Title : Associate AI Engineer
Job Type : Full Time
Location : Minneapolis, MN

You’ll join our team as an Associate AI Engineer, diving into full-stack development with a growing focus on AI integration. This is the perfect opportunity to accelerate your AI expertise while building production systems alongside experienced engineers.

What You’ll Do

Develop full‑stack features that integrate AI‑driven functionality into production applications
Learn how to work with modern AI tools and frameworks such as orchestration, vector stores, and advanced prompting techniques
Build features end‑to‑end: frontend, backend, and integration layers
Collaborate with senior engineers to ship user‑facing functionality that includes AI components
Contribute to building the next generation of intelligent, AI‑enhanced applications
Participate in code reviews and technical discussions
Learn best practices for delivering reliable, production‑ready AI systems

What We’re Looking For

Foundation: Strong full-stack development skills (e.g. React/TypeScript on frontend, Next.js, Node, .NET, Python on backend)
AI Curiosity: Genuine interest in LLMs, AI APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.), and emerging AI tools
Fundamentals: Basic understanding of ML concepts and how modern AI models work
Learning Mindset: Excited to master agent orchestration, vector databases, prompt engineering, and AI integration patterns
Collaboration: You thrive working alongside experienced engineers and learning from their expertise
Shipping Mentality: You want to build things that actually work in production

Required Experience

0-2 years of professional software engineering experience
Proficient backend and infrastructure development skills applied to real production systems
Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure)

Nice to Have

Experience contributing to frontend features using modern frameworks when needed
Experience with APIs and integration work
Exposure to LLMs or AI tools (even personal projects)
Understanding of databases and data structures
Deployed applications to production

Why You’ll Love It Here

Build AI that ships: every project ends in a live deployment, not a slide deck
Craft meets velocity: we obsess over quality while delivering at startup speed
Outcome-driven model: our projects align with client success, not billable hours
AI-native culture: you’ll work with peers who deeply understand modern AI’s potential and limits
Real collaboration: open conversations, shared ownership, and space to bring your voice and creativity

What Success Looks Like

Within your first year, you’ll:

Independently contribute to production AI features
Master the core patterns of LLM integration and AI tooling
Ship multiple features that combine full-stack and AI components
Earn the trust of your team to work with minimal oversight
Build a strong foundation for growth as an AI engineer

Equal Opportunity

Blank Metal is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all backgrounds and perspectives. Diversity makes our work better and our team stronger.