At a Glance
- Tasks: Build reliable fetching and rendering systems for AI-powered search.
- Company: Join Perplexity, a cutting-edge tech company focused on web access engineering.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Dynamic team environment with opportunities to innovate and grow your career.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on web content accessibility and improve AI search technology.
- Qualifications: 5+ years in software engineering with strong skills in Go, Python, Rust, or C++.
The predicted salary is between 59400 - 72600 £ per year.
Perplexity is hiring a Web Access Engineer for the Crawler team to build reliable fetching and rendering systems for AI-powered search.
You'll work on freely available public web content, within site permissions and approved access policies, and develop the infrastructure that supplies content to downstream indexing and retrieval systems.
Your focus will be diagnosing network errors, page-loading issues, and incomplete rendering.
You'll trace problems from network protocols through client-side execution, distinguish technical failures from intentional access restrictions, and turn findings into production fixes that improve content quality and efficiency at scale.
Responsibilities
- Own fetching and rendering improvements end to end, from investigation through implementation and production rollout, partnering with crawler engineers and SREs.
- Investigate fetch and rendering failures across DNS, TLS, HTTP, caching, redirects, and client-side rendering, and classify root causes.
- Improve page loading, completion detection, and content capture to preserve relevant content and handle dynamic pages reliably.
- Ensure the crawler respects site-imposed access restrictions and rate limits, identifies itself clearly, and retries only transient technical errors.
- Build tools to reproduce failures, compare crawler output against expected page content, and turn findings into regression tests.
- Define metrics for fetching reliability, content completeness, and error classification, and use them to prioritize improvements.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of software engineering experience in web infrastructure, browsers, CDNs, or crawling, with strong programming skills in at least one of Go, Python, Rust, or C++.
- Deep understanding of HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3, including status semantics, caching, conditional requests, content encoding, and redirects; strong knowledge of TLS, DNS, cookies, and sessions.
- Understanding of CDN caching and content delivery, HTTP error handling, retry backoff, and server-defined rate limits.
- Knowledge of page lifecycle, network idle, service workers, client-side rendering, and shadow DOM; experience debugging Java Script and fluency with Chrome Dev Tools, CDP, HAR files, curl, and packet captures.
- Comfort working independently when the path forward is not fully defined.
- Nice to have
- Experience developing CDN, caching, or web performance systems.
- Experience operating crawlers, headless browsers, or distributed content-acquisition systems at scale.
- Contributions to a browser engine or Java Script runtime.
Member of Technical Staff (Web Access Engineer, Crawler) employer: Perplexity AI, Inc.
Perplexity AI, Inc. provides a unique opportunity for professionals to engage in shaping the future of AI technology. The company promotes a collaborative culture and encourages innovation, making it an attractive workplace for those looking to grow in the tech industry.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Member of Technical Staff (Web Access Engineer, Crawler)
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Perplexity AI, Inc. or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
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✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
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✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
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We think you need these skills to ace Member of Technical Staff (Web Access Engineer, Crawler)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Perplexity AI, Inc..
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Perplexity AI, Inc. and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Perplexity AI, Inc.
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Perplexity AI, Inc. uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
