Software Engineer - AI

Promise•Washington, DC

2d•$150,000 - $215,000•Hybrid

About The Position

At Promise, we’re transforming how people in financial difficulty connect with public services—using technology to make systems simpler, faster, and more human. As a Software Engineer - AI, you’ll design and deliver end-to-end generative AI and large language model (LLM) applications that directly power this mission. You’ll build AI pipelines and infrastructure for prompt engineering, fine-tuning, document parsing, and RAG systems, and help bring new AI capabilities from early concept into real-world deployment. You’ll be developing AI products that will be deployed across a variety of complex customer use cases. This role requires comfort operating in ambiguity and strong technical judgment about what to build now versus what to scale over time. Your work will drive innovation, automation, and efficiency across our platform—helping government services reach people more effectively and with greater dignity. This is a chance to be on the frontier of applied AI: shaping systems that not only push technical boundaries but also make a real-world impact at scale.

Requirements

Comfort operating in ambiguity
Strong technical judgment about what to build now versus what to scale over time
US persons (US citizens and permanent residents)
Reside in the US

Nice To Haves

Taken a product or major feature from 0→1.
Experience building in early-stage or high-growth environments.
Founded or co-founded something — even if it didn’t succeed.
Scaled AI-powered systems beyond initial prototypes.
Strong product instincts alongside technical depth.

Responsibilities

Design and develop AI-powered applications and services, focusing on generative AI and LLMs.
Implement services for generative AI integrations, document parsing, model fine tuning, and RAG systems, ensuring they are reliable and production-ready.
Partner across teams to identify opportunities where AI reduces friction, increases efficiency, and solves real-world challenges.
Track and apply advancements in the AI landscape, guiding strategy and adoption.
Contribute to the vision, goals, and roadmap for AI/ML development at Promise as an individual contributor with meaningful ownership over technical decisions.