New

Applied AI Software Engineer, Factory Software

Tesla Motors, Inc.
140,000 - 210,000 USD
paid holidays, flex time, 401(k)
United States, California, Fremont
Jun 25, 2026
What to Expect We are seeking an Applied AI Software Engineer to join a small, high-performing team building AI agents that work alongside the people who run our factories. You will design, build, and ship production agents that reason over real manufacturing data and take action on it, supporting the many different roles across the factory that keep production running. You will own features end to end, from understanding the manufacturing problem through deploying a reliable service that people depend on during their shift. The core challenge of the role is developing a deep understanding of the domain: how a process actually works, where the source of truth for the data lives, and what a good answer looks like to the person asking. The most rewarding part is seeing the impact: agents that save people time, help them make better decisions, and move the work forward faster. You will work across modern programming languages, database systems, agent frameworks, and LLMs, and you will be expected to have strong software engineering fundamentals and the judgment to know when an agent's answer is trustworthy. Strong communication skills and a collaborative, feedback-driven mindset are essential, because building these agents means working closely with the manufacturing experts whose work they support. What You'll Do Design, build, and ship production AI agents that help manufacturing engineers diagnose, decide, and act on the factory floor Develop deep domain understanding of the manufacturing processes each agent supports, and find the authoritative truth source for every data input Build the harness around the model, including tool definitions, retrieval, context assembly, and guardrails, so agents produce trustworthy, verifiable answers Write and iterate on prompts and tool instructions that make agents behave reliably Evaluate agent behavior rigorously by building eval sets and automated graders that measure answer quality and catch regressions before they ship Integrate agents with real manufacturing data systems including SQL and columnar databases, message streams, and live equipment interfaces Lead projects end to end, from gathering requirements with domain experts through architecture, implementation, testing, and production deployment Collaborate closely with manufacturing engineers and product partners to ensure each agent solves the real problem and earns user trust Maintain high engineering standards across version control, code review, CI/CD, monitoring, and logging for the services engineers rely on during their shift What You'll Bring Strong software engineering fundamentals and a track record of shipping and maintaining production systems Proficiency in one or more modern languages such as Go, Python, C#, or JavaScript, including front-end frameworks such as React or Angular, with the ability to pick up others as the work demands Experience with SQL databases such as Postgres or MySQL, and familiarity with columnar stores such as ClickHouse and streaming systems such as Kafka Hands-on experience building agents with a modern agent development framework such as Google ADK or LangGraph Practical experience working with LLMs, including prompt engineering, harness engineering, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) The curiosity and persistence to develop deep domain understanding and to find the truth source of data rather than assuming it Sound judgment for evaluating when an agent's output is correct and trustworthy, and the rigor to measure it Strong communication skills and the ability to give and receive technical feedback in a collaborative environment Proficiency in rigorous software development practices including version control, code reviews, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and logging Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related or equivalent experience Compensation and Benefits Benefits Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire: Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits Company paid Basic Life, AD&D Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period) Employee Assistance Program Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays Back-up childcare and parenting support resources Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs Tesla Babies program Commuter benefits Employee discounts and perks program Expected Compensation $140,000 - $210,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.