Software Engineer

Software Engineer (Contract) – AI/ML Applications

We are seeking a Software Engineer (Contract) specialized in AI/ML applications to independently drive the development, evaluation, deployment, and end-to-end lifecycle management of our AI-powered systems. This role bridges advanced AI application development with robust software engineering and continuous automation. You will extensively leverage AI agents, design automated testing frameworks, and implement secure GitLab CI/CD pipelines to ensure code quality and system resilience. A core component of this role involves deploying and scaling models efficiently across distributed infrastructure. You will optimize model performance, prompt-tune models, and design advanced AI workflows using tools like Kubernetes, Ray, or Slurm.

Key Responsibilities

Pay: 72/hr - 119/hr

Contract 12 months

1 day onsite in Santa Clara

• Infrastructure & Distributed Orchestration: Architect, deploy, and scale open-source models using distributed orchestration frameworks like Kubernetes, Ray, or Slurm to run highly available and fault-tolerant AI workloads.
• AI Systems & Prompt Engineering: Design experiments, prompt-tune, evaluate, and deploy production-grade models and AI agents, implementing flexible mechanisms to benchmark performance and swap models quickly to fit evolving use cases.
• Error & Gap Analysis: Run comprehensive model benchmarks, perform deep error and gap analysis on model outputs, and build analytics dashboards to communicate system performance findings effectively to stakeholders.
• Automated Testing & Coverage: Build extensive automated testing suites to validate end-to-end application code, aggressively driving improvements in test coverage across both standard software and stochastic AI outputs.
• DevSecOps Automation: Maintain clean, secure systems by automating vulnerability scanning on GitLab Merge Requests (MRs) and implementing fast remediation pipelines for identified vulnerabilities.
• Independent Execution: Take high ownership of features from ideation to production, managing architectural choices, public/private repository synchronization, and community interactions.

Technical Requirements

• Python & Systems Engineering: 4+ years of professional experience writing production-grade, asynchronous Python, with a strong focus on decoupled, clean system architecture and design patterns.
• Deployment & Orchestration: Hands-on experience with production-grade model deployment, performance monitoring and analysis, and scaling using Kubernetes, Ray, or Slurm to manage multi-node cluster configurations.
• Performance & Scaling Optimization: Strong understanding of model serving, resource utilization, and infrastructure-level tuning for high-throughput, low-latency AI inference workflows.
• AI Evaluation & Frameworks: Deep experience building with LangChain, Hugging Face libraries, vLLM, and SGLang. Proven expertise in prompt engineering, automated model benchmarking, and running systematic LLM evaluations.
• Data Analysis: Proficient in data analysis using Python (pandas, NumPy, or similar), able to extract insights from model evaluation results and communicate findings clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• GitLab CI/CD & Security Automation: Advanced knowledge of GitLab pipelines, specifically building automated test jobs and integrating vulnerability scanners directly into the MR workflow.
• Testing Toolchains: Expert familiarity with Python testing frameworks (e.g., PyTest), mocking libraries, and automated test generation frameworks for AI workloads.
• Advanced Version Control: High proficiency in advanced Git workflows, including rebase strategies, cryptographic commit signing, and managing complex public/private repository mirroring.

Benefit offerings include medical, dental, vision, term life insurance, short-term disability insurance, additional voluntary benefits, commuter benefits and 401K plan. Our program provides employees the flexibility to choose the type of coverage that meets their individual needs. Available paid leave may include Paid Sick Leave, where required by law; any other paid leave required by Federal, State or local law; and Holiday pay upon meeting eligibility criteria. Disclaimer: These benefit offerings do not apply to client-recruited jobs and jobs which are direct hire to a client