Senior Software Engineer - AI

At Just Appraised, we’re replacing outdated, manual local government workflows with modern software used by hundreds of government agencies across the United States. Our cutting-edge, AI-powered software, which leverages Natural Language Processing (NLP), replaces manual data entry to eliminate delays, backlogs, and errors. This work directly impacts how communities fund schools, infrastructure, and public services.About the RoleWe’re hiring an AI Engineer to help build the systems behind our AI conversation engine and automation platform.You’ll design and scale AI systems that generate responses, retrieve relevant knowledge, and connect LLM workflows to real government data systems.This is a role for engineers who enjoy building production AI systems with real applications and impact — not just prototypes.We don't have QA teams, dedicated designers, or product managers. We believe the best software is built by engineers who are empowered to own the entire journey. Here, you aren’t just executing on a spec; you are the architect, the designer, and the guardian of your code. You will scope the solution, build the interface, and support the production systems that keep local governments running. If you thrive in ambiguity and find "hand-offs" more frustrating than fulfilling, you’ll fit right in. If you prefer a neatly defined roadmap and a team to catch bugs before they ship, we’re likely not the right place for you.What You Will Work OnExamples of problems our AI engineers tackle:Designing scalable RAG pipelines for government knowledge basesBuilding conversation engines with memory, context, and stateImplementing LLM tooling and function-calling for system integrationDesigning evaluation harnesses and datasets for AI feature qualityPreventing hallucinations and improving grounded response generationScaling AI features across hundreds of government environmentsTech StackBackend: PythonData: PostgreSQLAI Systems: LLMs, embeddings, vector retrieval, RAG pipelinesInfrastructure: AWS, DockerDeveloper Tools: GitHub, Linear, Claude Code, Cursor, CI/CD, automated testingWe understand that engineers may not be an expert in all of these technologies day one. We value engineers with a growth and learning mindset.Your Role​​Build and evolve our Conversation Engine: powering pre-drafted email, chat, and voice responses, including conversation state, memory, and high-quality response generation.Own the RAG pipeline end-to-end: document ingestion, chunking strategies, embeddings, indexing, retrieval (hybrid/vector), reranking, and grounded response generation.Implement AI Tooling / function calling: connect LLM workflows to internal systems (e.g., account lookup, case context retrieval, knowledge base queries) with strong validation and safe execution patterns.Design evaluation and quality systems for AI features: offline eval harnesses, golden datasets, human feedback loops, monitoring for hallucinations/grounding, and regression prevention.Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, design, and ship new features.Work closely with business stakeholders and customers to translate requirements into technical specifications and documentation.Mentor and support engineering team members, promoting team efficiency and growth.Troubleshoot and debug complex issues, ensuring timely resolution and platform stability.Optimize application performance, reliability, and scalability, and uphold high standards for clean, maintainable code.Identify and proactively address technical debt and performance bottlenecks to drive iterative product improvement.What We’re Looking For2+ years of experience building production software, with strong proficiency in Python programming2+ years of experience working with and optimizing relational databases (e.g., SQL, PostgreSQL).Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS or similar)Proven experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) and building production-ready RAG pipelines.Strong proficiency in API design, data modeling, relational database design, and testing methodologies.Proficiency with modern DevOps practices: version control (Git), containerization (Docker), CI/CD (GitHub Actions), and automated testing frameworks.Most importantly, we look for engineers who:Care about building reliable AI systems in productionEnjoy working on complex real-world problemsTake ownership of systems from ideation to deploymentBenefitsCompetitive compensation and stock equity planComprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, and life insuranceCompany sponsored pre-tax retirement savings program (401k)A flexible work environment that supports working from homeFlexible PTOParental LeaveHome office stipendOriginally posted on Himalayas