Staff AI Engineer - Human Computer Interaction and Cognitive System

Interface AI San Jose/ San Francisco Bay Area $200k - $240k 10h ago

engineering

Banking is being reimagined—and customers expect every interaction to be easy, personal, and instant.

We are building a universal banking assistant that millions of U.S. consumers can use to transact across all financial institutions and, over time, autonomously drive their financial goals. Powered by our proprietary BankGPT platform, this assistant is positioned to displace age-old legacy systems within financial institutions and own the end-to-end CX stack, unlocking a $200B opportunity and potentially replacing multiple publicly traded companies.

Ultimately, our mission is to drive financial well-being for millions of consumers.

With over two-thirds of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, 50% holding less than $500 in savings, and only 17% financially literate, we aim to put financial well-being on autopilot to help solve this problem.

About the Role:

We’re seeking a Staff AI Engineer – HCI + Cognitive Systems to lead the development of multimodal, interactive agents that combine natural language understanding, computer perception, and cognitive reasoning. You’ll design systems that enable agents to not only converse but see, interpret, and manipulate digital environments — bridging the gap between human communication and machine action. This is a deeply technical role at the intersection of AI research, cognitive science, and systems engineering, responsible for building the intelligent interfaces that power next-generation financial copilots.

What You’ll Own:

Multimodal Interface Intelligence

Design and implement perception pipelines that combine text, visuals, and UI semantics for agent grounding and decision-making.
Build systems that allow agents to understand and interact with software UIs (browser DOMs, screenshots, or structured layouts) like a human operator.

Cognitive Reasoning Frameworks

Develop planning and reasoning modules enabling multi-step task execution, contextual memory, and human-in-the-loop collaboration.
Integrate LLMs and multimodal models for adaptive, goal-oriented behavior using techniques like ReAct, Tree-of-Thought, or Hierarchical Planning.

Human-Centered System Design

Architect agent behaviors around transparency, safety, and trust — ensuring every AI decision or action is explainable and controllable.
Collaborate with product, UX, and cognitive researchers to design experiences that feel intuitive, reliable, and emotionally intelligent.

Real-World Execution & Learning

Implement safe sandbox environments for browser or desktop interaction (Firecracker/gVisor-based isolation).
Build reinforcement and feedback loops for continuous learning and evaluation of agent performance.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Partner with Bot Platform, AI Infrastructure, and Compliance teams to ensure that cognitive systems scale securely and responsibly.
Mentor engineers and applied scientists in agent design, multimodal integration, and AI safety.

What We’re Looking For:

10+ years of experience in software, AI systems, or cognitive computing, with at least 2+ years building multimodal or interactive AI applications.
Advanced proficiency in Python (PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow) and at least one programming language (Go or Node.js).
Expertise in LLMs, computer vision, or multimodal architectures (e.g., CLIP, BLIP, Flamingo, GPT-4V, Gemini).
Deep understanding of human-computer interaction principles, cognitive modeling, and user-adaptive AI.
Proven experience integrating LLM-based agents with external tools or UIs (browser automation, API control, or RPA).
Experience designing or evaluating planning and reasoning agents (e.g., ReAct, AutoGPT, OpenDevin, Voyager).
Familiarity with reinforcement learning, behavior cloning, or imitation learning in simulated environments.
Strong background in observability, safety, and interpretability of AI systems.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills — able to translate between research and product engineering.
Preferred: Advanced degree in Computer Science, AI, Cognitive Science, or Human-Computer Interaction.

What Makes This Role Special?

Lead development of cognitive AI systems that bring reasoning, perception, and human understanding into financial experiences
Work at the frontier of AI-driven human-computer interaction — blending LLMs, multimodal learning, and applied reasoning
Collaborate with top engineers, researchers, and product leaders shaping AI copilots that act responsibly in real-world domains
Be part of an AI-first company where you’ll build systems that are not just intelligent, but explainable, secure, and human-centric

Compensation

Compensation is expected to be between $200,000 - $240,000. Exact compensation may vary based on skills and location.

What We Offer

💡 100% paid health, dental & vision care
💰 401(k) match & financial wellness perks
🌴 Discretionary PTO + paid parental leave
🏡 Remote-first flexibility
🧠 Mental health, wellness & family benefits
🚀 A mission-driven team shaping the future of banking

At interface.ai, we are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all employees and applicants. We celebrate diversity and believe it is critical to our success as a company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected status. All employment decisions at Interface.ai are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications. We strive to create a culture that values and respects each person's unique perspective and contributions. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply for employment opportunities with Interface.ai and are committed to ensuring that our hiring process is inclusive and accessible.