AI Product Engineer

The Texas Tribune • Austin, TX

1d • $100,000 • Remote

About The Position

The Texas Tribune is seeking a resourceful full stack engineer with a passion for ethical, responsible AI to accelerate how our organization uses artificial intelligence in real-world news products. At the Tribune, AI isn’t about replacing journalists. It’s amplifying the reach, quality and accessibility of local journalism.

This position sits within the Product Department, reports to our Technical Delivery Manager, and is key to building features that make our work more accessible and efficient across the Tribune and our new brands, including The Waco Bridge and Austin Current. We design and ship systems that help guide transformation as we launch and sustain new local newsrooms to serve more Texans.

This is not an editorial or research lab position, but you will work directly with journalists and product teammates to create and improve the technologies that power the Tribune.

The salary for this position starts at $100,000, depending on qualifications.

A possible initiative might involve developing and managing a network of MCP servers that link our work with journalistic data (e.g., the Tribune’s Schools Explorer or election API) to enable deeper content personalization across Tribune brands. This is one example of the kind of applied, impact-driven AI development you’d work on, but the exact project focus will evolve with newsroom needs and strategic goals.

You’re an adaptable, hands-on engineer eager to shepherd AI and ML features from early prototypes to production, within the context of a multidisciplinary product team. You have real experience integrating APIs and third-party services into platforms like WordPress, balancing rapid experimentation with reliability, user privacy and product/platform realities. You raise important questions about ethics, data usage and outcomes, and you confidently communicate AI concepts and decisions to non-specialists.

Nice To Haves

• Early-career or mid-level background in front- and back-end web development
• Experience implementing AI/ML features (Python, JS or relevant APIs), ideally with WordPress plugin or integration expertise
• Familiarity with responsible privacy, data security and accessibility practices
• Understanding of how journalists and content teams operate — interest in building usable, valuable internal tools
• Experience with or interest in cloud-based infrastructure for AI/data workflows
• Scrappy, gritty and creative — you’re literate in the way that AI can power your work and eager to experiment quickly on iterative projects.

Responsibilities

• Develop, deploy and maintain audience- and newsroom-facing AI features in the Tribune’s publication platforms (primarily WordPress), always aligning with newsroom needs, privacy and Tribune values.
• Work closely with product managers, designers, data, and editorial teams to scope, prototype and evolve production-ready tools that personalize content, improve accessibility and optimize workflows.
• Integrate off-the-shelf and custom AI/ML services (such as content tagging, chatbots or personalized recommendations) into the Tribune’s core stack with attention to performance, maintainability and responsible use.
• Uphold rigorous standards for transparency, privacy, data protection and ethical implementation, proactively addressing real-world risks.
• Document solutions for both technical and non-technical colleagues and participate in cross-team training and workshops to improve organization-wide AI literacy.
• Monitor, support and adapt AI-driven features post-launch, including planning for maintenance, updates and responsible sunsetting.
• Continually track new AI/ML opportunities and risks relevant to media and journalism, communicating findings openly to the team and making actionable recommendations.
• Contribute to the team’s broader product and platform goals — not just discrete AI experiments — by embedding AI responsibly into existing and new digital products.
• This role is opportunistic and leveraged: In 2026, they will participate in a number of funded cohorts designed to explore the use of AI in journalism.

Benefits

• Medical, vision and dental insurance
• Monthly cellphone stipend
• 20 days of paid time off each year
• 12 paid holidays
• Up to 16 weeks of paid family leave plus four weeks of additional job protection
• Annual 401(k) match
• Support for professional training and career development
• Remote working flexibility

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 51-100 employees