Senior Software Engineer — AI

The Trade Desk is a global technology company with a mission to create a better, more open internet for everyone through principled, intelligent advertising. Handling over 1 trillion queries per day, our platform operates at an unprecedented scale. We have also built something even stronger and more valuable: an award-winning culture based on trust, ownership, empathy, and collaboration. We value the unique experiences and perspectives that each person brings to The Trade Desk, and we are committed to fostering inclusive spaces where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work every day.

Do you have a passion for solving hard problems at scale? Are you eager to join a dynamic, globally- connected team where your contributions will make a meaningful difference in building a better media ecosystem? Come and see why Fortune magazine consistently ranks The Trade Desk among the best small- to medium-sized workplaces globally.

Our Software Engineers are end-to-end owners who have the opportunity to participate in many aspects of designing, building, and delivering data-focused products for our stakeholders. 

At The Trade Desk, we believe in building the back-end infrastructure of our platform with a focus on quality at scale. This means whether we are building parts of our client-facing applications, internal custom solutions for our own team members, or model pipelines for bidding optimizations, we are making sure that we have infrastructure, development, and tools to do it right and efficiently.

Our system performs all day, every day serving global traffic. We build a distributed system in a highly collaborative environment, utilizing a broad range of technologies. Our back-end developers work on finding solutions to algorithmic, optimization and scale challenges in everything we do.

What we do

You’ll be joining a dedicated team focused on building internal-facing AI solutions that support teams across The Trade Desk. We leverage technologies like large language models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agentic tools to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and eliminate friction in everyday processes. Our work emphasizes high-quality, scalable applications that deliver measurable value and improve day-to-day operations across the company.

As an AI Software Engineer on this team, you’ll be an end-to-end owner—collaborating closely with stakeholders, identifying opportunities, and delivering tools that make a real impact. We’re a nimble, fast-paced, and highly collaborative group that thrives on transforming the way teams operate and driving greater value across The Trade Desk.

What you’ll do:

Some of the work that you will be doing to help us deliver on our mission is:

• Design and deploy intelligent agentic systems that integrate large language models (LLMs) with enterprise data, tools, and workflows using frameworks like LangChain, LlamaIndex, and Semantic Kernel.
• Develop Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) applications using tools like Azure AI Search, vector databases, and secure enterprise connectors to deliver contextual insights.
• Build and iterate on conversational agents that solve real-world problems, meet stakeholder needs, and deliver measurable business value.
• Deliver high-impact features by collaborating across teams, leading through ambiguity, and aligning technical solutions with business goals.
• Drive quality and performance through automated testing, monitoring, and data-driven evaluation of success criteria, user adoption, and operational efficiency.
• Mentor teammates and contribute to a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and continuous learning.

We are a global team with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. To complement this team, you will welcome ideas that are different from your own and be well-versed in building from common ground to value, seek out, and foster invisible and visible dimensions of diversity.

Who you are:

Our culture is much deeper than just having fun together (though, we do that well too...). We take pride in our engineers being trust-builders, generous givers, scrappy problem solvers, and gritty pursuers of excellence. You do not have to meet all the requirements below, but we believe that people who meet most of them will have a higher likelihood of succeeding in this role:

• You have 7+ years of software engineering experience, including 2+ years working on AI-powered systems or products.
• You are proficient in Python and comfortable with additional languages such as C#, SQL, or TypeScript/React.
• You have hands-on experience with LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel) and prompt engineering using LLM APIs.
• You have experience productionizing applications and implementing CI/CD pipelines to ensure reliable, scalable deployments.
• You are skilled in data ingestion and transformation using APIs, ETL pipelines, and connectors, and familiar with vector databases and retrieval strategies.
• You communicate clearly across technical and non-technical audiences and thrive in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.
• You are a fast learner who adapts quickly to new technologies and solves complex problems with creativity and pragmatism.
• You have a Bachelor’s/Master’s level degree in computer science or relevant engineering-related field or equivalent experience. Not everyone has the same level of access to opportunities. What is most important to us is what and how you can contribute, which is why our consideration is not limited by the level of education you have.

Variety of technical opportunity is one of the best things about working at The Trade Desk as a software engineer which is why we do not expect you to know every technology we use when you start. What we care about is that you can learn quickly and find solutions to complex problems using the optimum tools for the job. What you know is less important than how well you learn and innovate. We don't need engineers who know all the answers; we need engineers who can invent the answers no one has thought of yet, to the questions yet to be asked. 

The Trade Desk does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm recruiters. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

[LA JOBS ONLY]The Trade Desk will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Ordinance No. 184652.

[SF JOBS ONLY]Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

#LI-TP1

CO, CA, IL, NY, WA, and Washington DC residents only: In accordance with CO, CA, IL, NY, WA, and Washington DC law, the range provided is The Trade Desk's reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount may differ based on non-discriminatory factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, and location. All employees may be eligible to become The Trade Desk shareholders through eligibility for stock-based compensation grants, which are awarded to employees based on company and individual performance. The Trade Desk also offers other compensation depending on the role such as sales-based incentives and commissions. Plus, expected benefits for this role include comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents, retirement benefits such as a 401k plan and company match, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, well-being benefits, reimbursement for certain tuition expenses, parental leave, sick time of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, vacation time for full-time employees up to 120 hours thru the first year and 160 hours thereafter, and around 13 paid holidays per year. Employees can also purchase The Trade Desk stock at a discount through The Trade Desk’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

The Trade Desk also offers a competitive benefits package. Click here to learn more.

Note: Interns are not eligible for variable incentive awards such as stock-based compensation, retirement plan, vacation, tuition reimbursement or parental leave

At the Trade Desk, Base Salary is one part of our competitive total compensation and benefits package and is determined using a salary range. The base salary range for this role is $124,900—$228,900 USD

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to making our job application process accessible to everyone and to providing reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If you have a disability or medical condition and require an accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please contact us at [email protected]

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