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About This Role
Are you a senior software engineer with proven experience building and delivering intelligent, production\-ready applications? Do you have a strong background in modern web development and hands\-on experience applying AI technologies to solve complex business problems? If you're looking for an opportunity to combine deep software engineering expertise with advanced AI development, this may be an excellent fit.
As our platform continues to evolve, we are looking for a Senior AI Software Engineer who can take ownership of complex technical initiatives, help shape architecture and technical direction, and turn emerging AI capabilities into reliable solutions. This role requires someone who can work independently, evaluate new technologies, make sound technical decisions, and mentor and support other engineers while remaining hands\-on in development.
Nextek, LLC is a fully functioning software development company in the financial services industry. Nextek creates software applications and solutions to serve the needs of Financial Services Professionals.
What You Bring
Required
- 7\+ years of professional software development experience
- Significant hands\-on experience designing, building, and deploying production AI\-powered applications
- Strong, hands\-on experience with Laravel, Next.js, and React
- Experience with OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar LLM platforms
- Strong experience with prompt engineering, RAG, embeddings, and AI workflows
- Experience integrating AI/LLM capabilities into production web applications
- Experience designing software architecture and making technical decisions for complex applications
- Experience with .NET / C\#
- Experience working with SQL Server and/or MySQL
- Experience building and deploying applications in AWS and/or Microsoft Azure
- Strong problem\-solving and troubleshooting skills
- Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non\-technical stakeholders
- Ability to work independently, take ownership of projects, and drive initiatives through completion
Preferred
- Experience architecting relational databases
- Experience with both AWS and Azure
- Experience with both SQL Server and MySQL
- Experience with AI agents, tool/function calling, vector databases, LLM orchestration, or AI evaluation
- Experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership
- Experience establishing or improving AI development standards, architecture, or best practices
Beyond Technical Skills, We Value Engineers Who
- Handle change well and adapt quickly
- Take initiative and ownership
- Communicate clearly with both technical and non\-technical stakeholders
- Lead by example and support team success
- Stay curious and continuously learn emerging AI technologies
- Are comfortable evaluating new technologies and determining where they can provide meaningful business value
- Think strategically while remaining hands\-on and execution\-focused
- Are motivated by building intelligent systems that real businesses depend on
Our Benefits
- Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits
- 4 weeks of accrued PTO, plus 9 paid holidays
- Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and 401(k)
- 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
- Ability to work in\-office four days per week with one remote workday
- Ongoing professional development and AI training opportunities
- A collaborative team that values expertise, initiative, and growth
Why You'll Love Working Here
- Opportunity to build AI solutions that solve real business problems
- Collaborative environment where ideas and innovation are valued
- Ability to influence architecture, AI strategy, and technical direction
- Opportunity to mentor and help develop other engineers
- Fast\-moving organization where your work has visible impact
- Opportunity to grow alongside a rapidly expanding AI platform
At Nextek, we set high expectations, but we back them with support, collaboration, and opportunities to grow. If you are a Senior AI Software Engineer who enjoys building intelligent applications, solving complex problems, influencing technical direction, and helping turn emerging AI capabilities into reliable production solutions, we encourage you to apply. Check out more amazing opportunities here: https://www.careers.gradientfinancialgroup.com/
Salary Context
This $80K-$120K range is in the lower quartile for AI Software Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $185K across 231 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
AI Software Engineers build the applications and systems that AI models run inside. They own the API layers, data pipelines, frontend integrations, and infrastructure that turn a model into a product users interact with. Every AI company needs engineers who can build the software around the AI.
The challenge is building reliable systems around inherently unreliable components. Models are probabilistic. They'll give different answers to the same question. They hallucinate. They're slow. They're expensive. Your job is to build an application layer that handles all of this gracefully while delivering a product that users trust and enjoy.
Across the 4,317 AI roles we're tracking, AI Software Engineer positions make up 7% of the market. At Nextek, LLC, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: building API endpoints that serve model inference with caching and fallback logic, designing the data pipeline that feeds context to a RAG system, implementing streaming responses in the frontend, debugging a race condition in the async inference pipeline, and optimizing database queries for the vector search layer. It's full-stack engineering with AI at the center.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
Skills Required
Full-stack engineering skills with AI integration experience. Python and TypeScript are the most common requirements. You'll need to understand API design, database architecture, and how to build reliable systems around probabilistic outputs. Experience with streaming, async processing, and caching patterns is increasingly important as real-time AI applications proliferate.
Knowledge of vector databases, embedding APIs, and LLM integration patterns (function calling, structured outputs, retry logic) differentiates AI software engineers from general software engineers. Understanding cost optimization (caching strategies, model routing, batched inference) is valuable since inference costs can dominate application economics.
Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Software Engineer roles pay a median of $218,500 based on 729 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400. This role's midpoint ($100K) sits 54% below the category median. Disclosed range: $80K to $120K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($287,500) and Research Engineer ($272,100). By seniority level: Entry: $110,000; Mid: $194,400; Senior: $227,400; Director: $274,554; VP: $241,000.
Nextek, LLC AI Hiring
Nextek, LLC has 2 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer. Based in Shoreview, MN, US. Compensation range: $100K - $120K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 15% (635 positions) offer remote work, while 3,657 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (1,650 roles, $220,000 median); San Francisco (1,335 roles, $265,000 median); Los Angeles (708 roles, $214,112 median).
Career Path
Common paths into AI Software Engineer roles include Software Engineer, Full-Stack Developer, Backend Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Staff Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager.
If you're a software engineer, you're already 80% there. Learn the AI integration patterns: RAG, streaming inference, function calling, structured outputs. Build a project that demonstrates you can wrap an AI model in a production-quality application with proper error handling, caching, and user experience. That's the portfolio piece that gets you hired.
What to Expect in Interviews
Technical screens look like standard software engineering interviews with an AI twist. Expect system design questions about building reliable applications around probabilistic models: handling streaming responses, implementing retry logic for API failures, and designing caching strategies for LLM outputs. Coding rounds test standard algorithms plus practical integration patterns like async processing and rate limiting.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 4,317 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 138 entry-level, 2,071 mid-level, 1,655 senior, and 453 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (635 positions). The remaining 3,657 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($287,500 median, 34 roles); Research Engineer ($272,100 median, 227 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($244,000 median, 23 roles).
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 4,317 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (3,004), Data Scientist (345), AI Software Engineer (309). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (138) are outnumbered by mid-level (2,071) and senior (1,655) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 453 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (635 positions), with 3,657 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $215,000. Top-quartile roles start at $266,300, and the 90th percentile reaches $320,790. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $287,500 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $145,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (2,249 postings), Aws (1,224 postings), Azure (938 postings), Rag (915 postings), Gcp (660 postings), Pytorch (640 postings), Prompt Engineering (624 postings), Kubernetes (559 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
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