Principal AI Application Engineer

Role Overview

• Build and ship high-impact experiments (e.g., digital lockers or AI-augmented procurement tools) to expand the "impact possibilities frontier."
• Translate vague policy objectives into robust, working systems.
• Identify when to use LLMs, agentic orchestration, or RAG patterns versus simple rules engines or traditional ML models.
• Collaborate with policy and domain experts to co-design civic-sector benchmarks, translating complex regulatory requirements into automated evaluation pipelines that rigorously measure model performance.
• Identify and define new opportunity spaces by translating emerging policy, technology, and user needs into actionable technical bets.
• Architect foundational tools, including declarative task specifications and agentic data layers.
• Design infrastructure that respects public sector constraints, focusing on portability and explainability.
• Build data layers that interoperate with legacy systems (COBOL, SQL, etc.) to deliver modern value without multi-year migrations.
• Establish Code for America as a leader in responsible AI through external thought leadership, including publications, talks, and open-source contributions.
• Share demos and earned insights internally to help the organization iterate toward better standards and internal use cases of responsible AI.
• Document architectural decisions, successes, and failures to create a blueprint for responsible AI in government.
• Drive alignment across engineering, product, policy, and program teams to ensure solutions are technically sound, policy-compliant, and operationally viable.
• Partner with and mentor fellow engineers through hands-on code reviews and technical guidance, ensuring the team stays grounded in best practices for responsible AI.
• Maintain system health through rigorous, hands-on code reviews and the development of shared utilities.
• Ensure craftsmanship and system explainability for the vulnerable populations we serve.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in high-ownership environments (former technical founders encouraged); ability to take a vague objective to a finished system.
• Hands-on experience building with LLMs, agentic orchestration, and RAG patterns, with the pragmatism to know when not to use them.
• Ability to think in "primitives" and "capabilities," preferring modular, reusable frameworks over bespoke scripts.
• Passion for bias detection, harm mitigations, and building systems that are explainable to the people they serve.
• Mastery of Git, Linux, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code(Terraform), and container-based workflows.
• A critical eye toward the limitations of AI, especially "black box" logic in high-stakes public services.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction and drive alignment across teams without formal authority.

Tech Stack

• Linux
• SQL
• Terraform

Benefits

• Laptop provided
• A one-time $700 payment for remote environment setup; $200 stipend (in first paycheck) and up to $500 reimbursement, in accordance with our equipment policy
• Cell phone and/or internet reimbursement of $50 per month
• $500 annual (per calendar year) stipend towards professional development; prorated at time of hire
• Up to $500 of professional development funds can be rolled over each year, up to a maximum of $1000
• Training / guidance for staff required to utilize AI as part of their role, plus opportunities for employees to gain AI-related skills to support job and career growth
• Employees receive a 100% employer match on the first 3% of contributions.
• Employees with 3+ years of service receive an additional 50% match on contributions between 3% and 5%, for a maximum employer contribution of 5%
• At least one no cost health insurance option for full-time employees for employee-only coverage
• A minimum of 80% of the cost of dependent coverage
• Code for America employees may work remotely across the US
• Open personal time off (subject to manager approval), a minimum of 14 paid holidays, and an org-wide closure from Christmas Day through New Year's Day
• Paid sick time; up to 96 hours annually
• 17 weeks of paid parental and family leave
• 3 weeks of paid sabbatical after 5 years of service