AI Technical Lead - C++ Ecosystem

AI is fundamentally changing how developers write, understand, debug, and maintain software.

At JetBrains, we're exploring what an AI-native development experience should look like for C++ developers. We are looking for a senior technical leader to help shape this future by building AI-powered workflows, integrating coding agents into developer tools, and defining how CLion can become a first-class environment for AI-assisted software development.

This is a highly hands-on role focused on technical leadership rather than people management. You should expect to spend most of your time prototyping, implementing, and validating AI-powered workflows while helping shape technical direction through hands-on engineering. You'll work at the intersection of developer tools, AI agents, IDE architecture, and product strategy while helping define how software developers work with AI in the future.

• How can coding agents become more effective when working with large C++ codebases?
• How can CLion's debugging, code understanding, and navigation capabilities be integrated into AI-assisted development workflows?
• How should AI-powered developer experiences be evaluated and benchmarked in real-world development scenarios?
• What capabilities should AI agents have access to inside a modern IDE?
• How can we make CLion a better environment for developers who increasingly collaborate with AI tools and agents?

• Shape and deliver AI-powered features for CLion and C++ development workflows.
• Design the architecture for AI integrations, agent tools, and C++-specific AI capabilities.
• Build practical benchmarks and evaluation frameworks for AI-assisted C++ development scenarios.
• Prototype and validate new AI workflows, including debugging, code understanding, refactoring, and project navigation.
• Collaborate with product managers, ML engineers, QA engineers, stakeholders, and senior developers to shape and deliver the roadmap.
• Work closely with JetBrains AI, ML, and product teams to help define the AI strategy for the C++ ecosystem.
• Evaluate and prioritize AI initiatives, bringing new ideas and proposals that align with the broader JetBrains AI strategy.
• Contribute hands-on to technical design, software architecture, and implementation in a large, mature codebase.
• Help define a technical roadmap for AI agent and tool integrations in C++ development workflows.
• Build trust and alignment across the C++ Ecosystem, AI, Product, QA, and ML organizations

• Significant software engineering experience as a Staff Engineer, Principal Engineer, Technical Lead, or similar senior technical role.
• Strong experience with Kotlin, Java, or other JVM technologies, or the ability to quickly become productive in a JVM-based codebase.
• Experience building AI-powered products, developer tools, coding assistants, agents, or LLM-based workflows.
• Strong understanding of how modern coding agents operate, including tool calling, context management, MCP, and evaluation techniques.
• A track record of driving technical direction in ambiguous and rapidly evolving areas.
• Strong product instincts and an ability to balance innovation with practical delivery.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence without formal authority.

• Experience with C++ development workflows, compilers, debuggers, language tooling, or developer productivity products.
• Experience with IDE internals, language servers, code analysis, refactoring systems, or static analysis.
• Experience leading small teams or acting as a technical lead.
• Experience working on AI-native developer products.

Rather than building generic chat experiences, you'll be working on challenges such as AI-assisted debugging, agent-powered code understanding, developer workflow automation, and evaluation systems for AI-powered development tools. Your work will directly influence products used by millions of developers worldwide and help shape JetBrains' broader vision for AI-powered software development.