AI Application Developer

Harley Ellis Devereaux•San Diego, CA

3h•Remote

About The Position

HED is expanding how we bring artificial intelligence to life across our practice and into the broader industry. As an AI Application Developer, you design and build full-stack, AI-powered applications that translate complex data and machine intelligence into intuitive, human-centered tools. These applications begin as internal accelerators and evolve into scalable, client-facing solutions that support HED’s near-term commercialization strategy and long-term industry impact. We are a team that is full of ideas, experience, creativity, passionate opinions, insatiable curiosity, uncompromising integrity, commitment, and skill. Our culture is about aspiration, embracing change and challenges, listening to (and learning from) each other, encouraging continual learning, and inspiring collective growth. As an inclusive, integrated architecture and engineering practice, we value the diversity of perspectives, experiences, abilities, and expertise that advance both the work we do, and the world we share. Working within HED’s Data & AI Platform team, you operate with a high degree of ownership—shaping requirements, architecting solutions, and delivering production-ready systems. You collaborate across disciplines to integrate data engineering, knowledge systems, and AI models into cohesive applications that elevate decision-making and transparency. You will focus on building AI-native, workflow-integrated systems that observe and augment real-world business processes—reducing manual data entry by inferring, capturing, and validating information from user activity across tools such as email, meetings, documents, and connected systems. You work within a governance-first culture where architecture decisions are documented, reviewed, and held to evidence-based standards. This role is suited for a builder who is energized by autonomy, driven by curiosity, and motivated to apply AI in real-world environments.

Requirements

5–8+ years of experience in full-stack development or equivalent AI application experience
React (modern patterns, state management)
Python/Flask backend development
REST API design
Tailwind CSS
Build tooling (Vite, npm)
Authentication (OAuth2, OIDC)
AI/LLM integration (OpenAI/Anthropic)
RAG and prompt design familiarity
CI/CD and Docker
Git workflows

Nice To Haves

Azure platform services
Databricks / Delta Lake
Observability tools (Grafana, Prometheus)
Agent frameworks (LangChain, CrewAI)
Document generation workflows
Experience working with unstructured data (e.g., NLP, entity extraction, document parsing, or similar techniques)
Familiarity with event-driven architectures or workflow orchestration patterns
Experience designing systems that minimize manual data entry through automation or inference
AEC industry experience

Responsibilities

Own the full lifecycle of AI-powered applications, including requirements definition, architecture, development, deployment, and ongoing evolution
Design and develop modern, performant web applications using React, with a focus on usability, accessibility, and clarity of experience
Build and maintain backend services using Python (Flask required), ensuring scalable, well-structured API design
Develop AI-native application features, including RAG-based workflows, conversational interfaces, and intelligent document generation
Design and implement event-driven, agentic workflows that respond to real-world signals (e.g., emails, meetings, documents) and trigger appropriate system actions or user prompts
Build systems that extract structured insights from unstructured data sources (natural language, documents, communications) to support downstream workflows and decision-making
Integrate AI/LLM services (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic) into production systems with attention to performance, cost, and reliability
Collaborate with data developers and knowledge experts to translate pipelines and machine learning outputs into user-facing capabilities
Partner directly with stakeholders across the firm to define problems, prototype solutions, and iteratively deliver meaningful outcomes
Contribute to the development of shared platform capabilities, including component libraries, authentication patterns, and developer tooling
Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines, containerized deployments, and cloud infrastructure (Azure preferred)
Ensure all applications align with HED governance standards, including security, authentication, observability, and responsible AI practices
Monitor application health, troubleshoot production issues, and maintain clear documentation and operational runbooks
Actively contribute to a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement across the Data & AI Platform team
Participate in structured technical reviews and cross-functional governance processes; contribute to architecture decision records (ADRs), operational runbooks, and review artifacts
Champion production-grade engineering practices including API versioning, error handling, automated testing, and scalability patterns