Software Engineer, Monetization (AI)

Location: Hybrid in Redwood City, California, United States

Salary: $150,000–$300,000 per year plus equity

Company

Character.AI develops interactive entertainment and consumer AI experiences that help people connect, learn, and tell stories.

What you will do

• Build and optimize user-facing web and mobile features for payments, subscriptions, and in-app purchases.
• Design and experiment with monetization surfaces including virtual currencies, premium upsells, and advertising.
• Partner with product and design to create performant, trustworthy, and polished purchase experiences.
• Collaborate with data science on monetization metrics, experiments, and outcome analysis.
• Design scalable backend systems for payments, entitlements, and transactions.
• Help establish frameworks for A/B testing and rapid monetization iteration.

Requirements

• Experience building consumer products with monetization, in-app purchase, or subscription flows.
• Deep knowledge of TypeScript, React, React Native, Tailwind, HTML, and modern frontend practices.
• Ability to contribute to backend services, ideally using Python or Golang.
• Experience shipping user-facing features with measurable monetization or engagement results.
• Ability to balance iteration speed with quality and reliability in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across engineering, product, design, and data.

Nice to have

• Background in gaming, virtual currencies, or digital goods ecosystems.
• Experience with payment processors, subscription platforms, or marketplaces.
• Interest in user psychology, reward systems, and engaging monetization loops.
• Startup or zero-to-one product development experience.

Culture & Benefits

• Health coverage for employees and families with most premiums covered.
• Generous 401(k) contribution.
• Up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Four weeks of paid time off.
• Daily in-office catering, monthly DoorDash stipend, and wellness stipend.