Staff Software Engineer, AI

About this role

WHO WE ARE
At Basis, we empower agencies and brands with cutting-edge software that automates digital media operations. Our all-in-one platform supports seamless planning, reporting, and financial reconciliation across direct, programmatic, search, and social media.
We’re not just building advanced technology; we’re also building a culture where passionate, motivated individuals come together to drive meaningful change. Our commitment to inclusivity and growth ensures our employees thrive both professionally and personally.
With our headquarters in Chicago, we offer flexible work options across the U.S. and Canada, including remote, hybrid, or on-site at headquarters.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Technology is at the core of what we do. The AI Core team at Basis Technologies builds Compass, the AI agent platform behind Basis. Compass agents plan and execute media planning, buying, and operations work on behalf of agencies and brands. We build the orchestration, tooling, and evaluation infrastructure that lets LLM-powered agents work reliably in a complex ad tech domain, and we expose the Basis platform to our own and our customers’ agents through MCP and A2A. The AI Core team also functions as an enabling team for all of Basis Engineering, developing the patterns and best practices for agentic and AI-assisted development that other teams build on.

WAYS YOU’LL CONTRIBUTE

As a Staff AI Engineer, you will be the technical lead for the AI Core team, specializing in the architecture and development of our agentic platform. Other ways you will contribute:

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE

• Minimum of 8 years of professional software engineering experience, including recent experience shipping production LLM-powered applications or agent systems.

• A track record of technical leadership, including owning the technical direction of a team or major system and influencing architecture beyond your immediate area of ownership.

• Expert-level proficiency in Python, with a history of architecting production APIs and backend services and integrating with protocols such as MCP and A2A.

• Deep experience building and operating production-grade agentic systems with frameworks such as Strands, LangChain, or the Claude Agent SDK, including asynchronous and event-driven patterns, prompt engineering, structured outputs, and techniques for improving agent reliability. Sound judgment on when to optimize for speed and when to invest in quality.

• Experience with evaluation and observability tools such as Langfuse or LangSmith, including designing evaluation strategies from the ground up.

• Fluency with AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, etc.) as a core part of the development workflow, paired with strong judgment and full ownership of AI-generated output.

• Proven ability to mentor engineers and to explain complex agentic systems clearly to engineers, Product and Operations partners, and non-technical stakeholders.

• Thoughtful approach to collaboration, design, and decision-making that prioritizes equity, access, and continuous learning, and a commitment to creating inclusive, respectful environments where all voices are valued and supported.

BONUS POINTS

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field

• Prior experience in ad tech, media planning systems, or programmatic advertising platforms.

• Hands-on experience with AWS Bedrock, including Bedrock AgentCore (Runtime, Gateway, Identity).

• Experience designing MCP tool sets or skills libraries adopted by multiple teams or external partners.

• Experience with authentication and authorization for non-human actors, such as OAuth 2.0 flows for agents and token vaulting for third-party integrations.

• Experience with RAG systems, vector databases, or knowledge retrieval approaches.

OUR TECH STACK

• Languages: Python

• Frameworks: LangChain, LangGraph, FastMCP, FastAPI

• Protocols & Integrations: MCP, A2A, AG-UI, REST APIs

• Evaluation & Observability: Langfuse, custom evaluation frameworks

• Data: Snowflake, S3

• Infrastructure: AWS, AWS Bedrock (including Bedrock AgentCore)

Integrity in Hiring
At Basis, integrity is at the core of how we hire. To protect our candidates and our company, we verify identity, education, and employment history for all hires. Some roles may also require onsite or in-person interviews as part of the process. Any misrepresentation of identity, experience, or skills may result in removal from the hiring process or termination of employment. We value transparency and authenticity and expect the same from every applicant.
Anything Else?
Don’t have every skill listed? No problem! We know experience can be built in many ways. If you have relevant skills that aren't reflected in your resume, we encourage you to share them in an optional cover letter.
Life With Basis
We’re committed to our people’s growth and well-being because our success is tied to theirs. That’s why we’ve earned recognition as a top workplace, including: Ad Age, #1 Best Places to Work, WorkLife's #1 Most Committed to Work Life Balance, and the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces in Chicago. We offer competitive perks, including a flexible work week, 401k/RRSP matching, mental health support, paid sabbaticals, generous parental leave, flexible work options, and more.

Basis is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate all team members regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race or cultural background, religion, disability, age, and beyond.
If you need assistance with interview accessibility, please contact @basis.com. Your privacy is important to us, view our policy here.
Originally posted on Himalayas