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About This Role
Who We Are
Our department is a dynamic, global team of diverse professionals dedicated to developing award\-winning AI solutions, including both traditional and generative models. We leverage cutting\-edge machine learning technologies to drive innovation and enhance Robert Half’s recruiting, placement, and sales processes, as well as support modernization efforts across the organization.
We are seeking a passionate Software Engineer who is ready to grow their career while bringing practical experience to the future direction of our AI technology. Having invested heavily in data science, our AI leverages millions of proprietary data points and drives innovation across the core products at Robert Half. We are looking for candidates who have familiarity with production\-ready software systems, can translate complex AI concepts into reliable applications, collaborate effectively across technical and non\-technical teams, and contribute across implementation, testing, AWS\-based deployment, monitoring, and support. If you’re excited to build production\-level AI applications while continuing to deepen your expertise with an experienced team shaping the future of AI in the talent solutions industry, we’d love to have you join us!
What You'll Do
- Contribute to the design, build, testing, deployment, and monitoring of production\-grade generative AI applications, APIs, and integrations that support recruiting, placement, sales, and internal productivity workflows.
- Partner with data scientists, data engineers, DevOps, and business stakeholders to translate business needs into scalable technical solutions.
- Apply familiar GenAI patterns such as RAG, prompt orchestration, agent workflows, and evaluation pipelines while continuing to build expertise across leading LLM families and platform integrations.
- Write clean, maintainable, well\-tested code and contribute to technical documentation, code reviews, monitoring, and operational best practices.
What You'll Need
- Strong software engineering fundamentals with proficiency in Python and experience building APIs, services, data pipelines, or cloud\-based applications.
- Hands\-on familiarity with generative AI tools and concepts, such as LLM APIs, prompt engineering, RAG, vector databases, embeddings, evaluation methods, and leading LLM families; experience applying these concepts in production applications is strongly preferred.
- Experience with AWS and cloud\-based production environments, along with modern engineering practices such as Git, CI/CD, testing, observability, and agile delivery.
- Ability to communicate technical ideas clearly, collaborate across technical and non\-technical teams, and work through ambiguous problems with guidance and clear communication.
What We Offer
- A supportive environment where talent is encouraged to grow and take on new challenges.
- Opportunities to work on cutting\-edge projects in AI and data science.
- A culture that values diversity, inclusion, and the professional development of all team members.
The typical annual salary range for this position is shown below and is negotiable depending upon experience and location.
$68,000\.00 \- $102,000\.00
We offer exceptional earning potential and a competitive benefits package, including group health insurance benefits (medical, vision, dental), FSA and HSA healthcare accounts, life and accident insurance, adoption and fertility assistance, paid parental leave of up to 6 weeks, and short/long term disability. Robert Half provides paid time off for vacation, personal needs, and sick time. The amount of Choice Time Off (CTO) our people receive varies based on their years of service and is pro\-rated based on the hours worked per week. A new hire earns up to 17 days of CTO per calendar year. Our people also receive up to 11 paid holidays per calendar year. We also offer the opportunity to contribute to our company 401(k) savings and investment plan or deferred compensation plan (if eligible), with an employer match of 100% on the first 3% of your contributions for eligible employees. Learn more at https://roberthalfbenefits.com.
Robert Half Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. M/F/Disability/Veteran
As part of Robert Half’s Corporate Services facility employment process, any offer of employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Our recruiters use their expertise and may utilize AI to help with their evaluation of candidates.
Robert Half is committed to being an equal employment employer offering opportunities to all job seekers, including individuals with disabilities. If you believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to apply for a position, please contact us by sending an email to [email protected] or call 1\.855\.744\.6947 for assistance.
In your email please include the following:
- The specific accommodation requested to complete the employment application.
- The location(s) (city, state) to which you would like to apply.
For positions located in San Francisco, CA: Robert Half will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
For positions located in Los Angeles County, CA: Robert Half will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.
Salary Context
This $68K-$102K 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 Robert Half, 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. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $194,400. This role's midpoint ($85K) sits 61% below the category median. Disclosed range: $68K to $102K.
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.
Robert Half AI Hiring
Robert Half has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer. Based in New York, NY, US. Compensation range: $102K - $102K.
Location Context
AI roles in New York pay a median of $220,000 across 1,650 tracked positions.
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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