Job Description
Position Summary
Vertex is seeking an AI Full-Stack Engineer to create the next generation of AI-powered applications and agents that deliver practical value across internal and user-facing experiences. This role will own solutions end to end—from user experience and application services to agent orchestration, data access, platform integration, deployment, and production operations.
The ideal candidate combines strong full-stack software engineering fundamentals with hands-on experience building AI-enabled products. This individual will use a forward deployed engineering mindset to work closely with stakeholders, rapidly iterate on real-world use cases, connect applications and agents to enterprise systems, and continuously improve quality through measurement and feedback. The AI Full-Stack Engineer will help shape how secure, reliable, and scalable AI solutions are adopted across Vertex.
Key Responsibilities
Design, build, and productionize full-stack AI applications, agents, and multi-step workflows for internal and user-facing use cases
Apply a forward deployed engineering approach by working closely with end users, product teams, and business stakeholders to solve real workflow problems quickly and effectively
Build agents that can reason across steps, invoke tools, call APIs, retrieve information, and take actions within defined enterprise guardrails
Own end-to-end solution delivery across user interfaces, application services, APIs, data access, agent orchestration, and integrations with internal platforms, third-party applications, and business-critical systems
Develop reusable agent patterns, components, prompts, tools, and orchestration logic that can be scaled across use cases
Rapidly iterate on agent behavior based on usage data, qualitative feedback, evaluation results, and operational metrics
Improve agent quality through testing, experimentation, benchmarking, and structured measurement of outcomes
Partner with platform, integration, data, security, and product teams to ensure agents are secure, reliable, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise architecture
Help define best practices for agent design, tool use, fallback behavior, escalation paths, and human-in-the-loop workflows
Support the complete software lifecycle, including architecture, development, integration, deployment, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization in production environments
Contribute to observability practices for agent execution, including logging, tracing, performance tracking, and issue analysis
Ensure solutions are designed with security, compliance, and responsible AI principles in mind
Stay current on emerging patterns, frameworks, and technologies in generative AI and agentic systems, and translate them into practical applications for Vertex
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or a related technical field; equivalent practical experience may be considered
Experience in full-stack software engineering, AI engineering, machine learning engineering, or intelligent application development
Hands-on experience building and operating production applications powered by large language models, AI workflows, or agentic systems
Experience designing and delivering end-to-end applications across front-end, back-end, APIs, data stores, and enterprise systems
Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted software development and autonomous coding agents to design, generate, test, review, debug, optimize, and refactor code across complex enterprise systems.
Deep understanding of AI-native software engineering practices and experience establishing standards, governance, and best practices for the responsible use of AI coding assistants and software engineering agents across engineering teams
Demonstrated ability to move from prototype to production while balancing speed, quality, and operational rigor
Experience working directly with users or stakeholders to iteratively refine technical solutions based on real-world needs
Strong problem-solving and systems-thinking skills
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical teams
Technical Skills Required
Full-stack application development across modern front-end and back-end technologies
Large language model application development
Agentic workflow design and orchestration
Prompt engineering and prompt iteration
Tool use and API integration for AI agents
Multi-step workflow automation
Rapid prototyping and productionization
Evaluation, testing, and quality measurement for AI systems
Application logging, monitoring, and observability
API design, service development, data modeling, and application architecture
Distributed systems and service integration
Secure software development practices
Enterprise application integration
Cloud-based application development
Version control, CI/CD, and deployment practices
Preferred Skills
Experience using a forward deployed engineering or similar embedded delivery model
Experience building internal copilots, assistants, or task-oriented AI agents
Familiarity with orchestration frameworks, agent runtimes, tool-calling architectures, and retrieval patterns
Experience integrating with enterprise collaboration tools, workflow systems, document platforms, or knowledge repositories
Familiarity with evaluation frameworks for AI quality, groundedness, task completion, and reliability
Experience designing human-in-the-loop workflows and safe failure or escalation mechanisms
Exposure to AI observability, tracing, and operational analytics
Experience in regulated industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, or life sciences
#LI-Hybrid
Pay Range:
$166,640 - $250,000Disclosure Statement:
The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary pay range for this job at the time of posting. This role is eligible for an annual bonus and annual equity awards. Some roles may also be eligible for overtime pay, in accordance with federal and state requirements. Actual base salary pay will be based on a number of factors, including skills, competencies, experience, and other job-related factors permitted by law.
At Vertex, our Total Rewards offerings also include inclusive market-leading benefits to meet our employees wherever they are in their career, financial, family and wellbeing journey while providing flexibility and resources to support their growth and aspirations. From medical, dental and vision benefits to generous paid time off (including a week-long company shutdown in the Summer and the Winter), educational assistance programs including student loan repayment, a generous commuting subsidy, matching charitable donations, 401(k) and so much more.
Flex Designation:
Hybrid-Eligible Or On-Site EligibleFlex Eligibility Status:
In this Hybrid-Eligible role, you can choose to be designated as:
1. Hybrid: work remotely up to two days per week; or select
2. On-Site: work five days per week on-site with ad hoc flexibility.
Note: The Flex status for this position is subject to Vertex’s Policy on Flex @ Vertex Program and may be changed at any time.
#LI-Hybrid
Company Information
Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation.
Vertex is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person's race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Vertex is an E-Verify Employer in the United States. Vertex will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.
Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which the applicant has applied should make a request to the recruiter or hiring manager, or contact Talent Acquisition at [email protected]
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, AI, Data Science, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Experience in full-stack software engineering, AI engineering, or intelligent application development
- Hands-on experience building and operating production applications powered by large language models, AI workflows, or agentic systems
- Experience designing and delivering end-to-end applications across front-end, back-end, APIs, data stores, and enterprise systems
- Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted software development and autonomous coding agents
- Establishing standards, governance, and best practices for responsible use of AI coding assistants and agents
- Ability to move solutions from prototype to production while balancing speed, quality, and operational rigor
- Experience working directly with users or stakeholders to iteratively refine technical solutions
- Strong problem-solving, systems-thinking, and communication skills
- Full-stack application development across modern front-end and back-end technologies
- Large language model application development, prompt engineering, and agentic workflow design and orchestration
- Tool use and API integration for AI agents; multi-step workflow automation
- Evaluation, testing, benchmarking, and quality measurement for AI systems
- Application logging, monitoring, tracing, and observability for agent execution
- API design, service development, data modeling, distributed systems, and service integration
- Secure software development practices and enterprise application integration
- Cloud-based application development, version control, CI/CD, and deployment practices
- Experience using a forward deployed or embedded delivery model
- Experience building internal copilots, assistants, or task-oriented AI agents
- Familiarity with orchestration frameworks, agent runtimes, tool-calling architectures, and retrieval patterns
- Experience integrating with enterprise collaboration tools, workflow systems, document platforms, or knowledge repositories
- Familiarity with evaluation frameworks for AI quality, groundedness, task completion, and reliability
- Experience designing human-in-the-loop workflows and safe failure or escalation mechanisms
- Exposure to AI observability, tracing, and operational analytics
- Experience in regulated industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, or life sciences
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Vertex Pharmaceuticals and has not been reviewed or approved by Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies provide 12 weeks of 100% paid bonding leave for all U.S. parents with additional fully paid time for birth parents. Family-forming supports include adoption and surrogacy assistance, fertility options like IVF and egg cryopreservation, breast‑milk shipping, subsidized childcare, backup care, and a DCFSA match.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time off includes roughly four weeks of vacation, 13 holidays, sick time, and two companywide shutdowns (summer and year‑end). Some roles also include flexible or unlimited time off and paid volunteer time.
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Retirement Support — Programs include a 401(k) plan with employer contributions and an employee stock purchase plan. Filings describe employer contributions occurring in company stock, supporting long‑term ownership.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Insights
What We Do
Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious and life-threatening diseases. We discovered and developed the first medicines to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF), a rare, life-threatening genetic disease. In addition to clinical development programs in CF, Vertex has more than a dozen ongoing research programs focused on the underlying mechanisms of other serious diseases. Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, our corporate headquarters is now located in Boston’s Innovation District, and our international headquarters is in London, United Kingdom. We currently employ approximately 3,500 people in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and Latin America with nearly two-thirds of our staff dedicated to research and development. Vertex is consistently recognized as one of the industry’s top places to work by Science Magazine, The Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal and the San Diego Business Journal. Our research and medicines have also received esteemed recognitions, including the Robert J. Beall Therapeutics Development Award, the French Prix Galien and the British Pharmacological Society awards.
