Software Engineer - AI Platforms and Products (Frontend)

Software Engineer - AI Platforms and Products (Frontend)

Location: New York, NY (Hybrid - 2+ days per week in office)
Reports to: VP of Engineering, New AI Products and Platforms

About the Role

The New York Times is building next-generation reader-facing AI experiences as part of the New AI Products & Platforms mission. The role emphasizes prototyping and shipping real products at the intersection of applied AI and consumer product design. You will transform emerging capabilities (language models, content embeddings, semantic search) into features enabling Times readers to discover and engage with content more deeply, operating within an organization that values editorial judgment and independence.

Responsibilities

• Prototype, iterate, and ship LLM- and embedding-powered reader experiences from concept through production with cross-functional teams
• Build full-stack solutions using Node.js/TypeScript backends, React frontends, and AI integrations
• Create net-new AI features and integrate them into existing Times systems, determining when to build versus integrate
• Write, test, and refine prompts and retrieval pipelines, treating prompt engineering as a first-class engineering discipline
• Instrument features with evaluations, engagement signals, and performance monitoring
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, journalists, and senior engineers translating editorial goals into working product
• Contribute to shared practices around evaluation, responsible AI use, and organizational standards
• Demonstrate support for journalistic independence and commitment to truth-seeking mission

Basic Qualifications

• 2+ years software engineering experience with demonstrated ability to ship consumer-facing features
• Hands-on experience building with Large Language Models in real product contexts
• Full-stack fundamentals: Node.js or TypeScript backend, React frontend
• Experience navigating codebases and working within established backend infrastructure
• Proficiency in GenAI-assisted developer tooling (Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code)

Additional Qualifications

• Experience with greenfield development and legacy/third-party system integration
• Additional backend experience in Python for data pipelines or model integrations
• Semantic search, embedding-based retrieval, or personalization systems experience
• Experience building agentic software with planning and multi-step operations
• Familiarity with evaluation frameworks or A/B testing for AI features
• Background in editorial or institutional judgment-driven product environments

Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: $104,000 - $130,000 USD annually
Benefits may include: medical, dental, vision coverage, FSAs, 401(k) matching, paid vacation/sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement, professional development.

Equal Opportunity Statement
The New York Times Company commits to diverse hiring without discrimination based on protected characteristics.