Description

The Senior Application Engineer designs and builds resilient software for complex internal applications, with a focus on API development, data services, and cloud-based infrastructure. You bring strong programming fundamentals - data structures, system design, and sound tradeoffs - and apply that thinking across languages rather than being anchored to any one stack. You will integrate AI capabilities into our product suite and - critically - wield AI development tooling (Claude Code, Cursor, AI-enabled CLI, and agentic coding tools) and AI DevOps practices to build, iterate, govern, and scale those applications with greater speed and quality, designing around AI's strengths and failure modes. Day-to-day work spans a modern JavaScript frontend, a server-side language such as PHP or Python, and AWS infrastructure, but adaptability and engineering judgment matter more than time spent in any specific framework.

What You'll Do Every Day

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

  • System Design & Development: Collaborate in designing and building resilient, AI-integrated software for complex internal applications, with emphasis on API development, data services, and cloud infrastructure. You will work hands-on with code and architecture to ensure systems align with user needs, company objectives, and the growing role of AI within our product suite.
  • AI-Integrated Application Development: Build and maintain AI-powered features within internal applications, integrating APIs from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Scope, implement, and harden LLM-connected capabilities with an emphasis on reliability, performance, and practical utility - from integration design through testing and production deployment.
  • Coding and Development: Write and manage application code, scripts, and automations using JavaScript, Python, and PHP. Design and maintain serverless Cloud Functions on AWS, with emphasis on performance, reliability, and clean integration with AI-driven workflows.
  • Database Management: Perform data management using MySQL and PostgreSQL. Ensure the scalability, reliability, and security of all database systems supporting both traditional and AI-enhanced application layers.
  • Problem-Solving: Identify and resolve complex technical issues — including those specific to AI integration, model behavior, and API reliability — both independently and collaboratively, ensuring smooth operation across all systems and components.
  • Documentation & Reporting: Maintain clear, precise documentation of code, AI workflows, system behaviors, and processes. Keep records up to date and ensure all technical documentation is accessible for team members and stakeholders.
  • AI-Powered Development & DevOps: Wield AI effectively across the full development lifecycle - using tools like Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and AI-enabled CLI utilities to accelerate coding, code review, debugging, and testing. Champion AI DevOps practices for how the team builds, iterates, governs, and scales applications: automated pipelines, AI-assisted testing, deployment tooling, and performance monitoring. Evaluate emerging AI development tools, establish team standards for responsible use across the SDLC, and drive continuous improvement in how AI amplifies engineering output.
  • Implementation Oversight: Lead the implementation phase by overseeing code quality, performing reviews, and ensuring solutions follow best practices - including those specific to AI-integrated systems. Optimize application performance in cloud environments, focusing on efficient use of AWS services, SQS handling, and automated testing.
  • Projects & Teammate Mentorship: Provide mentorship and guidance to the development team, including on AI integration approaches, development tooling, and application architecture. Offer project consultation and support to uphold and advance our engineering gold standards.
  • Additional duties, as assigned.

This is a remote work opportunity with limited travel obligations, which requires demonstrating a level of dedication and commitment to being self-driven and accountable.



Requirements

  • 4+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a track record of shipping and maintaining production systems. Demonstrated exemplary performance may supersede the experience requirement.
  • Strong foundation in computer science fundamentals — data structures, algorithms, time/space complexity, and object-oriented and functional design patterns — with the ability to apply them across languages. Comfortable picking up new languages and frameworks as needed; current stack exposure to a modern JS framework (Vue/React) and a server-side language (PHP, Python, or Node) is helpful but not required. Laravel familiarity is a plus.
  • Experience integrating third-party APIs (including generative AI providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google) into production, with a clear understanding of rate limits, retries, idempotency, schema design, and failure modes.
  • Demonstrated proficiency with AI-powered development tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, or equivalent CLI and agentic coding tools — as a regular part of a professional engineering workflow.
  • Familiarity with AI DevOps practices: using AI tooling across the SDLC for code review, automated testing, deployment pipelines, and application monitoring.
  • Solid experience with SQL for data manipulation and analysis. Familiarity with data tools like Pandas is a plus.
  • Proven ability to build, deploy, and manage applications in cloud environments, specifically AWS.
  • Experience designing and implementing well-structured APIs for data integration across systems, with fluency in at least one paradigm (REST, GraphQL, gRPC, or event-driven/messaging) and an understanding of when each is appropriate.
  • Experience working with structured data and running extract, load, and transform (ETL) processes.
  • Strong debugging and systems-thinking skills: able to isolate issues across layers (client, service, data, infra) and reason about non-deterministic behavior, including in AI-integrated systems.
  • Effective communication with the ability to break down technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders.

Benefits

Why You’ll Love Working at OuterBox:

  • High-character, fun, and cohesive work culture
  • Competitive base salary
  • PTO that is genuinely encouraged
  • Affordable, low-deductible health insurance plans
  • Supplemental benefits, including employer-paid life insurance, short & long term disability insurance
  • 401k with company match
  • Remote work flexibility
  • Supportive, transparent, and accessible leadership that welcomes ideas, insights & feedback
  • Professional/individual development stipend
  • Salary Description: $95,000-$120,000

If you’re ready to join a cohesive team that will support and encourage you to take your career to the next level, we encourage you to apply!

Cohesive Culture + Good Humor + Combined Skills = Awesome Results

At OuterBox, what we won’t stop doing is winning as a team for our clients, while at the same time winning for each other as both professionals and individuals. We know our wins start with our incredible people, which is why for over 20 years we’ve created — and continuously refined — a team-centric work culture rooted in trust, respect, accountability, appreciation, fun, and collaboration. The Plain Dealer & Cleveland.com demonstrate this by having awarded OuterBox as a Top Workplace for three years running in 2022–2024!

At OuterBox, we’re here to thrive together — not simply survive. So if you’ve been searching for an agency that energizes, inspires, and directly helps you achieve the best for you, the person, and you, the professional, maybe it’s time to think outside the traditional agency box?

Physical Demands

  • Primarily involves sitting at a desk and using a computer for extended periods of time.
  • Light physical activity is also required, such as carrying equipment or setting up for presentations.
  • Requires a high level of mental focus and the ability to work under pressure.
  • Good manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and the ability to use a computer for extended periods are required.

Work Authorization/Requirements

Must be located in the USA.

We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement

Our company is an equal-opportunity employer committed to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected status.