Senior Software Engineer, Applied AI

Cato Institute

Senior Software Engineer developing AI-integrated workflows for policy research at the Cato Institute. Engaging in cross-platform development with a focus on React and Python architectures.

Posted 6/19/2026full-timeWashington • District of Columbia, Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $100,000 - $190,000 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

PythonReactTypeScript

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Build and maintain sophisticated agent skills and agentic tooling that integrate AI across engineering and operational workflows
Integrate AI content retrieval systems, such as Sanity’s Agent Context, into production workflows
Build services (e.g., API and MCP endpoints) that surface Cato’s 50 years of policy research for diverse consuming applications
Build and extend features, components, and shared packages across both the TypeScript / React content platform and the Python research and operations platform
Extend and harden core infrastructure packages across both platforms: API client integration, streaming data pipelines, document processing, and structured logging
Maintain testing infrastructure across both platforms, closing coverage gaps and integrating tests into continuous integration workflows
Likely Initial Focus Areas (First 6 - 12 Months): Contribute to the content platform’s march toward production, picking up feature work, migration tasks, and building pipeline improvements; develop familiarity with both codebases through Cato’s AI development infrastructure; build out test suites for both platforms, prioritizing high-dependency packages and critical paths

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree in any field
5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including work on production systems
Expertise with multiple major LLMs: Claude, ChatGPT, and/or Gemini
Expertise with agentic AI development tools (Claude Code, Codex, or similar), including authoring reusable agent capabilities — agent skills, structured workflows, and tool integrations — not just using them
Proficiency in TypeScript / React or Python, with demonstrated ability to work productively in languages and frameworks outside your primary expertise
Experience building or integrating LLM-enabled systems — prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, tool use, or evaluation pipelines
Strong software engineering fundamentals: testing, version control, CI/CD, code review, and systems design
Comfort working across the stack — backend services, frontend components, data pipelines, and build infrastructure
Clear written and verbal communication; ability to document systems and explain technical decisions to non-engineers
Self-directed, adaptable, and comfortable with ambiguity in a small team where priorities shift
Familiarity with Cato’s work or demonstrated interest in public policy.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, dental, and vision insurance
Employer contribution to a Health Savings Account (HSA)
Generous vacation and sick days
Paid parental leave
Employer-provided life and disability insurance
401(k) employer match
Transit/Parking benefits
Pet discount plan

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

TypeScriptReactPythonAPI developmentMCP endpointsLLM integrationprompt engineeringretrieval-augmented generationtestingCI/CD

Soft Skills

clear communicationdocumentationself-directedadaptabilitycomfort with ambiguity

Certifications

Bachelor’s degree