AI Software Development Engineer (AI SDE1)

Overview

The AI Software Development Engineer (Junior) supports the design, development, testing, and documentation of AI-enabled applications and software components under the guidance of senior engineers and technical leads. This role contributes to feature implementation, bug fixing, testing, and prototyping activities while building foundational engineering capability in modern application development and AI-integrated systems.

The role operates within cross-functional delivery teams and collaborates closely with Technical Leads, Senior Engineers (SDE3), Mid-Level Engineers (SDE2), Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs), and Technical Program Managers (TPMs) to support the delivery of scalable, production-oriented applications.

This position is designed for early-career engineers who possess strong programming fundamentals and a willingness to learn modern development practices, cloud-native tooling, and foundational AI application patterns such as prompt engineering, embeddings, and vector search.

Responsibilities

Support the development and implementation of application features under technical guidance

Contribute to frontend and backend development tasks for AI-enabled applications and web platforms

Assist in developing APIs and backend services using Python and FastAPI

Support frontend implementation using React and Tailwind CSS

Participate in debugging, troubleshooting, and issue resolution during development and testing

Assist in integration testing, unit testing, and validation of implemented features

Support prompt implementation, prompt testing, and AI workflow integration under guidance

Assist in working with vector embeddings and vector databases for retrieval-based AI workflows

Support API integrations and external service integrations

Participate in source control practices including branching, commits, and pull request workflows

Assist in containerizing applications using Docker for local and test environments

Maintain technical documentation, implementation notes, and task updates

Communicate blockers, risks, and implementation challenges clearly to senior team members

Follow coding standards, security practices, and engineering guidelines established by the team

Participate actively in code reviews, technical discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions

Continuously learn and improve technical capability across software engineering and AI application development

Requirements

Experience

1 to 2 years of experience in software development or equivalent academic/project experience

Internship, project, or academic experience in web application development or backend systems is acceptable

Exposure to AI-enabled application development is preferred but not mandatory

Programming Fundamentals

Strong understanding of programming fundamentals and software development basics

Understanding of data structures, control flow, object-oriented programming, and modular coding practices

Basic debugging and problem-solving capability

Understanding of API-based application design principles

Frontend Development

Basic hands-on experience with React

Basic understanding of Tailwind CSS for UI styling

Understanding of component-based UI development

Basic understanding of Server-Sent Events (SSE) for streaming responses

Backend Development

Basic hands-on experience with Python

Basic understanding of FastAPI framework

Understanding of REST API principles

Basic understanding of request-response lifecycle and API integrations

AI/ML Fundamentals

Basic understanding of embeddings (vectorization) and semantic retrieval concepts

Basic understanding of prompt engineering concepts

Basic understanding of vector stores such as Chroma or Pinecone

Exposure to AI-assisted application workflows is preferred

Development Tools

Basic proficiency in Git and version control workflows

Familiarity with Postman for API testing

Basic knowledge of Docker for development environments

Basic understanding of development and debugging workflows

Security Fundamentals

Understanding of API key and secret handling practices

Basic understanding of OWASP security fundamentals

Awareness of secure coding basics and API security hygiene

Engineering Practices

Understanding of documentation discipline and coding standards

Ability to work within established engineering processes and review practices

Ability to follow implementation guidance and delivery standards

Soft Skills

Strong willingness to learn and adapt quickly

Attention to detail and quality mindset

Clear communication of blockers, issues, and progress

Strong responsiveness to technical guidance and feedback

Ability to work in fast-paced prototyping and iterative development environments

Strong collaboration mindset across engineering and delivery teams

Curiosity to learn new tools, frameworks, and AI technologies

Discipline in documentation and adherence to engineering standards

Ownership mindset for assigned tasks and deliverables

Nice to Have

Exposure to AI application development or LLM-based applications

Exposure to vector databases or retrieval-based workflows

Exposure to cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Exposure to CI/CD workflows

Exposure to modern frontend frameworks beyond React

Experience with hackathons, internships, or personal AI application projects

Japanese language proficiency

Language Requirements

English: Basic working proficiency required

Japanese: Proficiency required