Applied AI Engineer

Fanatics Inc.•New York, NY

6d•$150,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

Fanatics is hiring full-time Applied AI Engineers for a small, senior team working across the company to transform business operations with AI. Engineers embed with corporate functions to identify bottlenecks, replace manual processes with production AI agents and workflows, demonstrate measurable results, and then move to another function. This is a hands-on role with end-to-end ownership: define problems, design and build solutions, prove their effectiveness, and drive adoption. The role offers autonomy, executive visibility, and joint reporting to the CFO and Corporate AI Transformation Lead. Candidates should have applied AI experience at a startup or fast-growing company and be comfortable moving quickly with limited resources. The engineer will build production-grade agents and agentic workflows using frontier models and modern AI tools, while working with business leaders to improve how teams operate. They will also contribute to company-wide AI standards, including tool evaluation, security coordination, governance, documentation, and coaching. The position is based in the NYC office with daily in-person collaboration. The stated base salary range is $150,000–$200,000 USD; the range excludes short- and long-term incentive compensation. Fanatics considers factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training when determining base pay.

Requirements

At least 3 years of experience in applied AI or software engineering, including experience at a startup or fast-growing company shipping AI-powered products or automations to real users.
Demonstrated experience building and deploying custom agents or agentic workflows with frontier LLMs to solve real business problems.
Fluency with LLM APIs, MCP, agent frameworks, prompt engineering, RAG, and evaluation methods.
Strong coding skills; Python is preferred.
Ability to choose the appropriate tool for a job, including buying or configuring rather than building.
Ability to work independently amid ambiguity, with speed, ownership, and follow-through.
Strategic mindset and practical orientation toward measurable business outcomes.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to earn trust and drive change with senior business leaders.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, AI/ML, Software Engineering, or a related field is preferred; equivalent practical experience is welcome.
Interest in sports, collectibles, or fandom culture.

Responsibilities

Embed within corporate functions to identify and address workflows where AI can reduce manual effort or unlock growth, then rotate to other functions.
Design, build, and deploy production-grade agents and agentic workflows using frontier models and modern agent tools.
Take high-impact use cases from concept to working solution quickly and demonstrate measurable results.
Choose effective solutions based on the problem, including custom agents or configuration of existing tools.
Partner with business leaders, take accountability for outcomes, and help teams rethink operations for an AI-first approach.
Evaluate whether problems are worth automating, define success criteria, and measure return on investment.
Help establish company-wide AI practices, including tool evaluation, coordination with security and InfoSec, governance, and best practices.
Document and showcase successful work, coach colleagues, and promote a culture of default automation.