Basic Description:

The Software Engineer, AI & Automation is a senior technical role responsible for designing, building, and maintaining software solutions and AI-powered systems that drive operational efficiency across Flat Branch Home Loans. This role operates at the intersection of traditional software engineering and applied artificial intelligence — building internal tools, automating business processes, and integrating large language models and AI services into production workflows. The ideal candidate brings strong engineering fundamentals alongside hands-on experience with modern AI/LLM frameworks, cloud infrastructure, and the Microsoft technology ecosystem. This role collaborates closely with business stakeholders, the Mortgage Technology Solutions team, and technology leadership to identify high-impact opportunities and deliver solutions that advance Flat Branch’s strategic objectives.

This is a hybrid position. Candidates must be located within driving distance of a Flat Branch office in: AR, FL, IA, KS, MI, MO, NE, OK, TN, TX.

Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and deploy scalable software applications and internal tools that support business operations across the organization
• Architect and implement AI-powered solutions including large language model (LLM) integrations, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, and intelligent automation workflows
• Build and maintain backend services, APIs, and data pipelines using Python and related frameworks
• Develop and manage automation solutions leveraging the Microsoft Power Platform (Power Automate, Power Apps) and Azure cloud services
• Integrate AI capabilities with existing mortgage technology platforms including Encompass and FB Home
• Evaluate and implement third-party AI services, APIs, and tooling (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure AI) to accelerate development and expand capabilities
• Design and maintain cloud infrastructure on Azure including compute, storage, and networking resources with a focus on security and scalability
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to gather requirements, define technical approaches, and deliver solutions that solve real operational problems
• Establish and maintain engineering best practices including code reviews, documentation, testing, and version control standards
• Identify opportunities for process automation across business units and lead end-to-end delivery of automation initiatives
• Stay current on advancements in AI, LLM tooling, and software engineering practices and evaluate their applicability to Flat Branch’s environment
• Mentor junior developers and contribute to the broader technical growth of the development team
• Participate in architecture and design discussions, contributing a senior technical perspective on build-vs-buy decisions, platform selection, and system design

Qualifications & Skills:

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience with a strong track record of delivering production-quality applications
• Proficiency in Python, including experience with frameworks such as FastAPI, Flask, or Django
• Hands-on experience integrating and building with large language model APIs (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Azure OpenAI) and LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar)
• Experience designing and implementing RAG pipelines, vector databases, and AI agent frameworks
• Proficiency with Microsoft Azure cloud services including Azure Functions, Azure AI Services, Blob Storage, and related tooling
• Working knowledge of the Microsoft Power Platform, including Power Automate and Power Apps
• Strong understanding of RESTful API design, integration patterns, and third-party service connectivity
• Experience with DevOps practices including CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker), and infrastructure-as-code
• Familiarity with relational and non-relational databases; ability to write and optimize queries
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity, define scope, and deliver with minimal direction
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences
• Experience in the mortgage, financial services, or fintech industry is a plus
• Familiarity with Encompass LOS or similar mortgage technology platforms is a plus
• Experience with prompt engineering, fine-tuning, or model evaluation is a plus