Associate Software Engineer, AI
The Associate Software Engineer, AI at Confidential Client supports the development, testing, and maintenance of AI-enabled software applications and enterprise systems. This entry-level role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to implement features, integrate AI/ML capabilities, and apply modern software engineering practices while continuously building technical expertise in cloud and AI technologies.
About Careertakes
👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, Utilities.
Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.
Role Overview
Confidential Client (Utilities) is hiring an Associate Software Engineer, AI in Chicago, IL. This early-career engineering role contributes to building, testing, and maintaining software and AI-enabled capabilities across enterprise systems and digital products. You’ll work on backend and front‑end components, collaborate with data and ML engineers, and gain hands-on experience with cloud services, LLMs, prompt engineering, and CI/CD practices under the mentorship of senior engineers.
What You’ll Do
- Assist in the development, testing, and support of software applications, APIs, services, and AI-enabled features for enterprise systems.
- Implement features and enhancements following established coding standards and under senior guidance.
- Support AI-enabled application development, including exposure to machine learning services, large language models (LLMs), embeddings, and prompt engineering.
- Collaborate with software, data, and ML engineering teams to integrate AI-driven solutions.
- Use AI-assisted engineering tools responsibly to improve efficiency while validating outputs and following secure coding practices.
- Write clean, maintainable, and testable code; participate in code reviews and debugging.
- Assist with CI/CD pipelines, deployments, automation, and containerization efforts.
- Monitor and troubleshoot production issues and support application reliability activities.
- Participate in Agile team ceremonies, technical discussions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Continuously expand skills in software engineering fundamentals, cloud-native development (Azure/AWS/GCP), and AI/ML concepts.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field.
- Relevant software development experience from internships, projects, research, or prior roles.
- Foundational knowledge of object-oriented programming, data structures, algorithms, and basic system design.
- Experience with at least one programming language such as Python, Java, C#, or JavaScript (coursework, projects or professional experience).
- Familiarity with APIs, web services, databases, source control, testing, and collaborative development practices.
- Basic exposure to cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP) and interest in cloud-native development.
- Introductory exposure to AI/ML concepts, LLMs, or prompt engineering.
- Effective verbal and written communication and ability to work collaboratively on cross-functional teams.
- Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot) and willingness to use them responsibly.
Preferred Qualifications
- Internship or project experience building web applications, APIs, or UI components.
- Familiarity with modern frameworks and platforms (React, Angular, .NET, Spring Boot, Node.js).
- Exposure to Azure AI Services, Azure OpenAI, and GenAI APIs.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), or infrastructure automation.
- Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases and SQL querying.
- Experience using Microsoft developer tools (Azure, GitHub, Visual Studio) or Microsoft Power Platform.
- Front-end integration experience for chatbots or conversational UI components.
Total Rewards
- Expected salary range: $78,300 to $87,000 per year (varies by experience).
- Comprehensive benefits package including eligibility for bonus program, 401(k) with company match, employee stock purchase program, medical/dental/vision coverage, disability and life insurance, paid time off, and wellbeing programs.
- Professional development, mentorship, and growth opportunities within a large utilities organization modernizing with AI-enabled solutions.
Location & Employment Type
- Location: Chicago, IL (on-site / hybrid as determined by the hiring team).
- Employment type: Full-time.
Confidential Client is committed to accommodating applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know.
Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency
Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.
If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.
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