AI Developer

About The Company Apache Associates is a forward-thinking consultancy firm dedicated to partnering with innovative organizations to drive technological transformation. With a focus on delivering impactful solutions, Apache Associates specializes in providing expert guidance across various domains, including software development, AI integration, and digital strategy. Our commitment to excellence and continuous learning positions us as a trusted advisor for companies seeking to leverage cutting-edge technologies to maintain competitive advantage. We foster a collaborative environment that encourages creativity, technical rigor, and professional growth, ensuring our clients and team members alike thrive in an ever-evolving digital landscape. About The Role We are seeking a highly skilled and passionate Senior Applied AI Engineer to join our client's dynamic team. This role is pivotal in transforming AI capabilities into tangible, production-ready solutions that add real value to the organization. As a senior engineer, you will be at the forefront of AI innovation within the company, shaping how AI is integrated across products and engineering workflows. Your expertise will influence best practices, establish standards, and mentor engineers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence. This position offers an exciting opportunity to lead initiatives that elevate the organization’s AI maturity while working closely with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for impactful AI applications. Qualifications The ideal candidate will possess a robust engineering background with significant hands-on experience applying AI in real-world software environments. You should have several years of experience in building and deploying production software, with a deep understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs) and their practical applications. Proficiency in prompt engineering, context management, and structured output design is essential. Experience in developing evaluation frameworks, test harnesses, and datasets to measure and improve AI output quality is highly desirable. Candidates should demonstrate a proven ability to mentor and coach engineering teams, delivering internal training and fostering communities of practice. Familiarity with AI development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or equivalents, alongside a pragmatic understanding of AI strengths and limitations, is required. Additional advantageous skills include experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), agentic workflows, fine-tuning, vector search, LLM orchestration frameworks like LangChain or Semantic Kernel, and working within SaaS environments. Responsibilities * Design, build, and refine prompts, context strategies, and agentic workflows to develop real-world AI product features that deliver measurable value. * Develop and implement robust evaluation approaches for LLM outputs, utilizing business cases and quality standards to ensure reliability. * Evaluate multiple LLM providers and models, making informed decisions based on quality, cost, and latency considerations. * Collaborate with product managers, product owners, and subject matter experts to understand underlying business problems and craft tailored AI solutions. * Mentor and coach engineers across teams, enhancing their ability to leverage LLMs and AI coding tools effectively. * Conduct pairing sessions, technical reviews, workshops, and one-on-one coaching to promote best practices and knowledge sharing. * Create and maintain reusable prompt patterns, templates, evaluation harnesses, and internal guidance documentation. * Lead the establishment of an internal AI community of practice, encouraging the sharing of successes, lessons learned, and innovations. * Define standards for prompting, context engineering, and evaluation, maintaining relevance as models and tools evolve. * Provide measurable evidence to engineering leadership demonstrating AI’s impact and value within the organization. * Act as a critical reviewer for AI solutions, ensuring robustness and suitability for production deployment. * Promote high standards around accuracy, safety, and data handling to ensure responsible AI use. * Support engineers working within legacy codebases to adopt AI tooling effectively, balancing innovation with stability. * Represent the organization externally through talks, articles, or open-source contributions to showcase expertise and thought leadership. Benefits Joining this organization offers a range of compelling benefits, including the opportunity to work on pioneering AI projects within a supportive and innovative environment. You will have access to continuous learning and development resources, participate in knowledge-sharing communities, and influence the organization’s AI strategy. Competitive compensation packages, flexible working arrangements, and health benefits are part of the package. Additionally, you will be part of a collaborative team that values your insights and encourages professional growth. The organization emphasizes a culture of innovation, responsibility, and recognition, ensuring your contributions are valued and impactful. Equal Opportunity Our client is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, regardless of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We believe that diverse perspectives and experiences drive innovation and excellence, and we are dedicated to creating an environment where everyone can thrive and succeed.