Product Development Lead, AI & Enterprise Platforms

AFC Companies; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) plan with company match

Weekly pay

Career growth path; leadership whoKnow

Job summary

AFC Transport in Chicago/Tampa HQ is seeking an experienced software and AI leader to own products that connect operations, people and data. You will report to the VP of Technology & Operational Excellence and guide distributed developers and partners.

You will stay hands-on with the platform, build production AI using LangGraph and LangChain, and drive measurable business improvements through reliable tools, scalable architectures and thoughtful governance.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in software engineering with production systems ownership.
• Experience owning enterprise products from discovery to launch and adoption.
• Direct experience managing distributed developers and partners across time zones.
• Hands-on production AI with LangGraph, including tool use and approvals.
• Strong Python, TypeScript, SQL and API skills; AWS and PostgreSQL experience.

Responsibilities

• Turn business problems into useful products by collaborating with leaders and frontline staff.
• Own roadmap and delivery with a clear backlog, managing scope, dependencies and cost.
• Lead distributed development teams, coach engineers, and manage partners for quality.
• Build production AI and integrations using LangGraph/LangChain, APIs, with proper permissions and recovery.
• Stay hands-on with the platform across AWS, Supabase/PostgreSQL, Python/FastAPI and TS/React/Next.js.
• Launch, measure and improve: testing, release readiness, adoption, monitoring and support.

Skills

7+ years software engineering

enterprise product ownership

distributed teams leadership

production AI experience

LangGraph LangChain

Python

TypeScript

SQL

AWS

PostgreSQL

Supabase familiarity

Tools

LangGraph

LangChain

AWS

Docker

n8n

PostgreSQL

Supabase

TypeScript/React/Next.js

Python/FastAPI

Job description

Chicago, IL

At AFC, you're a name, not a number. We're a family-owned, women-owned transportation and logistics company headquartered in Tampa, FL, moving freight nationwide through our asset and brokerage operations. We're growing fast and building our own AI-powered operating platform, not just buying tools. We promote from within, and our leadership knows your name. If you want to build something, not just fill a seat, you'll fit in here.

The role

Own the products that connect AFC's operations, people and data. Reporting to the Vice President of Technology & Operational Excellence, you'll combine hands-on software and AI engineering with leadership of distributed developers and development partners. Success means reliable tools that employees use, less manual work and measurable business improvements.

What you'll do

• Turn business problems into useful products by working directly with department leaders and frontline employees to map workflows, define requirements and validate solutions
• Own the roadmap and delivery with the VP, keeping an actionable backlog and making scope, dependencies, cost and delivery tradeoffs clear
• Lead a distributed development team: set ownership, working-hour overlap and written handoffs, coach engineers, and hold development partners accountable for quality and delivery
• Build production AI and integrations using LangGraph/LangChain, APIs and MCP, with reliable state, human approvals, permissions, evaluations and recovery
• Stay hands-on with the platform, designing and building critical components across AWS, Supabase/PostgreSQL, Python/FastAPI and TypeScript/React/Next.js
• Launch, measure and improve: own testing, release readiness, adoption, monitoring and support handoffs, and measure business results, not just features shipped

What you bring

• Typically 7+ years in software engineering, or equivalent demonstrated experience, including technical leadership and ownership of production systems
• Experience owning enterprise products from discovery and prioritization through launch and adoption, with measurable results
• Direct experience managing distributed developers or development partners, including coaching, performance management and delivery across time zones
• Hands-on production AI experience with LangGraph, including tool use, persistence, human approvals, evaluation and permission-aware retrieval
• Strong Python, TypeScript, SQL and API skills, production AWS and PostgreSQL experience, and practical Supabase familiarity, plus the ability to explain technical decisions clearly to executives, developers and business users

Nice to have

• Transportation, logistics, ERP or fleet-system experience, including tools such as McLeod, Samsara, Fullbay, Greenhouse or Paylocity
• Experience with LangSmith, AWS Bedrock, infrastructure as code, Docker or n8n
• Experience building shared identity, permissions, audit, search and integration services across enterprise applications

What you get

• Competitive base pay of $160,000 to $200,000, plus a 15% target bonus
• Medical, dental, vision, and 401(k), with coverage starting the first of the month after 60 days
• 80 hours of PTO per year
• Weekly pay
• A clear path to grow, with leaders who know your name

Where you'll work

Tampa HQ, 1120 E Kennedy Blvd, or AFC's Chicago office. 5 days in office per week. You'll collaborate with U.S. leadership and overseas developers, with some schedule overlap across time zones and periodic travel to AFC locations.

Our process

A phone screen with People & Talent, a short Predictive Index assessment, an interview with the hiring manager, and a final conversation with leadership.

AFC Transport is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Reasonable accommodations are available for qualified individuals with disabilities. This description is not a contract of employment; employment with AFC is at-will. Duties may change based on business needs.