Roles at frontier labs · Research specialties
AI Agents Engineer
100 recorded postings · Partial update · October 8, 2026
Recorded postings, not a live vacancy count. Partial update: some sources retain earlier observations; each listing has its own check date.
Agent teams make models act: tool use, computer use, coding agents and the environments and evaluations that measure whether an agent finished the job.
- Agents and tool use 93%
- Evals and benchmarks 72%
- Production systems 56%
- How language models work 55%
- Python 49%
- Working with coding agents 47%
taught here course coming not taught
The numbers
- Recorded postings at 20 labs
- 100
- Median base pay middle half $305k to $440k, 49 U.S. bands
- $330k
- No degree requirement stated 5% require a PhD outright
- 79%
- Years asked, median of the 41 that state a minimum
- 5
The recorded snapshot
Postings from 20 labs
- OpenAI 40 recorded postings
- Cohere 10 recorded postings
- Google DeepMind 9 recorded postings
- Anthropic 6 recorded postings
- Together AI 6 recorded postings
- Meta (Superintelligence Labs and FAIR) 4 recorded postings
- Replit 4 recorded postings
- Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) 3 recorded postings
- and 12 more below
In the labs' own words
In the labs' own words
“Experience with coding agents, agent harnesses, tool-using LLM systems, model evals, or post-training feedback loops.”
“You have a proven ability to build robust evaluation frameworks, moving well beyond trial and error, to measure agent accuracy, safety, and latency”
“Built evaluations, benchmarks or harnesses for LLMs or agents”
Your way in
Three doors to this role
- Door 1
Finishing a degree
11% mention publications
The way in is a program: 32 recorded in the snapshot
- Door 2
A software engineer
79% have no degree requirement stated
What to add
- Door 3
A PhD
14% ask for distributed training
Engineering at scale
Asked often
The short answers
How much does a ai agents engineer at a frontier lab make?
The median U.S. base salary across 49 recorded ai agents engineer postings that publish a band is $330k; the middle half runs from $305k to $440k. Equity and bonus are not included.
Do you need a PhD to be a ai agents engineer?
79% of the 100 recorded postings do not state a degree requirement, 15% mention a PhD or master's, and 5% require a PhD outright.
What skills do ai agents engineer postings ask for?
Most often: agents and tool use (93%), evals and benchmarks (72%), production systems (56%), how language models work (55%), python (49%).
Which labs posted ai agents engineer roles in this recorded board?
Recorded board: OpenAI (40), Cohere (10), Google DeepMind (9), Anthropic (6), Together AI (6), Meta (Superintelligence Labs and FAIR) (4), and 14 more.
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The board
Recorded postings, newest first
The newest 40 of 100. Each title opens the lab's own posting. By family: software engineering at labs · machine learning engineers · research scientists and engineers · applied ai and forward-deployed · fellowships, residencies and internships
- Senior Software Engineer, Agent Platform (AI for the Planet) ↗
Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) · Machine learning engineers · No degree stated · $147k to $220k base
- Staff Research Engineer, Multi-Agent Scaling ↗
Anthropic · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $500k to $850k base
- Applied AI Engineer, Codex ↗
OpenAI · Applied AI and forward-deployed · No degree stated
- Senior Agent Software Engineer ↗
Cline · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $200k to $300k base
- Engineering Manager, Agent & Product Security ↗
Cursor (Anysphere) · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated
- Software Engineer, Agent Evaluation and Quality ↗
Cursor (Anysphere) · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated
- Software Engineer, Agent Harness ↗
Cursor (Anysphere) · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated
- Staff/Lead Software Developer (AI Agents & Integrations) ↗
JetBrains (Junie, Mellum) · Machine learning engineers · No degree stated
- Data Scientist, Agent ↗
Lovable · Machine learning engineers · No degree stated
- Frontend Software Engineer, Codex App ↗
OpenAI · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $230k to $385k base
- AI Agent Security Architect ↗
Replit · Machine learning engineers · No degree stated · $0k to $0k base
- Staff Software Engineer, Agent Platform ↗
Replit · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $250k to $365k base
- Staff Software Engineer, Agentic Ads ↗
Replit · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $250k to $360k base
- Staff Software Engineer, Agentic Commerce & Payments ↗
Replit · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $290k to $360k base
- ML & Agentic Systems Engineer [IC4] ↗
Sourcegraph · Machine learning engineers · No degree stated
- Member of Technical Staff- Research Engineer (Harness Engineering and Agentic Orchestration) ↗
Tessl · Research scientists and engineers · PhD preferred
- DevRel Engineer, Agentic Infrastructure ↗
Vercel (v0) · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $168k to $252k base
- Software Engineer, Agentic Infrastructure ↗
Vercel (v0) · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated
- Senior Software Engineer, Agent Frameworks ↗
Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) · Software engineering at labs · Bachelor's degree · $147k to $220k base
- Senior Software Engineer, Agentic Applications ↗
Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) · Software engineering at labs · Bachelor's degree · $147k to $220k base
- DevOps / AgentOps Engineer, GTM Systems ↗
Anthropic · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $320k to $405k base
- Product Engineer, Computer Use ↗
Anthropic · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $300k to $320k base
- Research Engineer, Computer Use ↗
Anthropic · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $500k to $850k base
- Staff+ Research Scientist, Multi-Agent ↗
Anthropic · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $500k to $850k base
- Staff+ Software Engineer, Claude Managed Agents ↗
Anthropic · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $405k to $485k base
- Software Engineer, Agent Harness ↗
Cartesia · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $180k to $250k base
- Applied AI Engineer, Agents & Automations ↗
Cohere · Applied AI and forward-deployed · No degree stated
- Engineering Manager, FDE Agentic Platform ↗
Cohere · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated
- Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform ↗
Cohere · Applied AI and forward-deployed · No degree stated
- Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform ↗
Cohere · Applied AI and forward-deployed · No degree stated
- Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform (Europe) ↗
Cohere · Applied AI and forward-deployed · No degree stated
- Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Platform (UK Public Sector) ↗
Cohere · Applied AI and forward-deployed · No degree stated
- Member of Technical Staff, Agent Code ↗
Cohere · Software engineering at labs · PhD required
- Member of Technical Staff, Agentic Environments ↗
Cohere · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated
- Senior Member of Technical Staff, Safety and Security for Agents ↗
Cohere · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated
- Software Engineer, Security Agents ↗
Cohere · Software engineering at labs · No degree stated · $180k to $385k base
- GDM Staff Software Engineer, Agent Data Quality, DeepMind ↗
Google DeepMind · Software engineering at labs · Bachelor's or equivalent
- Post-training Agentic Research Scientist, DeepMind ↗
Google DeepMind · Research scientists and engineers · PhD or equivalent experience
- Research Engineer, Advancing Agent Quality, DeepMind ↗
Google DeepMind · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated
- Research Scientist, Agents, DeepMind ↗
Google DeepMind · Research scientists and engineers · PhD or equivalent experience
