and share insights with Product, Engineering, Research, and the broader Applied AI team.
• Create technical content for startup audiences, including documentation, tutorials, and sample code.
• Support community engagement through hackathons, webinars, technical office hours, and startup-focused events.
• Travel to customer sites for workshops, implementation guidance, and relationship building.

Requirements

• Deep engineering experience in a physical discipline such as mechanical, electrical, aerospace, robotics, semiconductor, manufacturing, or civil engineering, gained by designing, building, or operating real hardware, along with strong opinions on bridging what AI can do today with how physical products are engineered.
• 4+ years of technical experience as a software engineer, ML or research engineer, robotics or controls engineer, hardware or systems engineer, or technical founder, with either production experience building LLM-powered applications (prompting, context engineering, agent architectures, evaluation frameworks, and deployment at scale) or a track record applying AI to real engineering work across design, simulation, test, or production.
• Experience with startups or high-growth companies, plus enthusiasm for working with founders and small teams that move quickly.
• Strong technical communication skills, including the ability to translate complex AI concepts into architectural decisions and actionable implementation plans for both software and hardware engineering audiences, and to run technical workshops, hackathons, or developer-focused events.
• A collaborative working style across teams, with the ability to context-switch across domains and ramp quickly, alongside a passion for making powerful technology safe and beneficial.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits
• Optional equity donation matching
• Generous vacation and parental leave
• Flexible working hours
• A lovely office space to collaborate with colleagues
• Guidance on Candidates’ AI Usage: learn about the policy for using AI in the application process

Location and Salary

Location: San Francisco, CA (hybrid). Currently expected that staff are in one of the offices at least 25% of the time, with some roles potentially requiring more time in-office.

Salary: USD 280,000 - 320,000 per year.

Logistics

• Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience.
• Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.
• Minimum years of experience: Years required correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position.
• Visa sponsorship: Visa sponsorship is available. The team cannot sponsor every role and candidate, but will make reasonable efforts for offered candidates and retains an immigration lawyer to support the process.
• Annual salary: $280,000 - $320,000 USD.