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About This Role
TCP is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive team. However, we are not able to sponsor visas for this role.
About TCP (TimeClock Plus):
For more than 30 years, TCP has helped organizations engage their people by providing flexible, mobile timekeeping and workforce management solutions. Trusted by tens of thousands of customers and millions of users, TCP delivers best\-in\-class technology and personalized support to organizations of all sizes in the public and private sector to meet their complex timekeeping, employee scheduling, leave management and other workforce needs. Growth is happening and our vision for a successful future is clear – We’d love for you to join us on this journey! For more information on TCP, visit www.tcpsoftware.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook.
As a Software Engineer IV (AI), you will:
- Design, develop, test, and document cloud\-hosted web applications in a cross\-functional agile environment.
- Deliver quality code backed by unit tests and automated acceptance tests.
- Review, define, analyze, and improve detailed specifications and implement feature development.
- Build and maintain test automation to ensure fast delivery of quality products.
- Lead peer code reviews and guide the team toward best practice design patterns.
- Use AI\-assisted development tools to accelerate delivery and hold AI\-generated code to the same review standard as human\-written code.
- Mentor junior team members and provide technical leadership.
- Operate independently, setting priorities and goals while continuing to learn and grow technically.
Our Technology Stack:
- Backend: C\# on modern .NET and .NET Framework in a multi\-tier service architecture.
- Frontend: JavaScript and AngularJS, with Jasmine unit tests.
- Database: Microsoft SQL Server, including schema projects and idempotent migration scripts.
- Delivery: Docker, Jenkins CI/CD, and cloud\-hosted deployment.
- AI tooling: agentic development pipelines, MCP integrations, and AI\-assisted code review.
Requirements
- 6\+ years of professional software development experience.
- Deep production experience with C\#/.NET, SQL Server, and web application development.
- Experience with JavaScript frameworks, including maintaining or modernizing legacy frontends.
- The ability to understand requirements and solve technical issues without supervision, serving as a technical lead.
- Recognition as an emerging technical leader within the team, often acting as a team lead.
AI Experience Requirements:
- Hands\-on daily use of AI coding assistants or agentic tools, such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor.
- The ability to critically review, test, and harden AI\-generated code before it ships.
- Familiarity with prompt design and multi\-agent or automated development workflows.
- A clear understanding of the limits and risks of AI\-generated code, including security and licensing concerns.
- Preferred: experience with LLM APIs, MCP servers, or building internal AI tooling.
Physical Requirements:
- Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
- Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.
Benefits
- Competitive salary
- 20 Days of PTO (Paid Time Off) and 13 days of companywide holidays
- 8 hours to volunteer and impact the community
- Comprehensive benefits (Health/Dental/Vision/ 401K)
- Employee Choice Pre\-Tax Benefit
TCP is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Role Details
About This Role
AI Software Engineers build the applications and systems that AI models run inside. They own the API layers, data pipelines, frontend integrations, and infrastructure that turn a model into a product users interact with. Every AI company needs engineers who can build the software around the AI.
The challenge is building reliable systems around inherently unreliable components. Models are probabilistic. They'll give different answers to the same question. They hallucinate. They're slow. They're expensive. Your job is to build an application layer that handles all of this gracefully while delivering a product that users trust and enjoy.
Across the 3,708 AI roles we're tracking, AI Software Engineer positions make up 7% of the market. At TCP Software, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: building API endpoints that serve model inference with caching and fallback logic, designing the data pipeline that feeds context to a RAG system, implementing streaming responses in the frontend, debugging a race condition in the async inference pipeline, and optimizing database queries for the vector search layer. It's full-stack engineering with AI at the center.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
Skills Required
Full-stack engineering skills with AI integration experience. Python and TypeScript are the most common requirements. You'll need to understand API design, database architecture, and how to build reliable systems around probabilistic outputs. Experience with streaming, async processing, and caching patterns is increasingly important as real-time AI applications proliferate.
Knowledge of vector databases, embedding APIs, and LLM integration patterns (function calling, structured outputs, retry logic) differentiates AI software engineers from general software engineers. Understanding cost optimization (caching strategies, model routing, batched inference) is valuable since inference costs can dominate application economics.
Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Software Engineer roles pay a median of $219,250 based on 424 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $200,000.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($300,000) and Research Engineer ($280,000). By seniority level: Entry: $120,000; Mid: $200,000; Senior: $230,000; Director: $272,150; VP: $250,000.
TCP Software AI Hiring
TCP Software has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer. Based in US.
Location Context
AI roles in Austin pay a median of $214,343 across 87 tracked positions.
Career Path
Common paths into AI Software Engineer roles include Software Engineer, Full-Stack Developer, Backend Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Staff Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager.
If you're a software engineer, you're already 80% there. Learn the AI integration patterns: RAG, streaming inference, function calling, structured outputs. Build a project that demonstrates you can wrap an AI model in a production-quality application with proper error handling, caching, and user experience. That's the portfolio piece that gets you hired.
What to Expect in Interviews
Technical screens look like standard software engineering interviews with an AI twist. Expect system design questions about building reliable applications around probabilistic models: handling streaming responses, implementing retry logic for API failures, and designing caching strategies for LLM outputs. Coding rounds test standard algorithms plus practical integration patterns like async processing and rate limiting.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 3,708 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 102 entry-level, 1,705 mid-level, 1,469 senior, and 432 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 14% of the market (508 positions). The remaining 3,180 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($300,000 median, 21 roles); Research Engineer ($280,000 median, 147 roles); AI Architect ($254,798 median, 67 roles).
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 3,708 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,605), Data Scientist (310), AI Software Engineer (259). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (102) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,705) and senior (1,469) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 432 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 14% of all AI roles (508 positions), with 3,180 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $217,500. Top-quartile roles start at $272,100, and the 90th percentile reaches $325,000. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $300,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,890 postings), Aws (1,103 postings), Azure (877 postings), Rag (855 postings), Gcp (631 postings), Prompt Engineering (560 postings), Pytorch (545 postings), Claude (498 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 3,708 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 102 entry-level, 1,705 mid-level, 1,469 senior, and 432 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 14% of the market (508 positions). The remaining 3,180 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($300,000 median, 21 roles); Research Engineer ($280,000 median, 147 roles); AI Architect ($254,798 median, 67 roles).
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