Hands-on AI & Automation Lead

Dentsu International Americas, LLC; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 139,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

401k

Paid holidays

Flexible PTO

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Dentsu International Americas, LLC is seeking an AI/Automation Development Lead in New York City with a hands-on coding focus. You will guide a small, high-output team building AI-native applications and agentic automation systems using Flask/Python, React, and Azure.

The role combines leadership with frequent production coding and architecture ownership. The position emphasizes AI-assisted development as the baseline, requires strong Azure and SQL expertise, and offers a hybrid work arrangement

Qualifications

• 5+ years of full-stack development experience with Python/Flask and React or equivalent modern frameworks.
• Practical experience designing and building agentic AI workflows - autonomous agents, skills, tool-use patterns, and multi-step automation using LLM platforms (Claude, OpenAI, or equivalent)
• Proficiency with AI-assisted development tools (Claude Code, Cursor, or similar) as a daily working practice, not occasional experimentation
• Strong experience with Azure cloud services, particularly Azure Container Apps, Key Vault, and containerized deployments
• Expert-level SQL and hands-on experience with relational database administration, schema design, and performance optimization (MySQL preferred, Postgres or equivalent acceptable)
• Solid Git workflow management: branch protection policies, PR-based promotion flows, merge conflict resolution, and the discipline to enforce them across a team
• Working knowledge of CI/CD deployment workflows in Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions - you won’t own pipeline development, but you need to work fluently within them
• Experience with ETL pipeline development using Azure Data Factory or equivalent platforms
• API development and integration experience (REST, webhooks, OAuth/SCIM flows)
• Leadership & Collaboration

Responsibilities

• Design and build agentic AI solutions as a primary focus: autonomous agents, skills, tool-use patterns, and multi-step automation workflows using LLM platforms (Claude, OpenAI, Copilot)
• Develop AI-powered applications that integrate agentic capabilities into enterprise workflows - replacing manual processes with intelligent automation
• Build full-stack applications using Flask/Python backends and React frontends, deploying to Azure Container Apps
• Develop with Claude Code or equivalent AI-assisted tools as your default workflow - AI-assisted development is the baseline expectation, not a nice-to-have
• Design and maintain MySQL database schemas, write performant SQL, and build ETL pipelines for enterprise data workflows
• Implement end-to-end solutions incorporating data pipelines, automation workflows, and AI capabilities across multiple active codebases
• Work within established CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps, enforce branch protection policies, and own Git workflow discipline across the development team
• Provide technical direction and hands-on code review for a combined team of onshore and offshore developers
• Establish and enforce development standards: branching strategy, PR-based workflows, test coverage expectations, and deployment procedures
• Drive adoption of AI-assisted development practices across the team as a practical approach to accelerating delivery
• Conduct regular code reviews and pair programming sessions to raise the team’s technical bar
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and cross-training across time zones to reduce single-point-of-failure risks
• Participate in hiring and onboarding as the engineering function grows
• Take architectural direction and scoped requirements from the Engineering Manager and drive them through to production-ready code
• Own delivery timelines for development workstreams, balancing speed with sustainability - the ability to "yes, and here’s what it’ll take" is valued over unconditional commitment
• Build solutions that work within established governance frameworks (Legal, Security, CIO approval chains) without treating compliance as an obstacle
• Ensure applications meet compliance requirements (ICF/JSOX, data privacy regulations) by design through code quality and testing discipline
• Participate in discovery sessions and requirements gathering alongside the Engineering Manager for complex projects

Skills

Full-stack development

Python/Flask

React

Azure

SQL/MySQL

Git & CI/CD

Agentic AI

Leadership

Code reviews

Team coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Data Science/Engineering

Tools

Claude Code

OpenAI

Cursor

Azure Container Apps

MySQL

Docker

Azure DevOps

GitHub Actions

Job description

Dentsu International Americas, LLC is seeking an AI/Automation Development Lead in New York City with a hands-on coding focus. You will guide a small, high-output team building AI-native applications and agentic automation systems using Flask/Python, React, and Azure.

The role combines leadership with frequent production coding and architecture ownership. The position emphasizes AI-assisted development as the baseline, requires strong Azure and SQL expertise, and offers a hybrid work arrangement