Jr. Software Engineer - AI & Prompt Engineering (Contract to Perm)

LOCALITY; New York (NY); On-site; USD 55,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care benefits

Retirement benefits

Paid days off

Job summary

Locality is seeking an entry-level Computer Science graduate for a contract-to-perm role in New York. You will apply prompt engineering and AI-assisted development to real production systems, building and refining AI-driven features.

The role emphasizes CS fundamentals, learning, and contributing to scalable services, with opportunities to work across APIs, data analysis, and automation workflows. Competitive benefits accompany a growth-oriented enviro nment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• Strong CS fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, basic system design.

Responsibilities

• Design and refine prompts for software development, data analysis, and automation workflows.
• Test, evaluate, and validate AI-generated outputs for correctness, security, and reliability.
• Build and maintain small services, scripts, and internal tools integrating AI models via APIs.
• Write clean, well-documented code and contribute to unit/integration testing.
• Debug issues across the stack, including AI outputs and API integrations.
• Participate in code reviews to improve quality and standards.
• Monitor AI-driven features in production and suggest improvements.

Skills

Prompt engineering

AI-assisted development

Python

JavaScript

Java

Git

Problem solving

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Git

APIs

HTTP requests

Job description

We are seeking an entry-level Computer Science graduate for a contract to perm role, who is excited about building software in an AI augmented world. This role is ideal for someone early in their career who understands core CS fundamentals and is eager to apply prompt engineering and AI assisted development techniques to real production systems.

Responsibilities

• Design and refine prompts to support software development, data analysis, and automation workflows, with a focus on consistency, reusability, and performance
• Test, evaluate, and validate AI-generated outputs (code, text, summaries) for correctness, security, and reliability; identify edge cases and implement safeguards where needed
• Assist in building and maintaining small services, scripts, and internal tools that integrate AI models via APIs, ensuring they are scalable and production-ready
• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code following established coding standards; contribute to unit and integration testing to ensure software quality
• Debug and troubleshoot issues across the stack, including AI-generated outputs, application logic, and API integrations
• Participate in code reviews by providing and incorporating feedback to improve code quality and team standards
• Contribute to system design discussions and help break down tasks into manageable components
• Monitor and evaluate the performance of AI-driven features in production; suggest improvements based on observed behavior and metrics
• Learn and apply best practices related to AI safety, hallucination detection, and output evaluation, and incorporate them into development workflows
• Work with version control systems (e.g., Git) to manage code changes, branches, and collaboration workflows

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience)
• Strong foundation in core computer science concepts, including data structures, algorithms, and basic system design
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, JavaScript, Java, or similar), with the ability to write clean, maintainable code
• Familiarity with software development fundamentals, including debugging, testing, and version control (e.g., Git)
• Basic understanding of APIs and experience making HTTP requests or integrating external services
• Exposure to AI tools, large language models, or prompt engineering concepts, with an interest in applying them to real-world problems
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to break down ambiguous problems into structured solutions
• Attention to detail, particularly when evaluating outputs for correctness and edge cases

Compensation for the role includes a competitive salary of **$40-$60/hr** (dependent on years of experience, level of education obtained, as well as applicable skillset) and an excellent benefits package (including but not limited to health care benefits, retirement benefits and paid days off).

At Locality, we believe our biggest asset is our people. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity employer, hiring and developing individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences to add to our collaborative culture. Locality values and solicits applications from all qualified candidates without regard to actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law.