Senior Software Engineer, AI

About Us

At Cast & Crew, we’ve empowered creativity and supported the global entertainment industry for decades. Together with our family of brands - Backstage, CAPS, Checks & Balances, Final Draft, Media Services, Sargent-Disc, and The TEAM Companies – we operate as a combined entertainment technology and services provider offering industry standard screenwriting accounting software, digital payroll products, data & reporting, and a host of creative tools.  The industry continues to move faster than ever, and the need for our expertise, our technology, and our people has never been greater.  We are a production’s best ally every step of the way. #OneCastOneCrew

Position Overview
We are looking for a highly skilled Senior AI Software Engineer to design and build smart, user-facing AI features that make complex business workflows simple, intuitive, and insightful. In this hands-on role, you’ll work across the full AI/ML stack to bring intelligent experiences—such as context-aware chatbots, AI-driven data explanations, automated task guidance, and interactive forecasting dashboards—to life.
This is a unique opportunity to shape how users interact with data, make decisions, and complete critical tasks across payroll, compliance, and labor management systems—using cutting-edge AI tools like LLMs, embeddings, and Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Key Responsibilities

AI-Powered Feature Development

• Design and develop context-aware AI assistants and chatbots that help users navigate complex workflows and answer domain-specific questions.
• Build AI-guided task assistants that proactively surface recommendations, fill in missing data, or automate next steps in real-time.
• Implement explainable AI (XAI) features that help users understand insights, predictions, or system decisions transparently.

Interactive Analytics, Forecasting & Dashboards

• Develop AI-driven dashboards and prediction engines that provide instant insights into user actions, financial trends, labor forecasts, and potential compliance risks.
• Build self-service AI tools that allow users to ask natural language questions of their data and receive visual, interpretable responses.
• Collaborate with UX and product teams to embed these insights directly into the application experience.

Architecture & Integration

• Build scalable backend services in Python, TypeScript, and Node.js, integrating with LLMs, vector stores, and analytics engines.
• Use Model Context Protocol (MCP) to manage and preserve context across chat, prediction, and recommendation workflows.
• Leverage cloud-native tools (AWS Lambda, SageMaker, Bedrock, DynamoDB) to deploy and scale AI features.

Engineering & Collaboration

• Write clean, production-quality code and participate in architectural reviews, technical design, and agile ceremonies.
• Work closely with data scientists, designers, and other engineers to prototype and ship AI-powered product experiences.
• Continuously evaluate emerging AI tools, LLM frameworks, and APIs to push the product’s intelligence capabilities forward.

Required Qualifications

• 5–8 years of professional software engineering experience, with significant hands-on AI/ML application development.
• Strong programming skills in Python, TypeScript, and Node.js, including experience building and integrating backend APIs.
• Experience building with LLMs, embeddings, and prompt engineering, especially for chat, recommendations, or summarization tasks.
• Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar frameworks for managing long-lived AI context.
• Proficiency in cloud platforms (preferably AWS) and data technologies (e.g., PostgreSQL, Redis, DynamoDB).
• Passion for delivering intuitive, AI-enhanced user experiences through strong cross-functional collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building AI features in productized environments—such as guided workflows, task automation, or user-facing insights.
• Familiarity with LangChain, Semantic Kernel, or similar orchestration frameworks.
• Knowledge of forecasting models, causal inference, or time-series prediction in business/product contexts.
• Experience building natural language interfaces over structured business data.
• Background in payroll, HR tech, fintech, or operational compliance is a plus.

Special Work Conditions    

• Sedentary – Involves sitting most of the time but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time. Some positions may entail exerting up to 15 lbs. of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force to lift, carry, push, or pull.

Benefits 

Cast & Crew provides a comprehensive package of employee benefits including: Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO, health and wellness programs, employee discounts, and more! Note: Cast & Crew benefits are subject to eligibility requirements.

Cast & Crew is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring a diverse workforce and sustaining an inclusive culture. It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals based on job-related qualifications and ability to perform a job, without regard to age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, disability, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship or marital status, and to maintain a non-discriminatory environment free from intimidation, harassment or bias based upon these grounds.

CA residents
Your personal information may be collected in connection with certain services provided by Cast & Crew or its affiliated companies.  A summary of your California privacy rights can be found at: https://www.castandcrew.com/privacy-policy/

Compensation is commensurate with various factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience, qualifications, skills, training, licensure, certifications, geographic cost of labor, and other business and organizational needs. Compensation range for candidates in other locations may differ based on the cost of labor in that location. The compensation range for this position is: $130,000.00 - $165,000.00 per year.