Lead AI Developer

Justworks, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Quotient|HR is seeking a Lead AI Developer to own the end‑to‑end technical implementation of an AI‑native HR platform. You will be the lead engineer from day one, comfortable in an unfamiliar, under‑documented codebase, and ready to shape architecture while the product scales.

You will build agentic decision systems, guardrails, and RBAC controls, driving this platform beyond MVP. This role requires ownership of ambiguity in a fast‑moving, compliance‑heavy domain.

Qualifications

• Need senior engineering autonomy with minimal oversight.
• Experience with agentic LLM systems that act with real consequences.
• Experience designing eval/guardrail systems for AI that makes autonomous decisions.
• Strong security instincts: RBAC, scoped tool-calling, permissioning.

Responsibilities

• Design, harden, and extend agentic decision systems.
• Build evals/guardrails for autonomous policy-driven decisions.
• Ensure RBAC and permissioning for scoped tool‑calling.
• Reverse‑engineer and stabilize an existing product.
• Influence architecture and stack decisions as the platform matures.
• Establish technical practices and documentation for a future team.

Skills

Senior‑level engineer

Agentic LLM systems

Security engineering

RBAC

Unfamiliar codebase navigation

Ambiguity ownership

Tools

Security tools

Codebase stabilization

Job description

iQHR is the AI-native Human Resource Engine built by HR professionals for the realities of modern teams. We replace traditional HRIS complexity with a purpose-built system designed to reduce friction, simplify daily work, and free HR teams to focus on people instead of endless processes.

HR by HR. AI at the core. Zero configuration.

Built by practitioners who understand how HR actually works—not by software teams guessing at it. Purpose-built with AI at its foundation to automate repetitive tasks, accelerate decisions, and move work forward in real time. Opinionated by design with proven defaults, a pre-built journey library, and pre-configured security profiles so teams can launch in days, not months.

Our foundation is simple: People. Journeys. Policies. Permissions. Employees and managers simply ask in plain language—and get work done—without hunting through menus, forms, or tickets. As our founder puts it: “Technology should adapt to people, not force people to adapt to technology.”

The Role

We're building an AI-native HR management platform. Not a traditional HRIS with a chatbot bolted on, but a system where AI is core to the product: interpreting published policy, answering employee questions, driving approval workflows, and flagging compliance risk. The platform is designed around scoped, per-policy agentic decision‑making — policy itself defines what the AI can decide autonomously and what must be escalated to a human.

We're hiring a Lead AI Developer to own the technical implementation of the system, end to end. This is a hands‑on, individual‑contributor role where you'll be the lead engineer from the outset, with the expectation that you help shape and grow the team as the platform matures.

To succeed in this role, you will need to walk into an unfamiliar and likely under‑documented codebase, and get productive fast, potentially with limited transition time. Comfort auditing and taking ownership of a system you didn't build, under real time pressure, is a core requirement - not a nice‑to‑have.

What You’ll Own

• Agentic decision systems: Design, harden, and extend agent(s) that act on published policy with scoped, per-policy tool permissions, and determine what the AI can act on autonomously and what requires human sign‑off.
• Guardrails and evals: Build the evaluation and guardrail infrastructure that makes autonomous policy‑driven decisions trustworthy and auditable. This is the system’s primary compliance safeguard, and you own its integrity.
• Security and access control: Design and implement RBAC and permissioning for scoped tool‑calling, ensuring the agent(s) can only take actions the current policy explicitly authorizes.
• Codebase ownership: Reverse‑engineer, document, and stabilize the existing product, and drive it toward its next roadmap milestone or market launch.
• Architecture and stack decisions: You’ll have real influence over technical direction as the platform matures beyond MVP.
• Team foundation: Establish the technical practices, documentation, and architecture that a future team will build on top of.

What We’re Looking For

Must-have:

• Senior‑level engineer capable of operating with minimal oversight — you’ll be making architecture and risk‑tradeoff calls independently.
• Real production experience with agentic LLM systems — not prompt‑engineering demos, but systems that act, with consequences.
• Direct experience designing eval and/or guardrail systems for AI systems that make consequential or autonomous decisions.
• Strong security engineering instincts: RBAC, scoped tool‑calling, permissioning, and the general discipline of "what should this system be allowed to do, and how do we prove it."
• Engineering instincts shaped by experience in safety‑critical or regulated industries where getting it wrong has real consequences (e.g., fintech, healthtech, legal‑tech).
• Demonstrated ability to walk into an unfamiliar, undocumented codebase and quickly become productive and confident in it.
• Comfort owning ambiguity: this is an early‑stage product, and the stack, architecture, and scope will evolve under your influence.

Nice-to-have:

• HR or HRIS domain knowledge (genuinely a plus, not required — we don’t expect you to be an HR expert).
• Prior experience as a first or founding engineer, or in a similarly high‑ownership solo technical role.
• Experience with policy-engine or rules‑engine design patterns.

Equal Opportunity Employer

iQHR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please let us know.

Quotient|HR is an Equal Employment Opportunity Company

Quotient|HR is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We strive to create an inclusive workplace where every individual is valued and respected, and we make employment decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs.