Role explainers

What AI jobs actually ask for

One page per kind of role, built only from open postings: how many years of experience employers state, how often a PhD is required versus preferred, which skills they name and what pay they publish. The role groups are RoleRadar's own classification from job titles. See the method.

Role groups with open roles, entry-level roles, remote share, PhD required and median years of experience asked for
Role	Open roles	Entry level	Remote	PhD required	Median years asked
Software engineering General software roles: product, backend, frontend, mobile and full-stack engineering at AI companies.	2,512	132	5%	3%	5+
Operations & strategy Roles that keep the company running: strategy, operations, supply chain, workplace and executive support.	1,418	15	8%	1%	5+
Sales & partnerships Roles that sell AI products and build partnerships.	1,124	5	22%	0%	5+
Solutions & customer Technical roles that help customers adopt and deploy AI: solutions, forward-deployed and support engineering.	1,094	39	15%	0%	5+
Infrastructure & platform Roles that run the platforms AI runs on: cloud, GPU clusters, data centers, networking, reliability and developer infrastructure.	1,088	34	6%	3%	5+
Hardware & robotics Roles that design and build physical systems: chips, robots, vehicles, sensors, firmware and manufacturing.	943	48	2%	3%	5+
ML & AI engineering Roles that build, train, evaluate or serve machine-learning models in production, from pre-training and post-training to inference and autonomy.	774	55	6%	14%	5+
Product & program Roles that decide what gets built and keep complex programs on track.	491	11	5%	1%	5+
Finance Roles in finance, accounting, tax, procurement and payroll.	485	7	6%	0%	5+
Research Roles whose title names research: work that advances what models can do or how well they are understood.	467	40	7%	16%	4+
Marketing & comms Roles that tell the story: marketing, communications, content, events and developer relations.	427	2	10%	0%	6+
Security Roles that protect systems, models and users: security engineering, detection and response, trust and safety, and fraud.	391	4	12%	0%	5+
Policy & legal Roles in law, policy, government affairs, compliance and governance.	390	4	7%	2%	5+
People & recruiting Roles that hire and support people.	378	3	5%	1%	5+
Data science & analytics Roles that analyse data, build data pipelines, or create and label training data.	354	10	14%	6%	4+
Design Roles that shape how products look, feel and work, including user research.	290	19	7%	3%	5+

Role

Open roles

Entry level

Remote

PhD required

Median years asked

Software engineering

General software roles: product, backend, frontend, mobile and full-stack engineering at AI companies.

2,512

132

Operations & strategy

Roles that keep the company running: strategy, operations, supply chain, workplace and executive support.

1,418

Sales & partnerships

Roles that sell AI products and build partnerships.

1,124

22%

Solutions & customer

Technical roles that help customers adopt and deploy AI: solutions, forward-deployed and support engineering.

1,094

15%

Infrastructure & platform

Roles that run the platforms AI runs on: cloud, GPU clusters, data centers, networking, reliability and developer infrastructure.

1,088

Hardware & robotics

Roles that design and build physical systems: chips, robots, vehicles, sensors, firmware and manufacturing.

943

ML & AI engineering

Roles that build, train, evaluate or serve machine-learning models in production, from pre-training and post-training to inference and autonomy.

774

14%

Product & program

Roles that decide what gets built and keep complex programs on track.

491

Finance

Roles in finance, accounting, tax, procurement and payroll.

485

Research

Roles whose title names research: work that advances what models can do or how well they are understood.

467

16%

Marketing & comms

Roles that tell the story: marketing, communications, content, events and developer relations.

427

10%

Security

Roles that protect systems, models and users: security engineering, detection and response, trust and safety, and fraud.

391

12%

Policy & legal

Roles in law, policy, government affairs, compliance and governance.

390

People & recruiting

Roles that hire and support people.

378

Data science & analytics

Roles that analyse data, build data pipelines, or create and label training data.

354

14%

Design

Roles that shape how products look, feel and work, including user research.

290