Lead Software Engineer - AI

Commerce.com; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 163,000 - 245,000; Full time

Job summary

Commerce is seeking an experienced AI Lead Engineer to define and lead the architectural direction of AI services across the organization. You will shape architecture, design standards, and production-grade implementations, partnering with Product and Engineering leadership to translate business goals into scalable AI solutions.

The role combines hands-on development with architectural leadership, ensuring reliable, cost-aware AI systems.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong proficiency in Go and building production-grade API-driven services.
• 3+ years of experience building and deploying AI/ML systems in production.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve architectural direction for AI services.
• Lead high-level and low-level design for major AI programs.
• Build and evolve scalable, API-driven AI services in Go.
• Develop LLM-based solutions, including classification, extraction, and RAG workflows.
• Mentor Senior AI Engineers through design reviews and guidance.

Skills

Go (GoLang)

Python

AI/ML systems

LLM ecosystems

RAG

API design

Cloud infrastructure

Vector databases

SQL

Tools

Git

Job description

Welcome to the Agentic Commerce Era At Commerce, our mission is to empower businesses to innovate, grow, and thrive with our open, AI-driven commerce ecosystem. As the parent company of BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift, we connect the tools and systems that power growth, enabling businesses to unlock the full potential of their data, deliver seamless and personalized experiences across every channel, and adapt swiftly to an ever-changing market. We believe in harnessing AI responsibly to unlock new possibilities, and we’re looking for individuals who use it intentionally to solve problems, accelerate outcomes, and expand what’s possible in their role. Our purpose is to help businesses confidently solve complex commerce challenges so they can build smarter, adapt faster, and grow on their own terms. If you want to be part of a team of bold builders, sharp thinkers, and technical trailblazers who shape the future of commerce, this is the place for you.

As a Commerce brand, Feedonomics is a leading product feed management platform that helps brands, retailers, and agencies list and optimize products across top ecommerce channels worldwide. Feedonomics manages everything from onboarding to ongoing feed optimization, enabling our clients to scale faster with less effort. Feedonomics has earned a strong reputation for a full-service model and powerful technology—all rooted in a commitment to excellence.

We are seeking a highly accountable, hands-on AI Lead Engineer to define and lead the architectural direction of our AI services, establishing the standards and patterns that guide implementation. As a key member of the AI technical staff, you will shape the architecture, design standards, and implementation approach for production-grade AI systems that power critical business capabilities. You will partner closely with Product and Engineering leadership to translate business objectives into scalable, well-architected AI solutions. This role combines deep hands-on development with architectural leadership: setting technical patterns, guiding major initiatives from design through delivery, and ensuring our AI services are reliable, performant, and cost-aware in production.

What You'll Do

• Define and evolve the architectural direction for AI services and initiatives
• Lead high-level and low-level design for major AI programs
• Establish architectural patterns and technical guidelines that other engineers follow
• Build and evolve scalable, API-driven AI services in Go
• Develop LLM-based solutions, including classification, extraction, structured generation, and RAG workflows
• Drive rapid experimentation and prototyping (often in Python), ensuring clear paths to production-ready implementations
• Define and enforce standards for evaluation, cost-awareness, and operational reliability across AI systems
• Mentor Senior AI Engineers through design reviews and technical guidance
• Collaborate with Staff Engineers when broader architectural alignment is required

How You’ll Work

Work directly with Product Managers and stakeholders to clarify goals and define measurable success criteria Balance hands-on engineering with architectural oversight Ensure architectural consistency and adherence to established design standards Raise the technical bar through thoughtful reviews and shared engineering standards

Who You Are

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Strong proficiency in Go (GoLang) and experience building production-grade, API-driven services
• Proficiency in Python for experimentation, prototyping, and scripting
• 3+ years of experience building and deploying AI/ML systems in production environments
• Strong experience with modern LLM ecosystems (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging Face)
• Deep understanding of LLM-based solution patterns, including Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), structured outputs, schema-driven generation, and agents/orchestration workflows
• Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers and orchestration approaches
• Experience evaluating LLM performance in production contexts, including prompt design, quality measurement, and model comparison
• Experience designing and operating scalable API services at scale
• Strong experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Experience with vector databases and inference systems
• Strong SQL skills and familiarity with modern data storage technologies

Nice to Have

Experience working with large taxonomies or structured classification systems

What Success Looks Like

• AI initiatives ship with strong architectural integrity and measurable business impact
• AI services are scalable, reliable, and cost-aware in production
• Clear architectural direction is reflected in design decisions and implementation standards
• Senior Engineers grow in capability through mentorship and architectural guidance
• Cross-functional collaboration results in well-aligned, well-executed AI solutions

Pay Transparency

#LI-LH1 #LI-REMOTE (Pay Transparency Range: $163,040 - $244,560) Compensation Transparency The national base salary range for this role is posted above in this job post. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as relevant experience, skills, qualifications and geographic location. We also consider internal equity to help ensure fair and consistent pay practices across our teams. Where applicable, this role may also be eligible for variable compensation (such as bonus or commission), equity, and benefits in accordance with local policies. Details will be shared during the hiring process. We are committed to equitable and transparent pay practices that align to market data, internal equity, and individual contribution.

Inclusion and Belonging

At Commerce, we believe that celebrating the unique histories, perspectives and abilities of every employee makes a difference for our company, our customers and our community. We are an equal opportunity employer and the inclusive atmosphere we build together will make room for every person to contribute, grow and thrive. We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates. If you require accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.

The Commerce story is one of global growth, incredible talent, and unstoppable passion in all we do. Despite our huge success so far, we're still just getting started! Explore our history, mission and values. You'll see we're set on shaping the now - and the future - of ecommerce. Don't Miss Out! Like what you see but suffering from some serious FOMO? Join our Commerce Talent Community, and plug in to our latest news and career opportunities. We're a group of clever, committed, curious people, unleashing talent in all we do. We believe in the power of togetherness, striving at the edge of what's possible, impacting the lives of billions of people for the better. In all we do, We Do Extraordinary - and that's no small feat! Our people are our power. It's only through dedication, collaboration, and inspiration that we can Do Extraordinary. We're natural problem-solvers, champions of empowering businesses, and hungry learners… but we also play nerf wars in the office, support each other, and hang out outside of work.