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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # AI Engineer III - **Company:** Spectraforce - **Location:** Mettawa, IL, United States (Remote available) - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Amazon S3, Automation of Tests, Cloud Computing, Code Review, Cyber Security, Computer Programming, Continuous Integration, Software Debugging, Identity and Access Management, Python (Programming Language), Systems Development Life Cycle, Software Engineering, TypeScript, Management of Software Versions, Web Services, Openapi, Data Logging, ReactJS, Large Language Models, Prompt Engineering, Model Validation, HybridCloud, Backend, Rate Limiting, Cloudformation, Fastapi, Amazon Relational Database Service, Infrastructure Automation Frameworks, Information Technology, AWS Fargate, Data Management, Front End Software Development, Api Design, Api Gateway, Web Api - **Published:** August 7, 2026 - **Apply:** https://jobs.localjobnetwork.com/apply/add/87955198/1 ## About the Role The AI/Python API Engineer is a core technical contributor whose primary expertise is building AI/LLM agentic features exposed via APIs in Python within an enterprise cloud environment. The role is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining a FastAPI (Python) backend that integrates large language models and other AI capabilities into enterprise production-grade services running on AWS. The defining requirements for this position are deep, hands-on experience across the areas of: AI agents, API development, Python, enterprise cloud (AWS preferred), and day-to-day use of Claude Code. These are the essential competencies; remaining skills, frontend and security, are valuable but secondary., Possess deep, hands-on experience with the AWS Strands agent framework (or equivalent) building AI/LLM-driven agentic features: prompt design, tool/function design and calling, observability, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), streaming responses, token/cost management, guardrails, and evaluation of model outputs. - Maintain expert-level proficiency in Python, including modern idioms, async programming, typing, and testing. - Demonstrate strong API development skills: designing and building robust, performant APIs (FastAPI strongly preferred), including async request handling, Pydantic data modeling, authentication/authorization, versioning, rate limiting, observability, and OpenAPI contracts. - Demonstrate substantial enterprise cloud experience, AWS preferred: building and operating production workloads with services such as Lambda, ECS/Fargate, API Gateway, S3, RDS, Secrets Manager, IAM, and CloudFormation/SAM, following infrastructure-as-code and cloud-governance practices. - Demonstrate effective, day-to-day use of Claude Code and AI-assisted development workflows to plan, write, review, and refactor code responsibly, increasing throughput without sacrificing quality. - Demonstrate critical problem-solving and debugging skills across AI, API, backend, and cloud concerns. - Demonstrate clear and concise written and verbal communication, including the ability to document technical decisions for technical and non-technical audiences. - Demonstrate the ability to prioritize and multi-task in a high-volume, rapidly paced environment. Nice to have (not required): - Experience with React 19 / TypeScript and modern frontend integration with backend APIs. - Information security and/or security architecture experience: secure SDLC, threat modeling, IAM/least-privilege design, and secrets/data-protection practices., Required: - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience). - Substantial professional experience building production APIs in Python - typically 5-8+ years of software engineering experience. - Demonstrated experience delivering AI/LLM-driven applications (prompting, RAG, tool use, output evaluation). - Hands-on experience with FastAPI or a comparable modern Python API framework. - Demonstrated enterprise cloud experience, AWS preferred, building and operating production workloads. - Practical, demonstrable experience using Claude Code (or equivalent AI-assisted development tooling) in a professional workflow. - Strong communication skills: verbal, written, and technical documentation. Desirable / nice to have: - Master's degree or equivalent related technical experience. - React 19 / TypeScript frontend experience. - Information security and/or security architecture experience. ## Description Design and implement FastAPI endpoints and services that expose AI/LLM capabilities securely and performantly. - Integrate and operationalize LLM/AI features - prompt engineering, model selection, guardrails, and output validation - into production workflows. - Deploy and operate application infrastructure in an enterprise AWS environment, following infrastructure-as-code practices. - Use Claude Code and AI-assisted tooling as a primary part of the development process to accelerate delivery while maintaining quality. - Establish and maintain automated testing, CI/CD, logging, and monitoring for reliable, on-time delivery. - Participate in code reviews and uphold coding and API-design standards. - Communicate progress, risks, and technical trade-offs to stakeholders in a timely, accurate manner. - (Nice to have) Contribute to the React 19 / TypeScript frontend as needed. ACCOUNTABILITY / SCOPE - Reports to the Engineering Lead / Technical Manager. - Partners with product, data/ML, and platform/cloud teams on project initiatives. - Accountable for the technical design, implementation, and operational health of the AI-driven Python API services and their cloud infrastructure. - Accountable for adherence to coding, security, cloud-governance, and compliance standards across all delivered work. - Adherence to all company-wide engineering, data-handling, and cloud-governance policies. ## Related Videos - [Intro to FastAPI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/462-intro-to-fastapi) - [WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Bitpanda’s AI First Approach](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1841-wearedevelopers-live-bitpanda-s-ai-first-approach) - [Developing the Backend with Stefan Lingler, CTO at Shpock](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100360-developing-the-backend-with-stefan-lingler-cto-at-shpock) - [Web APIs you might not know about](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/281-web-apis-you-might-not-know-about) - [Nest.js - TypeScript in the backend can also be clean](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1033-nest-js-typescript-in-the-backend-can-also-be-clean) - [Building and Deploying Multi-Agent Systems with ADK and Vertex AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1918-building-and-deploying-multi-agent-systems-with-adk-and-vertex-ai) ## Related Articles - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [MLOps And AI Driven Development](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/82-mlops-and-ai-driven-development) - [From Prototype to Production: Build AI Agents with This Free 4-Course Learning Path](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/655-from-prototype-to-production-build-ai-agents-with-this-free-4-course-learning-path) - [What Are Large Language Models?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/304-what-are-large-language-models) - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [What is Software Engineering in the Age of AI?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/640-what-is-software-engineering-in-the-age-of-ai)