Vanilla is seeking a Senior Software Engineer - AI Applications with a strong background in software development, data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
You will be utilizing existing Large Language Models to build applied AI applications focused on producing high accuracy rates.
Your software engineering skills will come into play here as you’ll take ownership in constructing services to ingest structured results.
You will work collaboratively with engineering and subject matter experts to find innovative and disruptive uses of AI to streamline (or replace) workflows.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
6+ years relevant work experience.
Proficiency in, at least, one modern programming language such as Python or Javascript.
Experience building commercial SaaS solutions.
Experience integrating with backend services, and APIs.
Experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar for both chat and API interfaces.
Deep understanding of machine learning and AI technologies, including the ability to design, train, and implement machine learning models and use natural language processing techniques for automation.
Experience with tuning AI performance and scalability of AI infrastructure.
Preferred experience with AI observability, monitoring, and signaling with tools such as LangChain or LangGraph.
Experienced with LLM orchestration tooling and decision frameworks.
Experience or exposure building agentic capabilities and workflows.
Experience or exposure to evaluation testing frameworks.
Exceptional candidates will have direct experience with RAG for tuning LLMs.
Experience with API design and accessing data from external sources.
Ability to effectively articulate technical challenges and solutions.
Deal well with ambiguous/undefined problems; ability to think abstractly.
Knowledge of professional software engineering practices & best practices for the full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations.
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for sponsorship now or in the future. Vanilla is unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.

Benefits

Flexible paid time off policy and 10 company-wide paid holidays
Parental leave, 4 weeks for all full-time employees and up to 12 weeks for birthing parents
Medical, dental, and vision benefits coverage for employees and their families
401K eligibility after one month of employment
Free estate planning documents
Budget for learning & development and home office setup
Paid parking or transit for hybrid and in office employees

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard skills

software developmentdata sciencemachine learningartificial intelligencePythonJavascriptSaaS solutionsnatural language processingAI performance tuningAPI design

Soft skills

collaborationproblem-solvingabstract thinkingarticulation of technical challengesinnovationdisruptionownershipadaptabilitycommunicationcritical thinking