Junior Software Engineer

Jobtailor; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in San Diego, CA is seeking a software engineer to take Discovery Agent prototypes through the full SDLC, focusing on Python-based backend services and API design.

You will work with AWS, data pipelines, and AI tooling to turn business requirements into shipped features, while contributing to testing, observability, and production support for an AI-driven service.

Qualifications

• 1-2 years of experience in a software engineering or development environment.
• Master's Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a closely related field.

Responsibilities

• Take Discovery Agent prototypes, such as Vertex AI-based prototypes, through the software development life cycle.
• Contribute to design, implementation, testing, and deployment via API and Agentic access.
• Harden proof-of-concept agent code toward production quality through error handling, observability, testing, and basic cost/latency awareness.
• Build test cases and evaluation checks for agent behavior.
• Support data ingestion and pipeline work feeding the agent using AWS/BigData tooling.
• Work with the Product team and senior engineers to turn business requirements into shipped features.
• Contribute to production support practices including monitoring, alerting, incident response, and troubleshooting for an AI-driven service.
• Leverage AI and emerging technologies to improve productivity, enhance decision-making, and continuously optimize work.

Skills

Python programming

API design

Clear communication

Education

Master's Degree in Computer Science/Data Science/Engineering

Tools

AWS

PySpark

Airflow

OpenSearch/Elasticsearch

Terraform

AWS CDK

Job description

• Take Discovery Agent prototypes, such as Vertex AI-based prototypes, through the software development life cycle
• Contribute to design, implementation, testing, and deployment via API and Agentic access
• Harden proof-of-concept agent code toward production quality through error handling, observability, testing, and basic cost/latency awareness
• Build test cases and evaluation checks for agent behavior
• Support data ingestion and pipeline work feeding the agent using AWS/BigData tooling
• Work with the Product team and senior engineers to turn business requirements into shipped features
• Contribute to production support practices including monitoring, alerting, incident response, and troubleshooting for an AI-driven service
• Leverage AI and emerging technologies to improve productivity, enhance decision-making, and continuously optimize work

Requirements

• 1-2 years of experience working in a software engineering or development environment
• Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a closely related field
• Solid foundation in Python and/or another backend language
• Ability to write clean, readable, testable code
• Understanding of SQL and/or NoSQL databases
• Basic API design knowledge, REST at minimum
• Exposure to cloud infrastructure, AWS preferred
• Self-starter mindset and comfort with ambiguity
• Genuine interest and hands-on experimentation with modern AI tooling
• At least one project involving an LLM doing more than single-shot Q&A, such as calling tools/functions, chaining steps, using retrieval, or coordinating multiple steps
• Comfortable using AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor
• A good collaborator who communicates clearly and is comfortable working alongside more senior engineers
• Coursework or projects using data pipeline tools such as PySpark, Airflow, or similar is a plus, not a requirement
• Coursework or projects touching Apache Airflow, Dagster, OpenSearch/Elasticsearch, Spark, Presto/Trino, or Hive is nice to have
• Familiarity with TypeScript, React, or Node.js is nice to have
• Exposure to infrastructure-as-code such as Terraform or AWS CDK is nice to have
• Interest or coursework in identity verification, fraud, security, or fintech is nice to have
• Legally eligible to work in the USA

Core Competencies

Demonstrates strong capabilities in Python programming, API design, and cloud infrastructure, particularly with AWS. Proven experience in software development life cycle, data ingestion, and production support practices for AI-driven services.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Python Programming
• API Design
• AWS Cloud Infrastructure
• Data Pipeline Tools
• AI Tooling Experience

Hard Skills

• Software Development Life Cycle
• SQL Databases
• NoSQL Databases
• Test Case Development
• Error Handling
• Observability
• Clean Code Practices
• Basic Cost Awareness
• LLM Project Experience
• Backend Language Proficiency

Soft Skills

• Collaboration
• Clear Communication
• Self-Starter Mindset
• Comfort with Ambiguity

Certifications & Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Computer Science
• Master's Degree in Data Science
• Master's Degree in Engineering

Industry Keywords

• AI
• Fintech
• Identity Verification
• Fraud
• Security

Tools & Technologies

• AWS
• PySpark
• Airflow
• Apache Airflow
• OpenSearch
• Elasticsearch
• Spark
• Presto
• Trino
• Terraform