AI Software Development Engineer (AI SDE1)

Overview

The AI Software Development Engineer (Junior) supports the design, development, testing, and documentation of AI-enabled applications and software components under the guidance of senior engineers and technical leads. This role contributes to feature implementation, bug fixing, testing, and prototyping activities while building foundational engineering capability in modern application development and AI-integrated systems.

The role operates within cross-functional delivery teams and collaborates closely with Technical Leads, Senior Engineers (SDE3), Mid-Level Engineers (SDE2), Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs), and Technical Program Managers (TPMs) to support the delivery of scalable, production-oriented applications.

This position is designed for early-career engineers who possess strong programming fundamentals and a willingness to learn modern development practices, cloud-native tooling, and foundational AI application patterns such as prompt engineering, embeddings, and vector search.

Responsibilities

• Support the development and implementation of application features under technical guidance
• Contribute to frontend and backend development tasks for AI-enabled applications and web platforms
• Assist in developing APIs and backend services using Python and FastAPI
• Support frontend implementation using React and Tailwind CSS
• Participate in debugging, troubleshooting, and issue resolution during development and testing
• Assist in integration testing, unit testing, and validation of implemented features
• Support prompt implementation, prompt testing, and AI workflow integration under guidance
• Assist in working with vector embeddings and vector databases for retrieval-based AI workflows
• Support API integrations and external service integrations
• Participate in source control practices including branching, commits, and pull request workflows
• Assist in containerizing applications using Docker for local and test environments
• Maintain technical documentation, implementation notes, and task updates
• Communicate blockers, risks, and implementation challenges clearly to senior team members
• Follow coding standards, security practices, and engineering guidelines established by the team
• Participate actively in code reviews, technical discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions
• Continuously learn and improve technical capability across software engineering and AI application development

Requirements

Experience

• 1 to 2 years of experience in software development or equivalent academic/project experience
• Internship, project, or academic experience in web application development or backend systems is acceptable
• Exposure to AI-enabled application development is preferred but not mandatory

Programming Fundamentals

• Strong understanding of programming fundamentals and software development basics
• Understanding of data structures, control flow, object-oriented programming, and modular coding practices
• Basic debugging and problem-solving capability
• Understanding of API-based application design principles

Frontend Development

• Basic hands-on experience with React
• Basic understanding of Tailwind CSS for UI styling
• Understanding of component-based UI development
• Basic understanding of Server-Sent Events (SSE) for streaming responses

Backend Development

• Basic hands-on experience with Python
• Basic understanding of FastAPI framework
• Understanding of REST API principles
• Basic understanding of request-response lifecycle and API integrations

AI/ML Fundamentals

• Basic understanding of embeddings (vectorization) and semantic retrieval concepts
• Basic understanding of prompt engineering concepts
• Basic understanding of vector stores such as Chroma or Pinecone
• Exposure to AI-assisted application workflows is preferred

Development Tools

• Basic proficiency in Git and version control workflows
• Familiarity with Postman for API testing
• Basic knowledge of Docker for development environments
• Basic understanding of development and debugging workflows

Security Fundamentals

• Understanding of API key and secret handling practices
• Basic understanding of OWASP security fundamentals
• Awareness of secure coding basics and API security hygiene

Engineering Practices

• Understanding of documentation discipline and coding standards
• Ability to work within established engineering processes and review practices
• Ability to follow implementation guidance and delivery standards

Soft Skills

• Strong willingness to learn and adapt quickly
• Attention to detail and quality mindset
• Clear communication of blockers, issues, and progress
• Strong responsiveness to technical guidance and feedback
• Ability to work in fast-paced prototyping and iterative development environments
• Strong collaboration mindset across engineering and delivery teams
• Curiosity to learn new tools, frameworks, and AI technologies
• Discipline in documentation and adherence to engineering standards
• Ownership mindset for assigned tasks and deliverables

Nice to Have

• Exposure to AI application development or LLM-based applications
• Exposure to vector databases or retrieval-based workflows
• Exposure to cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Exposure to CI/CD workflows
• Exposure to modern frontend frameworks beyond React
• Experience with hackathons, internships, or personal AI application projects
• Japanese language proficiency

Language Requirements

• English: Basic working proficiency required
• Japanese: Proficiency required
• Support the development and implementation of application features under technical guidance
• Contribute to frontend and backend development tasks for AI-enabled applications and web platforms
• Assist in developing APIs and backend services using Python and FastAPI
• Support frontend implementation using React and Tailwind CSS
• Participate in debugging, troubleshooting, and issue resolution during development and testing
• Assist in integration testing, unit testing, and validation of implemented features
• Support prompt implementation, prompt testing, and AI workflow integration under guidance
• Assist in working with vector embeddings and vector databases for retrieval-based AI workflows
• Support API integrations and external service integrations
• Participate in source control practices including branching, commits, and pull request workflows
• Assist in containerizing applications using Docker for local and test environments
• Maintain technical documentation, implementation notes, and task updates
• Communicate blockers, risks, and implementation challenges clearly to senior team members
• Follow coding standards, security practices, and engineering guidelines established by the team
• Participate actively in code reviews, technical discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions
• Continuously learn and improve technical capability across software engineering and AI application development

Experience

• 1 to 2 years of experience in software development or equivalent academic/project experience
• Internship, project, or academic experience in web application development or backend systems is acceptable
• Exposure to AI-enabled application development is preferred but not mandatory

Programming Fundamentals

• Strong understanding of programming fundamentals and software development basics
• Understanding of data structures, control flow, object-oriented programming, and modular coding practices
• Basic debugging and problem-solving capability
• Understanding of API-based application design principles

Frontend Development

• Basic hands-on experience with React
• Basic understanding of Tailwind CSS for UI styling
• Understanding of component-based UI development
• Basic understanding of Server-Sent Events (SSE) for streaming responses

Backend Development

• Basic hands-on experience with Python
• Basic understanding of FastAPI framework
• Understanding of REST API principles
• Basic understanding of request-response lifecycle and API integrations

AI/ML Fundamentals

• Basic understanding of embeddings (vectorization) and semantic retrieval concepts
• Basic understanding of prompt engineering concepts
• Basic understanding of vector stores such as Chroma or Pinecone
• Exposure to AI-assisted application workflows is preferred

Development Tools

• Basic proficiency in Git and version control workflows
• Familiarity with Postman for API testing
• Basic knowledge of Docker for development environments
• Basic understanding of development and debugging workflows

Security Fundamentals

• Understanding of API key and secret handling practices
• Basic understanding of OWASP security fundamentals
• Awareness of secure coding basics and API security hygiene

Engineering Practices

• Understanding of documentation discipline and coding standards
• Ability to work within established engineering processes and review practices
• Ability to follow implementation guidance and delivery standards

Soft Skills

• Strong willingness to learn and adapt quickly
• Attention to detail and quality mindset
• Clear communication of blockers, issues, and progress
• Strong responsiveness to technical guidance and feedback
• Ability to work in fast-paced prototyping and iterative development environments
• Strong collaboration mindset across engineering and delivery teams
• Curiosity to learn new tools, frameworks, and AI technologies
• Discipline in documentation and adherence to engineering standards
• Ownership mindset for assigned tasks and deliverables

Nice to Have

• Exposure to AI application development or LLM-based applications
• Exposure to vector databases or retrieval-based workflows
• Exposure to cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Exposure to CI/CD workflows
• Exposure to modern frontend frameworks beyond React
• Experience with hackathons, internships, or personal AI application projects
• Japanese language proficiency

Language Requirements

• English: Basic working proficiency required
• Japanese: Proficiency required