Software Engineer, Staff: Applied AI, Science & Engineering

About Anthropic

Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole.

About the Role

Our Applied AI, Science & Engineering team takes Claude to the scientists and engineers working on hard problems in energy, materials, hardware design, and other physical-world fields. We build the tools Claude needs to do real research and engineering work, including agent harnesses, integrations, evaluations, and working processes that turn partner problems into verifiable progress.

This is an engineering role first. You will prototype alongside domain experts and spend most of your time building and hardening systems that make that work repeatable.

Responsibilities

• Build agent harnesses and research loops that let Claude carry problems from literature review through hypothesis generation, simulation, analysis, and design iteration.
• Connect scientific computing and simulation tools (e.g., finite element, CFD, electromagnetic, or molecular modeling codes) for Claude to drive reliably at scale.
• Design and build evaluations that determine whether Claude's outputs are correct.
• Partner with scientists and engineers to learn their problems, data, tools, and constraints, turning open-ended questions into verifiable tasks with clear success criteria.
• Prototype with partners, ship pilots into their workflows, and refine tools based on outcomes.
• Turn successful solutions into shared tools, reusable components, and documented processes.
• Serve as the technical voice on how Claude performs on science and engineering tasks, explaining limits and tradeoffs to stakeholders.
• Partner with research and product teams to share model limitations and guide future development.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience building software, with strong engineering fundamentals across the stack (data pipelines, tooling, interfaces).
• Experience building production systems with large language models, including agents, tool use, or evaluations.
• Experience working on technical problems in science or engineering fields (e.g., physics, materials, chemistry, electrical or mechanical engineering).
• Track record of zero-to-one work in startup or startup-like environments.
• Ability to work directly with expert users and maintain focus on building the right system.
• Strong judgment regarding verification and validation of results.
• High agency and ability to communicate clearly with researchers, engineers, and external partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree or research experience in a physical science or engineering field.
• Hands-on experience with scientific computing, simulation, numerical methods, or optimization.
• Experience in industrial R&D, national labs, or deep-tech companies (energy, materials, manufacturing, hardware).
• Experience in forward-deployed, applied AI, or solutions engineering roles collaborating with technical partners.
• Experience with ML research, RL environments, or evaluation design.