Lead, 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 hands-on and technically strong Lead Software Engineer, AI to guide the design and delivery of intelligent solutions across our AI-driven unified payroll and compliance platform. This role combines software engineering excellence, leadership in AI/ML system design, and a practical focus on AI-powered data analytics and intelligent reporting. You will work at the intersection of automation, compliance, and intelligent data extraction—playing a key role in transforming how complex business rules are digitized, analyzed, and presented.
As a player-coach, you will lead technical implementation efforts while also mentoring engineers and collaborating with cross-functional teams to operationalize AI solutions across both product workflows and internal analytics platforms.

Key Responsibilities

AI Engineering & System Architecture

• Architect, develop, and deploy AI-enabled backend services using Python, Node.js, and TypeScript in a modern, cloud-native microservices architecture.
• Integrate LLMs, NLP models, and intelligent agents into backend systems, leveraging Model Context Protocol (MCP) to maintain context integrity in AI interactions.
• Build and scale Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) pipelines to extract and validate data from union contracts, rate sheets, and compliance documents.

AI-Driven Analytics & Reporting

• Lead the development of AI-powered analytics and reporting pipelines that deliver actionable insights from both structured and unstructured data sources.
• Work with data engineering and business teams to automate the generation of payroll insights, rule compliance status, and exception reports.
• Develop scalable systems for real-time dashboards and data storytelling experiences, integrating ML outputs with reporting tools or APIs.

Hands-On Development & Integration

• Write maintainable, production-grade code in Python and TypeScript, building APIs and services that support model inferencing and data extraction.
• Implement and expose AI and analytics capabilities through REST/GraphQL APIs for use in front-end apps and workflow tools (React-based).
• Leverage AWS technologies (Lambda, S3, SageMaker, DynamoDB, Textract, Step Functions) to operationalize AI and data processing.

Technical Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead code reviews, architecture sessions, and cross-functional planning with product, data, and engineering stakeholders.
• Mentor team members on best practices in AI engineering, prompt engineering, scalable data analytics, and secure ML operations.
• Evaluate and pilot new tools in the AI/ML, IDP, LLM, and analytics ecosystems.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years in a technical leadership role.
• Strong programming skills in Python, TypeScript, and Node.js, with deep understanding of microservice and event-driven architectures.
• Hands-on experience building AI/ML models, particularly for NLP, LLMs, or IDP use cases.
• Experience integrating LLMs using platforms like OpenAI, Bedrock, Cohere, or Claude, and applying Model Context Protocol (MCP) in production systems.
• Proven ability to develop AI-powered analytics and automated reports from semi-structured and unstructured data.
• Proficiency in SQL and NoSQL databases such as PostgreSQL, Redis, and DynamoDB.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native development using AWS (e.g., SageMaker, SQS, Lambda).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in payroll, HR, compliance, or legal tech domains.
• Familiarity with analytics and reporting libraries/tools (e.g., Apache Superset, Metabase, Power BI, or custom dashboards).
• Knowledge of domain-driven design, rules engines, and data governance in regulated environments.
• Prior experience building systems that extract and apply union contract logic or other legal/financial rule sets.
• Open-source contributions or publications in AI/ML or data engineering are a plus.
• Solid experience utilizing AI driven development assistance tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor etc.

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: $140,000.00 - $195,000.00 per year.